Constant price increases of basic foodstuffs and other products, which do not follow the growth of salaries and pensions, along with the uncontrollable increase in merchants’ margins – are tormenting many citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The Association for Consumer Protection of the Brcko District in BiH sent an appeal to the authorities to strengthen controls and help vulnerable categories of the population.
Once very popular and visited, the Green Market in Brcko is now deserted during all seasons. Rising prices, low wages, pensions, and a generally low standard of living are the reasons why the purchasing power of citizens has weakened.
The Association for Consumer Protection of the Brcko District in BiH sent an appeal to the authorities to strengthen controls and help vulnerable categories of the population. They are most troubled by the uncontrolled increase in merchants’ margins, as well as numerous frauds when purchasing various products.
”We suggest that the Government, with its legal and other powers, try to stop the rise in prices among merchants by increasing the inspection of merchants and producers and by increasing the involvement of the inspection,” says Sukrija Dupcanin, president of the Association for Consumer Protection of the Brcko District in BiH.
A statement from the Inspectorate of Brcko District on the control of merchants could not be obtained. In May of this year, the District adopted the Law on Regulation of Prices, which was adopted in the entities much earlier, and is an instrument for controlling the formation of prices on the market and enables fines.
Dajana Nikolic is a volunteer of the Association for Consumer Protection of the Brcko District in BiH. She warns that there are a lot of defective goods on the market today – toys, devices…
”Let’s find a solution – to reduce the VAT on all food products and make that percentage 0. Then the people will save, if nothing, 15-20 BAM per month on each item. On 15-30 items they will save 150-200 BAM. Then they will be able to buy wood, firewood, and preserves,” points out Stojan Novakovic, a volunteer of the Association for Consumer Protection of the Brcko District in BiH.
A few days ago, the Government of the Brcko District BiH adopted the Decision on Limiting the Margin on Oil Derivatives, which prescribes the maximum amount of the margin in the absolute amount of 6 pfennigs per liter of derivatives for companies, entrepreneurs, subsidiaries, and other legal entities that carry out the activity of wholesale trade in oil derivatives, while for the performance of retail trade in oil derivatives, the maximum amount of the margin is prescribed in the absolute amount of 25 pfennigs per liter of derivatives.
