28 June 2016
DOHA: Aiming to check unjustified price hikes, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with major retail outlets to ensure price stability of food commodities and non-food items in Qatar through the year. The MoU requires these outlets to obtain approval of the committee, which sets price caps and profit margins, before increasing prices.

Eleven major retail outlets, which have 96 branches across Qatar, have signed the deal. The outlets include Al Meera Consumer Goods Company (41 branches), Carrefour hypermarket (six branches), Lulu hypermarket (six branches), World Food (four branches), Family Food Center (three branches), Qatar consumer complexes (five branches), Saudi Arabia hypermarket (six branches), Safari Hypermarket (three branches), Al Rawabi (one branch), Grand Hypermarket (one branch), Megamart (four branches), Spinneys (three branches), Food Palace (two branches), Grand Mart (10 branches) and Al Safeer Center (one branch).

Both parties have agreed to promote cooperation to ensure the price stability of basic consumer goods (food and non-food) which will be sold at a unified price across all outlets.

The MoU requires the formation of a joint team between the Ministry of Economy and Commerce and major outlets in order to ensure the effective implementation of the MoU and to maintain stable prices.

The ministry is represented by the Quality License and Market Control Department while major outlets are represented by those they nominate for the purpose of the MoU.

Dr Mohammed Nasser Al Qahtani, Deputy CEO of Al Meera Consumer Goods Company, said the MoU promotes price stability, which is in the best interest of consumers and allows them to purchase goods at affordable prices. Sheikh Khalid bin Thamer Al Thani, Director of Public Relations at Carrefour Hypermarket praised the agreement, saying it reflects both the public and private sector's commitment to promoting economic and social development in the country.

Sheikh Khalid added that the MoU indirectly benefits consumers by maintaining stable prices of consumer goods in the Qatari market and praised the ministry's efforts in preserving consumer rights. Mohammed Abdullah Al Attiyah, owner of Saudi Arabia hypermarket, said the initiative will benefit consumers and will help malls boost their sales thanks to this fair and profitable deal for both for suppliers and consumers.

Ali Hassan Al Khalaf, Chairman of the Qatar Consumer Complexes, said the cooperation between the Ministry of Economy and Commerce and the commercial sector reflects positively on the market by eliminating a large number of obstacles that may occur in daily practices and facilitating communication between the Qatari market and relevant authorities at the ministry.

The MoU falls within the framework of initiatives launched by the ministry during Ramadan under the theme "#Aqal_Min_Al_Wajeb," Arabic for "#the_least_we_can _do."

The initiative forms part of the ministry's efforts to monitor markets and commercial activity in a bid to fight price manipulation and protect consumer rights. The ministry stressed that it will not tolerate any violations of the Consumer Protection Law and its regulations, and will intensify its inspection campaigns to crackdown on violations. The ministry said it will refer those who violate laws and ministerial decrees to competent authorities, who will in turn take appropriate action against perpetrators in order to protect consumer rights.

© The Peninsula 2016