Mark-ups: three authorities jointly inspect retail chains' warehouses from today
Bulgaria's consumer, food safety and tax authorities are checking the warehouses of large chains. Retailers without justification face fines of up to 100,000 euros per product.
Symbolic image · Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Three Bulgarian authorities begin joint inspections in the warehouses of large retail chains on Wednesday. They are the Commission for Consumer Protection (KZP), the Food Safety Agency (BABH) and the National Revenue Agency (NAP), broadcaster BNT reported. The trigger is new data on mark-ups on dairy products: the highest mark-up found was 135 per cent for butter, 99 per cent for fresh milk and 95 per cent for white cheese. Retailers that cannot give objective reasons for price increases face fines of 10,000 to 100,000 euros per product.
The KZP has already opened eleven proceedings over unjustified price increases for basic foods. "We have started 11 proceedings for unjustified price increases – cheese, milk," said KZP chair Maya Manolova. Tomatoes, cucumbers and other staples are also covered. The retail association Association for Modern Trade disputes this reading, saying that neither the mark-up nor the gross margin equals the retailer's net profit. According to the association, profits in Bulgaria are comparable to those in the EU and at a similar level to Germany.