Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku will meet next week with representatives of the big chain stores, to whom he wants to propose an extension of the mechanism to limit commercial additives to staple foods, a scheme that expires on February 1.

• “Next week, I also want to discuss with representatives of large grocery chains together with the Minister of Agriculture to determine how we will continue the price ceiling mechanism for basic products.
• For pensioners and others alike, it is vital that we find a way to continue this scheme until next spring.” said the Prime Minister.

Government sources said ahead of the cabinet meeting that a meeting with retailers would take place on Monday, January 29, and that it was possible that traditional Christmas dishes would be removed from the current list, but that staples would remain.

If an agreement is reached, the extension will also be for 3 months: February, March and April, sources said.

Currently, the list includes 21 food products with limited commercial addition

At the end of October, the government passed an emergency decree limiting to a maximum of 5% the commercial surcharge on seven other food products – oil, sugar, flour, sorghum, pork, chicken and beef – which are imported in bulk and which are not processed in Romania.

The law extended for another three months the ban on commercial additives for basic foods, and the list will include 21 food categories, compared to 14 foods previously.

As of August 1, the emergency decree limited commercial allowances for 14 groups of food products for a period of 3 months, with the stated aim of stopping the rise in prices of basic food products.

List of products with limited commercial addition at this time

• ordinary white bread 300 – 500 grams, without dishes;
• fresh cow’s milk 1.5% fat, 1 l;
• Bulk Telemea cow’s cheese;
• natural yogurt from cow’s milk, fat content 3.5%, maximum 200 grams;
• white wheat flour “000” 1 kg;
• sorghum 1 kg;
• M caliber chicken eggs 10 pcs.;
• sunflower oil 1 liter;
• fresh chicken meat (whole chicken, chicken cutlets, whole boneless chicken legs, chicken wings);
• fresh pork (processed meat, leg with and without bone, loin);
• loose fresh vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow onions, dried beans, carrots, bell peppers, capsicum);
• wholesale fresh fruit (red and golden apples, plums, watermelon, table grapes);
• fresh white potatoes in bulk;
• white sugar 1 kg.

Commercial allowances are applied to the non-taxable VAT value of agricultural and food products, according to the decision adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers on June 30.

Failure to comply with the provisions is a misdemeanor, if it was not committed under such conditions, which according to the criminal law is a crime, and is punishable by a fine from 100,000 lei to 2,000,000 lei, the regulation states.