Fines of up to Dh200,000 for breaching UAE's egg and poultry price cap

Ministry of Economy has carried out hundreds of inspections to ensure retailers are abiding by new regulations

The government regulates prices of essential items such as cooking oil, eggs, fresh milk and rice. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Retailers and suppliers face fines of up to Dh200,000 if they flout the UAE's 13 per cent price increase cap on eggs and poultry products, the Ministry of Economy said on Tuesday.

The ministry last month approved the increase due to higher production costs incurred by suppliers.

It later said the decision only applied to goods supplied by nine UAE producers and would be reviewed after six months.

Abdullah Al Shamsi, assistant undersecretary for the Monitoring and Following Up Sector at the Ministry of Economy, said at the time that the UAE had “no intention of increasing prices of essential items”.

“We want to ensure that no unjustified price hikes are applied by suppliers and strengthen mechanisms to counter monopoly practices,” he said.

The ministry said those who breach the mandate — including by hiking prices above the 13 per cent figure — would receive financial penalties ranging from Dh10,000 to Dh200,000 for repeat offenders.

It said some fines had already been handed out during inspections held to ensure compliance with regulations.

More than 300 spot checks have been carried out since the start of Ramadan, with more planned in the coming weeks.

The ministry urged the public to report retailers ignoring the regulations by calling the toll-free number 8001222.

The UAE government regulates prices of essential items including cooking oil, eggs, fresh milk, rice, sugar, fresh poultry, bread, flour, cleaning detergent, lentils, chickpeas and beans.

Supermarkets must ask permission to charge more than the amount set by the authorities.

The long-standing policy is credited with keeping inflation under 5 per cent, around half the figure in the US and the UK last year.

New policy in the works

The government is conducting an in-depth study to develop a new policy to regulate the price of basic consumer goods, Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq said last week.

The report will help to shape the strategy, which is aimed at supporting consumers as well as suppliers and local producers.

It will allow authorities to ensure market rates are fair and that consistency can be reached in pricing goods.

Mr bin Touq spoke of the importance of maintaining “stable and reasonable” prices on essentials, in response to questions from the Federal National Council, the UAE's parliamentary body.

The rise in cost of some eggs and poultry goods was met with disappointment by consumers, particularly as it came shortly before the start of Ramadan.

Mr bin Touq said the timing of the decision was not related to the holy month, but was driven by the need to address the effects of increases in the cost of production, imported feed, other materials and international freight faced by poultry and egg companies and farms, all of which had reached record levels.

He said the request to raise prices was submitted by companies and farms in October.

The ministry subsequently conducted a study with the support of a special advisory team to assess the costs of eggs and poultry products.