The decision of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) on determining the amount of margin for certain basic foodstuffs and other foodstuffs needs to be corrected so that traders are satisfied, and the final decision will probably be known on Thursday, at the next session of the Government, as was decided yesterday at the meeting of representatives of the FBiH Government and the Association of Employers of FBiH.
“There was talk of evaluating and implementing the Government’s decision on the margin of basic foodstuffs, in order to optimize it so that no one is at a loss, ” told Zlatan Vujanovic, the Federal Minister of Trade after the meeting.
Furthermore, he said that trade is a sector that feeds over half a million citizens and that traders also need to be satisfied, in addition to the need to take care of the living standard of citizens.
Smailbegovic Adnan, the representative of the employers of FBiH, thinks that the decision of the Government is not acceptable for traders, and thus it needs to be corrected.
“We talked about why the decision is not acceptable to us. The decision should be changed so that it is acceptable at least in the minimum for traders, ” told Smailbegovic.
He added that the Association of Employers will meet regularly with the Government, and make corrections if necessary.
Also, it was said at the conference that the punishment of employers by the inspection will be stopped until Thursday.
On April 2nd, t
As a measure of direct price control, the Government has prescribed the determination of the maximum amount of margins in trade for certain basic foodstuffs and other products.
This measure refers to products within the competence of the FBiH, cantons, cities, and municipalities prescribed by the provisions of the Law on Price Control, as well as other foodstuffs and other products sold by all participants in the supply chain, more precisely companies and other legal and natural persons that produce and perform wholesale and retail trade.
Legal and natural persons are obliged to determine and apply margins so that in wholesale they do not exceed the maximum amount of six percent and in retail the maximum amount of eight percent of the purchase price.
This obligation applies to all types of flour and bread, pastries, as well as other bakery products from cereal flour, active yeast, milk and dairy products, eggs and egg products, sugar, tea, spices, salt for human consumption, rice, pasta, vegetable and animal fats, all kinds of fresh meat, fish and fish products, vinegar, canned meat and fish, edible oil, infant formulas and post-breastfeeding formulas, processed cereal-based foods, baby foods and foods for small children, dietary supplements, dietary products (including gluten-free products and food for special medical purposes).
The decision also considers disposable diapers for children and adults, sanitary pads, laundry and dish detergents, soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, as well as all kinds of seeds and planting material, products for plant health, animal feed and components for animal feed and fertilizer.
The value of listed inventories of all these products and the calculation of the purchase price is made according to the International Accounting Standards related to inventories.
Federal, cantonal, city, and municipal market inspections are in charge of the implementation and supervision of the implementation of this decision. The decision was made after the Prime Minister pf FBiH instructed the Federal Minister of Trade to carry out activities on the analysis of margins and the way of forming the prices of certain items, and then proposed a Decision on direct price control to the Government, which was done yesterday.
The Government will continue to monitor the movement of prices through the competent ministry and, if there are inappropriate and unjustified price movements, it will intervene again to protect the citizens.
The explanation of the Decision states that the problem of price increases is predominantly caused by external factors, and it is very important that the margins of basic foodstuffs are reduced to an economically justified level, appropriate to this very difficult epidemiological situation that reflects all economic, health, and social spheres of life. Essentially, this means that the margin should provide the trader with a positive business, but not the acquisition of extra profit and its enrichment.
Having determined that there are conditions for prescribing the measure of direct price control in the territory of FBiH, the Government of FBiH passed the Decision yesterday by which it determined the maximum amounts of margins in trade for fuel products (calculated prices).
Companies that perform wholesale of fuel products are prescribed a maximum margin in the absolute amount of 0.06 BAM per liter of derivatives, and those that perform retail trade with fuel products are prescribed a maximum margin in the absolute amount of 0.25 BAM per liter of derivatives.
The Government of FBiH will notify the FBiH Parliament of these decisions within 15 days of their entry into force, Klix
E.Dz.