Kenitra-Sana
The committees concerned with following up market movement and controlling prices in Quneitra Governorate have intensified their patrols and work in order to implement the instructions of Decree No. 8 related to consumer protection and curbing price hikes.
A member of the Executive Office for the Trade and Economy Sector in the Quneitra Governorate, Faraj Saqr, indicated in a statement to SANA's correspondent that daily field trips are conducted to all shops and commercial markets on the governorate's land and in the IDP communities in Rural Damascus, and to see the extent to which merchants and shopkeepers adhere to the price bulletins set by the Ministry of Trade. Interior and Consumer Protection and the Directorate of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection in Kenitra.
Saqr indicated that the field trips also aim to educate the merchant and the citizen about the decree and spread awareness about the decree’s instructions aimed at reducing prices and achieving the interest of the citizen and the merchant alike, not the punishment, as well as adherence to specific price bulletins, possession of regular invoices and not possessing unknown-source materials in order to protect the interest of the seller and protect the rights of the citizen. He called on the owners of commercial events to launch charitable initiatives, reduce prices, feel the suffering of the citizen, and alleviate the difficulties of living reality.
In his turn, a member of the Executive Office for the municipalities sector in the governorate, Muhammad Al-Sami, pointed out the importance of the administrative units' participation with the Consumer Protection Department and conducting joint tours to markets and shops to monitor and control prices.
Director of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection in Quneitra, Hamdi Al-Ali, referred to the decrease in prices after the issuance of Decree 8, and consequently the decrease in the supply control after adhering to the price bulletin, as ten supply controls were organized after the issuance of the decree, which included not announcing prices, stressing the need for merchants and sellers to implement the new consumer protection law Pricing foodstuffs and consumer goods and announcing prices according to the bulletins of the Internal Trade and Consumer Protection Directorate, in implementation of the instructions of Decree No. 8 on consumer protection under the risk of taking legal measures against the perpetrators of violations.
A number of citizens pointed to the drop in prices in all commodities and products, especially vegetables and foodstuffs, calling for the necessity to intensify consumer protection patrols throughout the coming period to maintain price stability.
Ghassan Ali