AMMAN — The
National Society for Consumer Protection (NSCP) has described hikes in the
prices of commodities as “unjustified”, rejecting the claim that they are a
natural result of the Russia-Ukraine war.
اضافة اعلان
The society’s
statement was issued after an increase in the prices of essential commodities,
was noted.
Consumer rights
advocates contend that the two countries in conflict, huge suppliers of grain
and other food products, are not Jordan’s main sources of imports of these
commodities; Jordan’s imports from the two do not exceeding 10 percent of the
total imports.
Moreover, the Kingdom’s
strategic reserves of essential commodities are sufficient to meet the needs of
the country for an entire year, they say.
NSCP President
Mohammad Obeidat said that the chaos in the markets these days “causes us to
worry, due to the repeated and programmed rises in the prices of some
commodities under flimsy pretexts from some traders”.
For example, he
said, “the price of cooking oil, especially the kinds used by average
restaurants, has gone up from 9 to 15 percent, which will lead to losses that
restaurant owners may not be able to bear, consequently prompting them to raise
the prices of their popular dishes that most middle- and working-class families
depend on, which, in turn, will negatively affect these families’ purchasing
power”.
Obeidat charged that
the package sizes of some commodities have been tampered with, and their prices
were increased, or that the prices of some goods stayed the same even though
their sizes grew smaller.
He urged the
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply
to deal with the “chaotic situation” in the markets by setting limits on the
prices of goods that have became unjustifiably high.
“Leaving the
situation as is without holding violators to account would encourage other
vendors to increase the prices of commodities under the same pretexts and
justifications,” he said.
There have been
recent hikes in the prices of some types of feed, such as corn and soy, which
are essential to livestock farming, at rates ranging between 10 and 20 percent
“despite a drop in their prices globally by 4 per cent”.
“This will lead
to an increase in the cost of milk production, which will, in turn, lead to
hikes in the prices of all dairy products and cheese” for end users, he said.
Some traders
“take advantage of any situation or development, whether local or global, to
serve their own interests, either by raising the prices of goods under
unsubstantiated pretexts, such as the high prices of these goods in the
global market or the high costs of transportation, shipping and storage, despite the fact
that the strategic stock of these goods is often sufficient for local
consumption for more than six months, especially the essential commodities that
the citizen needs on a daily basis”, Obeidat stressed.
“There is no
doubt,” he added “that the weak purchasing power of citizens has contributed
greatly to the stagnation in the markets, but this stagnation always affects
the retailer and wholesaler and not the primary importer.”
Obeidat said the
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply “should conduct a market study to
identify the actual prices of the commodities whose prices were hiked on the
global market and the cost of bringing them to the end users, including the
profit margins of importers and vendors, and act accordingly to address a
situation like the current one”.
He also advises
consumers to search for alternatives to certain goods and ration their
consumption if possible, and, most importantly, boycott those goods until their
prices are brought to the previous levels.
Salah Al-Roudhan, a Jordanian citizen, said: “I used
to buy basic commodities per month at a value of JD200, and two months ago I
noticed that the allocated amount was not enough to purchase all basic needs,
but I needed to add JD30, bringing the total amount to JD230.”
Livestock breeder
Zaid Al-Daboubi said that he noticed an increase in feed prices since
mid-December, when the price of a sack of feed was JD8.25. It has risen to
JD12.50.
Lack of
competition makes the situation more difficult, Daboubi said, stressing the
need to find feed-exporting countries with reasonable prices, such as India,
Azerbaijan, and Turkey.
He said that the
government policy “seems to be against sheep breeders”, at a time when the
percentage of families that make a living from this is on the rise, and “in the
event of the extinction of this sector, these families will not find anything
to eat”.
Jordan News tried to contact the president of the Amman
Chamber of Commerce, Khalil Al-Hajj Tawfiq, but he did not return the call.
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