UAE freezes prices of 400 major commodities

Ministry of Economy in the UAE has launched a campaign to fix prices of 400 major commodities at 70 outlets across the country.

This was announced by Engineer Mohammed Ahmed Bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy, on Thursday. He said the campaign is starting on June 1 and will continue till the end of the year.

Outlets joining the ministry’s initiative include Carrefour, Cooperative Societies, Lulu Hypermarket and Spinney that together account for 75 per cent of the market share of retail outlets in the country.

Some of the retailers have agreed to lower prices to the same level as the wholesale costs, while other will cut prices by up to 50 per cent, the ministry said.

Prices of food staples such as rice, flour, meats, tea, bottled water, dried pasta as well as household goods such as washing liquid will be fixed.

All the retailers have agreed to retain the prices at the same level even if there are vast fluctuations in the cost of raw materials locally and globally.

During a press conference held at the ministry's office in Dubai in the presence of Dr Hashim Al Nuaimi, Director of Consumer Protection Department and representatives of major retail outlets in the UAE, AL Shehhi lauded the cooperation and efforts of the retail outlets in supporting the Ministry in this campaign as well as its strategy in reducing the price of essential commodities.

He said the Ministry of Economy is committed to strengthen the framework for communication and dialogue with all retail outlets in the UAE.

Al Shehhi said this initiative came as a result of previous efforts made by the ministry and specifically the recent meeting of Engineer Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy, with senior officials from major retail outlets in March, where he urged them to coordinate and communicate with the Ministry to launch new initiatives that support consumers and market stability.

"Retail outlets have responded to the Ministry's request and agreed to fix the prices of 400 major commodities at 70 outlets in various emirates until the end of 2011.

He said the campaign is controlled by special criteria in order to ensure its success and to protect consumer rights, where the Ministry has designed an authorised logo to be installed on the selected commodities within the campaign in order for consumers to identify it.

The process of fixing the prices is divided into three levels, first some outlets committed to fix the price even if there are fluctuations or increases in the market, and the second one is that some outlets are committed to reduce prices of some goods to 50 per cent and to fix it even in the case if prices will increase locally or globally. The third level is that there are some outlets who committed to fix the prices at the purchase cost.

Al Shehhi said this campaign is part of the Ministry's plan for the holy month of Ramadan where retail outlets have demonstrated during the Holy Month that they have the resolve and commitment to reduce prices of essential goods in addition to launching marketing initiatives that contributed to enhancing the purchasing power of customers.

He noted that the initiatives launched by the retail outlets in the UAE in coordination with the Ministry of the economy, is an ideal model that generated a positive impact on the performance of consumer markets and received wide attention from Gulf countries.

Al Shihhi reiterated the importance of coordination between the Ministry, the Government, the retail outlets and consumers to be prepared for any variables that may affect customer prices and market stability. He called for close monitoring of international prices of consumer goods, and underscored the importance of an electronic system for goods monitoring, which was launched by the Ministry recently.

The Ministry of Economy has hired special teams to monitor the performance of the campaign in cooperation with local departments to follow-up on daily basis through field visits to retail outlets to make sure that all outlets are committed.

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