Authorities to fight food prices speculation with electronic labelling

In an attempt to crack down on profiteering, the government will try to regulate the path of food goods - from the producer to the shops. The idea is to do this with electronic labels to track the mark-up along the chain. The state continues with the checks in the shops.

Expired cheese and sausages were the first violations identified by inspectors from the Commission for Consumer Protection and the Food Safety Agency during an inspection in a shop.

"What the agency is monitoring is whether there is an imported product that could be repackaged and presented as 'originating in Bulgaria' and we are taking samples to check for the presence of non-milk fats," said Dr Galya Vikyova, deputy executive director of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency.

It is also checked for imitation products, misleading information on brochures, price difference at the shelves and at the cash registers, availability of quantities of products on promotion. Penalties reach up to 50 000 BGN. The inspections are carried out in large shops

"Those who hold the predominant market share, it is quite normal, by applying a large number of unfair trade practices, to distort the entire market and drag smaller traders along with them," said Stoil Alipiev, chairman of the Commission for Consumer Protection.

The checks are already having an effect, according to the caretaker Prime Minister.

"What is observed as a practice in a number of retail chains is that they put extreme promotions and price reductions of 25-27%, something that speaks for the fact that there is a reserve in the reduction of prices of food products, and those that are of basic necessity and that most affect Bulgarian citizens who have low incomes," said Gulub Donev.

More meetings of the state with the industry and regulations on the market are to come, explained Donev. The Supreme Administrative Prosecutor's Office self-initiated a probe and has requested information from the state authorities on the measures they have taken to control inflation and price increases.