The National Assembly unexpectedly adopted on Tuesday a ceiling of 15% on the bread surcharge until the end of 2024, as well as an extension of the zero VAT rate on bread and flour until the end of the year. Otherwise, the rate was to rise to 20% from July 1.
“Producer prices are low enough, but the markups that are imposed on food chains are 40% – 55%. We suggest that this markup, especially for bread, be no more than 15%. Let all other goods be as they decide negotiation”said the chairman of the budget commission Yordan Tsonev from DPS, who introduced the changes during the vote on changes to the laws on personal income taxes and on gambling.
Rumen Gechev from BSP called the proposal pre-election, but defined it as reasonable and supported it. “This is one of the positive effects of the election,” he said.
After the budget committee supported the proposal, the plenary rejected it when considering the law on personal income taxes. However, Tsonev then proposed it in the transitional and final provisions of the Gambling Law, where the texts were approved.
However, it was limited to three types of bread – white, “Dobrudja” and typu.
Even before the final vote, the Association of Modern Trade (AMT) spoke out against the change. “The proposal to fix the commercial surcharge for bread represents a gross distortion of competition, threatens specialized traders with bankruptcy and poses a risk of limiting the supply of bread and bakery products to consumers, which will ultimately lead to an increase in prices”says the CMT position.
The association points out that the proposal is being made without serious analysis, impact assessment and consultation with stakeholders. “Such a proposal could have significant ramifications for FMCG retail.”the position also says.
From the CMT that markup fixing does not take into account traders’ costs of labour, energy, transport, premises as well as maintenance: “These costs are different for different types of sites, large, small and specialized stores. Fixing the markup means throwing out of the market the specialized shops for bread and bakery products and limiting the supply of bread by small traders who offer a limited product assortment”.
The association adds that there are a number of opinions of the CPC (No. 23 of 10.01.2019) and the Ministry of Economy, which are against the determination of fixed surcharges.
#Deputies #introduce #ceiling #overprice #bread #July #updated