Consumers' association calls for price freeze

The Consumers' Association has called on the authorities to introduce a limited price freeze on products and services to protect consumers from inflation caused by the changeover to the euro.

Association president Emanuel Farrugia expressed the fear there were not enough safeguards in place to protect the consumer from euro-related price increases.

The price of products that did not increase from abroad should be frozen from next month until March. Malta will adopt the euro on January 1.

Two importers have already pledged to freeze prices for these six months through price stability agreements reached with the National Euro Changeover Committee, which is currently working to reach more such agreements with other businesses. The committee is publishing the prices in its newspaper, which is distributed to households.

This step, however, came under fire from the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU which last week accused NECC of giving free publicity to one trader at the expense of competitors.

The Euro Observatory, which regulates the euro changeover, defended the measure, saying it was in the interest of consumers to know what products fell under the price stability agreements.

The association agrees with the publication of prices of those products that fall under the price stability agreements, Mr Farrugia said yesterday.

He expressed hope that no amount of pressure "of whatever nature" will make the NECC or the Euro Observatory change or modify the stability agreements. This would be considered "detrimental" to consumers' interests.

The Consumers' Association is represented on the NECC consumer sub-committee and Mr Farrugia said it had already proposed the price freeze measure there.

However, it had been informed that certain constituted bodies were working together to curb abusive price increases related to the euro changeover.

"We will let consumers, the price observatory and the mystery shoppers be the judges of whether this step produces the desired results," he said, adding that constituted bodies could not speak for and control traders which were not their members.