Covenant about supermarket prices

The Daily Herald reports that Commissioner of Economic Affairs Christopher Johnson and representatives of My Store, Big Rock and Unique supermarkets signed a covenant of cooperation that sets a maximum price on fifteen goods that are sold in supermarkets. The agreement is in effect since February 1.

On January 29, representatives of the supermarkets agreed to cooperate with regard to the list of items the Public Entity Saba has decided to place in the “basket of goods.” These items are tea, Vienna sausages, iodized salt, rice, flour, coffee, corn meal, powdered and evaporated milk, butter, sweet oil, sugar, cereal, pasta, cheese and meat.

In order to introduce measures to mitigate the high cost of living on Saba, the Executive Council sat down with the supermarkets to set maximum prices for these items. In accordance with the agreement, items in the basket are not to exceed the maximum price set by the island government and the supermarkets. It has also been agreed that no price increases are to be introduced without prior consultation. The supermarket owners are to hold meetings every three months or when prices of the suppliers increase, to discuss the current cost price. Furthermore, inflation, worldwide supply and demand changes, freight prices and other factors are to be taken into consideration.

A basic provision in the agreement is that there will be no price increases of goods on the list, which are already at or below the maximum price level, but there will be decreases for all goods that are currently sold above the maximum price.