The amendment on the rationalization and transparency of prices, the measures to rationalize the prices of baby milk and to upgrade the “e-katanalotis” platform was submitted to Parliament on Wednesday by the Ministry of Development.

The amendment submitted to the draft law of the Ministry of Education, Religion and Sports entitled “Strengthening the National Vocational Education and Training System” is expected to be voted on on Thursday, and the measures are expected to be valid until December 31, 2024.

According to what is mentioned:

– With regard to price rationalization and transparency, from January 10, 2024, for the consumer products of companies for which a price increase is announced, no promotional action is allowed when they are available to consumers for 3 months from the date on to which the price increase is applied.

– The reduction of the initial prices of the products is foreseen, as they are formed before any discount, offer or other promotional action. This reduction equals, at a minimum, 30% of the sum of the credits, discounts of other benefits granted to the retail trade in the year 2023, on the initial price of December 31, 2023.

– Businesses that produce or trade in fresh meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, sell these products at net prices, i.e. without granting discounts, credits or other benefits to other businesses, which exceed, cumulatively, 3% of the sales price before discounts, credits or other benefits.

– Competent authorities for receiving complaints and establishing a violation are the General Secretariat of Commerce and the Interagency Market Control Unit of the Ministry of Development. The authorities may:

a) have access to any information, data and document from any source that facilitates the control of any suspected violation,

b) carry out an audit, which includes access to any place or means of transport used by the supplier, which is subject to the audit, or to order audits carried out by other public authorities, in order to obtain, examine and confiscate information, data or documents arising during the audit, regardless of their storage medium,

c) keep in their possession the elements, data and documents that arise during the audit for as long and to the extent required for the smooth execution of the audit,

d) seek the provision of factual information from any representative or staff member of the audited supplier, who has the obligation to provide information and explanations of the facts, data or documents related to the subject of the audit .

– By decision of the competent body of the Control Authority, sanctions are imposed against anyone who violates the legislation, depending on the gravity of the violation, cumulatively or disjunctively, as follows:

a) recommendation with the aim of stopping the illegal practice and compliance within the exclusive deadline set by the decision, as well as its omission in the future,

b) a fine from 5,000 to 2,000,000 euros and announcement of the name of the offender and the fine imposed.

– By decision of the competent auditing body, a fine of between 5,000 and 1,000,000 euros is imposed on the audited person, if he conceals, falsifies or does not provide the information requested by the competent authorities or obstructs in any way the exercise of audits responsibilities.

– By decision of the Minister of Development, the categories of promotional actions, discounts, credits or other benefits, the categories of products falling within the scope of the aforementioned paragraphs may be specified, the procedure for control and the imposition of sanctions, the escalation of the fines, as well as any other necessary detail for the implementation of the legislation.

– The measures are valid until December 31, 2024.

Measures to rationalize infant milk prices

In order to rationalize the prices of baby milk, it is provided in detail that: The companies that import, produce and distribute to other companies the preparations for infants and the preparations of the second infant age, of para. c’ and d’ of par. 2 of article 2 of the Regulation (EU) 609/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 “on foods intended for infants and young children and on foods intended for special medical purposes, and as substitutes for the whole diet for the control of body weight and for the repeal of Council Directive 92/52/EEC, Commission Directives 96/8/EC, 1999/21/EC, 2006/125/EC and 2006/141/EC, Directive 2009/39/ EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and of the Commission Regulations (EC) no. 41/2009 and (EC) no. 953/2009” (L 181), redefine the sales prices of the above products, from March 1, 2024, so that the company obtains a gross profit that is not greater than its operating costs, in the relevant product category, based on the financial statements of the immediately preceding, from the entry into force of this, management period, increased by 7% on net sales, minus discounts, credits or other benefits.

Fines depending on the gravity of the violation, cumulative or disjunctive, may result in sanctions as follows:

a) recommendation with the aim of stopping the illegal practice and compliance within the exclusive deadline set by the decision, as well as its omission in the future,

b) a fine from 5,000 to 2,000,000 euros and announcement of the name of the offender and the imposed fine with the conditions and procedure provided for.

In addition, by decision of the competent body of the Audit Authority, a fine of between 5,000 and 1,000,000 euros is imposed on the audited person, if he conceals, falsifies or does not provide the information requested by the competent authorities or obstructs in any way the exercise of the audit responsibilities.

Competent authorities for receiving complaints and establishing a violation are the general secretariat of Commerce and the Interagency Market Control Unit of the Ministry of Development. The authorities may:

a) have access to any information, data and document from any source that facilitates the control of any suspected violation,

b) carry out an audit, which includes access to any premises or means of transport used by the supplier, which is subject to the audit, or to order audits carried out by other public authorities, in order to obtain, examine and confiscate evidence, data or documents arising during the audit, regardless of their storage medium,

c) keep in their possession the elements, data and documents that arise during the audit for as long and to the extent required for the smooth execution of the audit,

d) seek the provision of factual information from any representative or staff member of the audited supplier, who has the obligation to provide information and explanations regarding the facts, data or documents related to the subject matter control.

– By decision of the Minister of Development, restrictions can be placed on the amount of operating costs, the procedure for control and the imposition of sanctions, the escalation of fines and any other necessary detail for the implementation of the legislation can be determined.

Finally, the possibility of directly awarding the contract for the upgrade of the e-katanalotis digital platform is foreseen.