Commodities without price tags to be seized: Supply Min.

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Tuesday - 12 December 2017

CAIRO – 12 December 2017: The Supply Ministry will seize any commodity without a price tag as of January 1, 2018, Supply Minister Ali Moselhy told members of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, according to MENA. 

“The step was made for the buyer to freely choose the best price,” the minister added. 

He stressed the importance of placing prices on the products and commodities, as a unified price would help control markets and terminate monopoly. 

“All food producers, importers, packagers and suppliers of food products must label every product in Arabic and in clear font that cannot be erased,” said a decree issued by the Egyptian supply minister and published in the official Gazette in late October. 

The price tag decree stipulates that violations could result in jail sentences of up to five years, fines and confiscations. 

The new decree states that violations would include manufacturers and importers failing to put prices on their products, as well as retailers changing the prices of products already labeled. 

The decree provides the market with a grace period until the end of 2017 in order to sell all unlabeled produce before facing penalties.