Setting prices of 29 commodities absurd: Shop owners association

The prices of 29 food products, including fish, meat, eggs, pulses and vegetables, set by the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) at the producer, wholesale and retail levels is absurd, said Bangladesh Shop Owners Association.

The association also said the prices estimated by the DAM at the producer level is a figment of their imagination.

The shop owners association demanded postponing the price chart put forth by the agricultural marketing department as the authority set the prices without sufficiently checking and taking into consideration various issues related to the prices of products.

The leaders of the association said otherwise there will be no way left other than shutting the businesses.

They also presented a seven-point demand at a press conference organised at the organisation’s headquarters in Moghbazar, Dhaka Tuesday.

Bangladesh Shop Owners Association president Helal Uddin read out a written statement at the media conference.

He said an acute economic slowdown is ongoing in Bangladesh and around the globe. The prices at the wholesale and retail levels have increased due to a spike in production and import costs of commodities. On the other hand, the buying capacity of the consumers is declining proportionately.

Helal Uddin further said many small and very small traders have lost their capital in this situation. Those who have survived also have been passing their days in dire straits.

Terming the agricultural marketing department’s decision of setting prices at that moment as a sabotage, he remarked this would harm both the government and the shop owners.

“The agricultural marketing department’s price chart is not consistent with that of the TCB (Trading Corporation of Bangladesh),” Helal Uddin said.

“There could be severe scarcity of commodities in the market due to this decision,” he warned, informing the media that they were receiving information from different districts that the traders are not confident of selling broiler chicken at the retail level. “As a result, the small and very small traders might face obstacles in running their businesses once again.”

He expressed that the agricultural marketing department could organise selling the 29 products at the retail level under their management during this holy month of Ramadan. Helal Uddin proposed to accommodate a spot for the DAM at different markets.

This could produce better results than setting the prices of commodities, he thought.

The shop owners association told the media that the traders have been trying hard to keep the prices within the reach of the consumers.

Mentioning this, the shop owners association put forth seven demands. The other six demands are ensuring the correct statistics of import and production of various products, enhancing the capacity of TCB, reorganise the market management system, bringing the authorities of all the consumer goods under a single ministry, ensuring the sufficient supply as per the demand, guaranteeing the traders to do business without any kind of pressure from any authority, and decreasing all types of VAT and taxes on the essential commodities.

Asked why the setting of prices is just a figment of imagination, shop owners association president Helal Uddin said there is no scope to set the price in the free market economy; rather, the price will be set based on the demand and supply. The marketing department can sell products in the markets if it wants to bring the market situation under control. “But fixing the price in this way without any discussion with anyone is leading to a crisis in commodities in the market; the raids are being conducted in retail markets.”

He also demanded stopping harassing the retail sellers in the name of raids instead of enhancing monitoring at the producer level.

The shop owners association leaders also called for stopping taking tolls at different levels.

Bangladesh Shop Owners Association secretary general Zahirul Haque Bhuiyan and leaders of various district committees and business leaders of various markets in Dhaka were present at the press conference.