The Department of Trade and Industry is undertaking a thorough assessment of pending petitions for price increases before issuing an updated suggested retail price bulletin.
The department adjusts the SRP list from time to time to reflect the true cost of commodities and the movement of supply and demand on a global scale and guide consumers and retailers in their purchase and sale of basic and prime goods.
“We discussed the pending petitions but we are yet to convene stakeholders. We are asking for more data,” said Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual who added that he needed more convincing from the manufacturers as prices of some raw materials for the manufacture of basic necessities recently eased.
Pascual assured the public that all increases in the SRP bulletin would be kept to a bare minimum to provide consumers with reasonably-priced goods amid the high inflation.
He said prices of some ingredients used for the processing and manufacturing of basic needs were fluctuating and it would be hard for the DTI to justify the increase if costs of raw materials swung back and forth.
The DTI through the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau conducts weekly monitoring of price and supply of basic necessities such as canned sardines, processed milk, powdered milk, coffee, bread, instant noodles, salt, detergent soap, bottled water, and candles; and prime commodities such as, but not limited to, canned meat, vinegar, patis, soy sauce, toilet soap, batteries, flour, cement, hollow blocks, construction nails, light bulbs, electrical supplies and steel wires.
The DTI said it would penalize retailers found to have overpriced products included in the general SRP and Noche Buena SRP list.
Under the Consumer Act, profiteering is punishable by imprisonment and/or fine of not less than P1,000 to P10,000.