In the coming days, a new list of reduced prices on basic consumption items is expected to be announced, as reported in the First Program 91.6 and 105.8, the Secretary General of Trade and Consumer Protection Sotiris Anagnostopouloswhile adding that although the goal is for price reductions on around 600 products by the end of the month, however the estimate so far is that it will be exceeded.

As the Secretary General pointed out: “So far we have about 362 codeswhich have been announced for the reduction of prices by various companies participating in this initiative, in response to the exhortation made by the Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, last August, in order for as many companies as possible to reduce the prices of products them, in reflection of what is currently happening in its wider field inflation. This initiative will continue to exist and continue to expand. That is, there will be other codes to come, which will probably be announced this week as well. That is, there will be a new announcement depending on the information that will reach the ministry from the various companies participating in the market and we hope that these codes will be enough, that the reductions that these codes include will be significant. Already, most of these reductions are between 5 and 20%. On average, these reductions are around 10 – 12% and we hope that there will be another big wave with more such codes».

New reduced prices are being prepared – What about olive oil?

Mr. Anagnostopoulos also said: “You will see that in the codes, some of them are olive oil codes, which means that the decrease has really started and appears on the shelves and gradually this picture will be more and more pronounced, given that this year’s harvest has started but the standardization of olive oil will come – gradually – in the coming months. This is something that happens not only in our country, but also abroad. Little by little, olive oil prices have begun to decline. We expect an even greater de-escalation (…). This year we are doing better. So, what will be there will also be reflected in the prices».

As for the supermarkets now, he continued: “Regarding the indication of the quantity on a package, this is mandatory. There is no way to market a product, especially food, but also any other product, which does not list the net weight. This is an offense which is very important. You won’t see that in the industry. In standardized products there is no way that a standardizer would risk not reporting the net weight or net volume of the product. Regarding the reduction in quantities, let me say that the price reductions that have been announced concern the same products and not reduced quantity products. I want to be very clear on this. We are talking about the same products of the past with exactly the same quantity. So, we are not talking about fictitious reductions but real price reductions. Now, as to whether it is an illegal or legal practice to reduce the quantity on a product from what it used to be, this is not an illegal practice. However, to the extent that the reduction of this quantity is announced and so that the consumer can easily make the comparison, what has changed in the last two years – and possibly many of the consumers have detected it in the supermarkets – is that it has been very clear unit price either per kilogram, or per liter, or per piece, or per wash, depending on the type of product, so that consumers do not rely on the packaging price, nor are they misled in any way by the packaging, but monitor her unit price».

“This week there will be some announcements about more codes, because this information is already pouring in. Either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow there will be an announcement, depending on how quickly the information comes from the companies, but in general the picture is that we will have an even larger range of products, which, as you will see, is about basic products. And of course there are also products that concern more specific groups of consumers, but certainly most are products of increased demand and important for daily living. The goal is about 600 by the end of the month. We hope, however, that if everything goes well we will surpass this goal».

Finally, Mr. Anagnostopoulos underlined that: “The measures taken by the government are not only about price reductions, nor about labels. We have one of the strongest packages in the whole of the European Union, which have really put a lot of pressure on the market. That is, basic consumer products, whether we are talking about food, or cleaning products, personal hygiene products, which are basic consumer products. There is a ceiling on the profit margin that does not exist anywhere else in the European Union. There are very heavy fines for businesses that have exceeded these limits. In addition, businesses are named, which was never the case before. And because we always have to compare what the government is doing with what was in place before, I will tell you that before all of this there were none of these measures. There wasn’t even the control mechanism that could enforce them, not even the measures themselves. In other words, there was not even a provision prohibiting unfair profiteering. There were never such things on the market (…)».