“It is possible that we will adopt a law that will allow a markup of up to 30% on food products.“ This was announced by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Georgi Tahov to bTV.
He also gave examples of other EU member states where there are laws on retail trade.
“In France, this law states that markups cannot exceed 30%. In their law, promotional sales of a product segment cannot exceed 25%,“ Tahov explained.
He also added that producer fees may be considered optional.
We are preparing a law to protect the rights of suppliers, not to harm operators along the chain, he added.
“We want to protect all farmers, but we do not want to violate the rights of operators along this agri-food chain. When we protect the rights of the producer in his voluntary commercial relations, this will inevitably have an impact and relief will be felt in the rights of the consumer“, he said.
Tahov explained that he wants the law to be ready within a month and to be discussed at all levels.
“The finished texts will be sent to the Ministry of Economy, because the regulation is carried out precisely by the Commission for Protection of Competition, as well as by the Commission for Consumer Protection. We define vicious practices in the “Agriculture“ sector, the regulation will be carried out by the Ministry of Economy. Before the law is ready, it will be finally discussed with the industry organizations and everyone involved in it. We do not want to change the principles of the market economy“, commented the Minister of Agriculture and Food.
He also said that in our country the long food chain, which can put large markups on food products, is defined in the law as a vicious practice:
„There, 5 people have changed ownership of the product. With long deliveries, there is so-called transfer pricing - these are the different levels of delivery through different traders, which increase the price. This is where the function of the NRA comes in, from there they have to investigate and the sanctions go through the law on corporate income taxation. The short supply chain, in milk processing for example, large enterprises negotiate with the retail network directly.“
Minister Tahov added that he supports any expression of civil rights and he and his family were in solidarity on the day of the supermarket boycott.
And after the working meeting with Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, the ministry immediately began preparing for the new law on the agri-food chain.
The Prime Minister convened a meeting due to high food prices yesterday.
According to Zhelyazkov, it is obvious that there is a problem in the supply chain. This is due to practices that should be established by the antimonopoly authority, but also by the revenue authorities – NRA, „Customs” etc.
„We will analyze the problems and possible solutions in the executive branch and proposals to the legislative branch. Prices are a function of the market and we have no doubt about that. We will not take administrative measures that will lead to market distortion, but we will take measures for fair pricing with clarity about what is happening throughout the chain”, the Prime Minister said yesterday.
And today, Minister Tahova was categorical that the draft law prepared at the Council of Ministers level is different from those prepared by the BSP and “Vazrazhdane“.
„We do not want to interfere with the principles of the market economy. Through the protection and rights of producers and suppliers, we want to guarantee a price reduction that will be felt in prices“, the Minister of Agriculture explained.