KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA on Wednesday cracked down on smuggling of subsidised food and fuel across its borders, imposing three-year jail terms in an effort to avert critical shortages.

Malaysia's long coastlines and porous borders have enabled smugglers to take large quantities of sugar, cooking oil and fuel into Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines where they are more expensive.

'The government spends millions of dollars to subsidise many of these items... If we allow the goods to be taken out, it is an outflow of national wealth,' said domestic trade and consumer affairs minister Shafie Apdal.

The announcement comes as Malaysia prepares for national elections in which the spiralling cost of basic food items will be a major issue.

Earlier this year, consumers were hit with severe shortages of sugar, flour and cooking oil which were stripped bare from supermarket shelves as panic-buying hit, triggering a huge public outcry.

The government was forced to flood the market with thousands of tonnes of cooking oil and flour to end the crisis.

No entry goodies
Mr Shafie announced a list of 10 controlled items which must not cross borders: sugar, flour, cooking oil, petrol, diesel and gas - which are all subsidised - as well as steel, cement, chicken and fertilizer.

'The aim of the ban is to prevent a disruption in the supply chain of the 10 items for the domestic market. We also want to stop smuggling activities,' he said.

Malaysia heavily subsidises 21 food items including milk, salt, wheat flour and rice. -- AFP