New Price Control List Seeks to Offer Relief to Grocery Shoppers
The Government of Belize is attempting to soften the blow that consumers are feeling at the grocery store. Its amended supplies control list now includes thirty additional grocery items, from liquid detergent to diapers, corn beef and even toothpaste. The amended list will put a cap on the markup that wholesalers and retailers can place on these items. For weeks there have been reports that such a regulation would come into effect. Now that it is finally here we sought to find out how this will benefit grocery shoppers across the country and the Supplies Control Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture intends to roll out these new regulations.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
The Government of Belize has added thirty grocery items to its supplies control list. These items include but are not limited to butter, baby cereal, a wide variety of cornflakes or cereals, chicken sausage, corn beef, and certain vegetable items and personal hygiene products.
Dolores Balderamos-Garcia
Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Minister of Human Development (File: June 30th, 2023)
“It is with pleasure that I speak on the decision made by Cabinet recently to expand the basic food basket of regulated food items from only nine to a comprehensive forty-three items. This initiative, Madame Speaker, aims to help to alleviate the burden of the high cost of living on our Belizean people. As we are all aware, the cost of living around the world has been a pressing concern and Belize is no exception. The five dollar minimum wage has helped over thirty thousand of our Belizean people, but the rising cost of living is at our doorstep every day. Many families struggle to make ends meet, particularly when it comes to putting food on the table, and the rising prices of essential food items has eroded the purchasing power of households and has put a strain on their overall wellbeing. It is our duty, I believe, as representatives of the people to address the issue and find practical solutions that will make a positive impact on their daily lives, and this, Madame Speaker, is what our government is seeking to do.”
So, what does this mean for consumers? We asked Lennox Nicholson, the Controller of Supplies at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
Lennox Nicholson
Lennox Nicholson, Controller of Supplies, Ministry of Agriculture & Food Security
“Under these regulations there has always been a set of good that were subject to government control, basically establishing a maximum percentage markup. What has happened is that in previous times we use to get quite a bit of complaints from the public about the price on specific goods, for example corn beef, Milo and so on, and basically we were not able to address those concerns and intervene in the market, simply because they were not covered by the scope of the regulations right. So Cabinet took a decision to expand the list of goods that are subject to regulations this would be the list that has been mentioned, some thirty add items added.”
Adding these thirty items to the supplies control list places constraints on the markup that businesses are allowed to charge with those items.
Lennox Nicholson
“There is a maximum percentage markup wholesale of twenty five percent that is allowed so that whatever the purchase cost or the wholesaler, or in the case of some entities, the importer would have brought that product into the country, they are allowed to mark up twenty-five percent before they sell that to the super market. The supermarket in turn with respect to the new items on the list is allowed to mark up fifteen percent from there. So, basically that is how it works. So, when we visit an establishment we will look at the retail price that is being offered to the public. We will get the invoice, the receipt that they use to purchase that product and we will do our calculation to see what the markup is and that would give us an indication whether or not they within the scope of the regulations.”
This regulation will apply to these thirty items across the country. Currently the Controller of Supplies and his team are visiting retailers and wholesalers to inform them what the expectations are under the new regulations. This morning, one officer visited a grocery store on Fabers Road Extension in Belize City where a number of infractions were observed. For one, the retailer did not have prices on the goods. Secondly, a receipt was not provided to the customer.
Lennox Nicholson
“If you look at this product, a standard chicken sausage, you notice the problem with this item is that there is no price on it, so how does the consumer know what they are being charged for this product, similar no price, no price. This is a violation of the regulation, so this will result in us issuing a ticket.”
Retailers can also be ticketed if they are unable to provide invoices or receipts of the items they purchased from a wholesaler.
Lennox Nicholson
“They are required to provide those invoices and receipts to us. We have no jurisdiction over anything to do with taxes. Our sole jurisdiction has to do with insuring these regulations are complied with and what we are doing we are studying the market, trying to tract the goods and the supply chains and distribution mechanism and we are having some very interesting findings. In Belmopan, this set of goods at two establishments of comparable size there was a price disparity of about fifteen percent between them and the one that was fifteen percent higher, one less item was in the basket. What we need to do is establish, I can’t say conclusively there is gouging anywhere, we need to look at the invoices and certain other factors to make a determination.”
Nicholson says his team also found that while most of these goods are landed in Belize City, the prices they paid in Belize City are more expensive than in Belmopan which is fifty miles away. According to Nicholson, the government has approved additional resources for his unit, including more inspectors.
Lennox Nicholson
“Now you can’t be at all places at all times but you need to be in sufficient places enough times to give them pause. That is your role, your concern is not the eighty-five percent who will comply because of competitive forces, your concentration has to be on that fifteen percent who perhaps want to do the right thing but need a little bit of encouragement that is where the ticketing come in.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
