Premiere tomorrow for the household basket – “Package” of checks on two levels

By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

The relevant amendment of the Ministry of Development was passed, o Adonis Georgiades signed on and the… experiment called the household basket premieres tomorrow Wednesday, November 2.

The premiere will be accompanied by a rain of checks on 2 levels. At the first level, the trade ministry officials will compare the prices of the products included in the basket with the prices they had on October 3rd when Adonis Georgiadis joined hands with the supermarket chains. Given that according to Eurostat Greece had inflation of 9.8% in October the markups of the specific products must be at least much lower. In fact, the government has set the bar at 2%

In the second level, the prices inside the basket will be compared with those outside to determine the size of the deviation.

Number of baskets

Each supermarket chain will make its own basket. There is an obligation to have at least one product from the 30 categories defined by the Ministry of Development. The basket must include at least 50 products which will be available at a much more affordable price than the rest of the same category. This does not necessarily mean that prices will be reduced but that they will rise much more slowly compared to the country’s inflation.

The categories from which the baskets will be created are:

rice, bread, pasta, pork, poultry, cured meats, frozen fish, fresh whole milk, fresh reduced-fat milk, evaporated milk, yogurt, cheese, tomato paste, eggs, margarine, olive oil, sunflower oil, frozen vegetables, sugar, baby food, coffee, tea – chamomile, cocoa and chocolate powder, orange juice, personal hygiene items, baby items, pet food, pulses and all-purpose flour.

Changes to baskets

Every week the products in the basket will be able to change. Specifically, the list of products should be sent every week by 9 am to the Ministry of Commerce. The possibility of weekly renewal was given so as not to observe phenomena of lack of products. There is no restriction that prohibits the inclusion of private label products in the basket.

If deemed necessary, the ministry can even change the 30 basic categories.

update

To inform the public, a special platform will be created for the household basket. In addition, there will be continuous information through the e-consumer application. But also in the stores, both at the entrances and inside, there will be special markings for the basket products.

Where are the baskets?

Supermarket chains with a turnover of more than €90m must participate in the measure. Optionally, they can send catalogs with their own baskets not only to smaller chains but also to other types of businesses such as butchers, bakeries, mini markets, etc.

Penalties

Non-compliance with the rules incurs a fine of €5,000 per day for each product and the Ministry of Development has made it clear that the basket products will be checked as a matter of priority by the relevant inspection authorities.

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