As part of the plan to apply stricter controls to control price increases, the Secretary of Commerce, led by Matías Tombolini, This Wednesday it drafted new records for alleged irregularities at the San Miguel de Carrefour branch: “Out of a sample of 170 products, a lack of stock was detected in 64 products and a lack of signage in 58 products”, reads the official press release.
On Monday evenings (during the Carnival holidays), a Jumbo hypermarket was closed, for “missing goods” which falls within the Fair Prices. The measure has aroused surprise and a lot of anger in the large chains, which accuse the suppliers of the shortage.
Tombolini underlines it this year they have already applied 779 fines for a total of 806 million dollars for non-compliance with the regulated tariff schedule, which provides for a basket with 2,000 basic products at a fixed price and a maximum monthly markup of 3.2% – the “path”, for another 50,000 products in items such as footwear, mobile phones, textiles and even inputs industrial for production. The sanctions fell on only 10 companies. “Notifications will go out these days”they explained.
How could you confirm clarionAmong the companies fined are Nestlé, Cabrales, Mondelez, Carrefour, Cencosud (which controls the Jumbo, Disco and Vea chains), Changomás (the former Walmart), Día, and the wholesalers Maxiconsumo and Josimar. The remaining company name was not disclosed, as nor the accumulated amount which each of them will have to pay.
Although operations have intensified these days, in the sector they claim that the aforementioned fines are prior to the management of Tombolini. An industry source explained that the process takes between 1.5 and 2 years from the start of the process. “First, a report is drawn up and a file is opened detailing the alleged violations. Then comes the discharge of the company, its analysis and on this basis Commerce settles the situation,” he said.
This is if the deed is filed or if the sanction is to be applied. “Therefore, fines must be earlierie of the times of Paula Español and Roberto Feletti“, reasoned the executive, with a long history in the industry of mass consumption. Thus he alluded to the first two secretaries of commerce of the government of Alberto Fernández, who also applied price regulation mechanisms, without success.
The current tightening of controls and the spread of sanctions coincide with the inflationary escalation of recent weeks. In January, the CPI rose to 6%, against 5.1% in December and 4.9% the previous month. from the supermarket expressed deep discomfort not so much with inspections (“this has been going on for some time”, they say) but with the application of fines and closures to branches.
That’s what they say in the industry They have been warning for months of the shortage of products at fair prices and blaming manufacturers and suppliers for “not fulfilling orders”. In supermarkets they claim that the level of compliance (deficiency) is around 45%, i.e. they receive less than half of what they ask for. They add that they have been warning about the problem since last year, with no response. “Oil that isn’t in the supermarket costs much more in self-service”to describe.
The chains are now on the alert, especially for compulsive branch closures. Two days ago Comercio closed a Jumbo branch. “We have received several alerts in a very short period of time and We found that 32 products were out of stock and more than 14 had a shortage of more than 80%.Tombolini said. Hours later, the official tweeted a carefully edited video (with gondola testimonials, captions and background music), to amplify the measure.
In supermarkets they believe it’s all part of an “overreaction” to try to cushion the impact of the inflationary jump in recent weeks. Private advisors forecast another bad indicator for February. Eco Go estimates 6.3% on average, driven by food at 7.8%. A report by LCG, which measures values in supermarket chains, indicates that in the first 17 months of this month, prices rose by 3.7%. That is, above the established official ceiling.
Source: Clarin
