Agreement in principle reached: Prices of around fifty products in FBiH reduced and frozen from Friday

(Patria) - Federal Minister of Trade Amir Hasičević held a meeting with representatives of the Employers' Association from the trade sector, domestic producers and representatives of the processing industry, as well as representatives of consumer associations and the Trade Workers' Union.

The meeting agreed on the continuation of the project of reduced and frozen prices for basic food and hygiene products, with the aim of alleviating the pressure on consumers' living standards.

Retailers offered a working version of the list of "50+20 items", in order to make the most necessary foodstuffs accessible, primarily to socially vulnerable categories.

- We continue the dialogue in a spirit of partnership and seek the best solution with representatives of the Employers' Association from the trade sector, in order to respond to market challenges.

We also heard important remarks from representatives of consumer associations. The working group will continue to agree on details, and the agreement in principle is that from Friday around 50 products will be reduced and frozen - said Hasičević.

He stated that last year's project "we freeze prices", in which retailers with 1,500 sales outlets participated, had positive results and enabled customers to save around 60 KM on a basket of products whose prices were frozen.

- We see that countries in the region are introducing administrative measures such as margin caps. I am still of the opinion that an agreement can find the best solution and that more favorable prices for basic food and hygiene products can be ensured - Hasičević points out.

The host of the meeting and director of "Konzum" in BiH, Nihad Imširović, said that retailers have shown good will and social responsibility.

- Retailers have shown good will and commitment to, building on last year's project "we freeze prices", once again meet our customers' needs and demonstrate social responsibility.

Some producers have joined us, and we still expect suppliers to join as well, so that through this synergy we can achieve the best result - said Imširović.

He also noted that this project, like the previous one, is not designed to ensure low prices for luxury products, but to enable socially vulnerable categories to provide themselves with basic foodstuffs at acceptable prices.

The meeting participants emphasized that this time, too, it is not about the cheapest and low-quality products, but about those that are most commonly sold.

The project will last three months, and it was agreed that the list and prices will be analyzed every 30 days to avoid losses in case of sudden price increases on the world market, the Federal Ministry of Trade announced.