“It's great news,” said Mohammad Sheik, a baby formula importer. Baby formula traders have already registered their inventory with the Ministry of Commerce up until April 14, including expected shipments, as instructed to enable the Ministry to pay the baby milk subsidies. All their inventory data will be confidential, putting stress on being provided with information of the country of origin of imported baby formula, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement distributed to the traders across the nation. Mohammed Sheikh said it is the first step to slash the prices of baby formula. “We made an inventory of the available quantities of baby formula in our storehouses and submitted it the Ministry of Commerce,” he said. He hoped for a quick implementation of the new prices at a specific date instead of the uncertainty that could cause a price confusion and variation in the local market. As to the meeting that they were scheduled to hold with Nashwa Taher, member of the Board of Directors of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chairperson of the Trade Committee to discuss milk subsides, he said, “The good news from the Ministry of Commerce made us cancel it.” In Dec. 2007, the Kingdom announced that the subsidy for baby milk would go from SR2 to SR12 per kilogram as part of efforts to reduce the financial burden on public caused by soaring consumer prices. The average price of a 13 oz can of baby milk is SR22 now. Earlier, baby formula traders shared concerns about the delay to implement the decision of subsidizing their inventories to avoid losses that could break the SR20 million mark. The quantities of baby formula available in warehouses across the nation are estimated at 1.25m cans of baby milk, sufficient for the next five months – Okaz __
