Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-07-12

Price Control of essential food Items

- Although it is usual for significant changes in prices of essential consumer commodities to vary from district to district based on transport costs and the number of middlemen involved, an opinion has now been created among the consumers that this state of affairs has arisen due to the recent increase of Value Added Tax (VAT). Although the VAT is applicable to certain commodities, it is not applicable to pharmaceuticals and essential food items such as rice, sugar, dhal, big onions, potatoes, red onions, milk powder, wheat flour, dried chilies, green grams, chick peas, canned fish, chicken and sprats. It has also been observed that the retail traders are selling these essential food items at exorbitantly high prices than that of the food items sold through the Sathosa sales outlets. As a remedial measure, the proposal made by Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, to identify 15 essential food items and to gazette the same in terms of the provisions of the Consumer Affairs Authority Act, to determine the maximum retail price of such food items by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Cost of Living and to obtain the services of 200 Graduate Trainees and officers of the armed forces, where necessary, to the Consumer Affairs Authority, to regulate the implementation of the said price control, was approved by the Cabinet.