The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has referred several food traders in Hail region to the Commission for Investigation and Prosecution (CIP) under charges of unilaterally increasing prices and not putting price tags on commodities they sell. An informed source in the Consumer Commodities Price Monitoring Department said regulations require that food prices must be displayed clearly. If there are repeated violations, preliminary notices and a final notice are issued and the Ministry of Commerce has authorized the Commercial Fraud Authority to refer violations to the CIP. The source disclosed that a number of traders have been notified of the necessity to show prices for the food they sell, including other essential consumer commodities. He added that his colleagues carried out field inspection tours to more than 7,000 stores in Hail and found some violations. Some violators have been summoned by the Ministry of Commerce to receive a final warning and several have been referred to the CIP under charges of hiking prices. If they are found to have illegally raised prices, they will be referred to the Administrative Court in the Board of Grievances for the issuance of verdicts intended to deter traders' greed. In a related development, the Ministry of Commerce has started forming specialist committees in every region in the Kingdom to monitor prices and compare them with the commercial commodities index before the advent of the holy month of Ramadan. Four committees have been allocated for every branch of the Ministry of Commerce. Committees include one for financing and three to closely monitor prices to prevent price increases of essential commodities. Saleh Al-Khaleel, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for Consumer Affairs, said that within two weeks, the ministry will issue an integrated, Kingdom-wide report on prices of Ramadan commodities. He said the ministry was monitoring prices in markets and determining which commodities are available.
