Ministry keeps tabs on market traders

Hashim Al Nuaimi, director of consumer protection department at the Ministry of Economy, centre, inspects the fruit and vegetable market in Ajman. Pawan Singh / The National

AJMAN // Ministry of Economy (MoE) officials visited fruit and vegetable markets in Ajman on Wednesday to ensure all products had suitable prices.

Hashim Al Nuaimi, director of the ministry’s consumer protection department, said: “We noticed during the tour that all goods are available and there is no shortage in vegetables. The prices of many products are less than the last year, and we also decreased some goods’ prices.”

Mr Al Nuaimi said that a box of tomatoes was selling for Dh15 this year compared with last year when it was Dh45. Inspectors also noted a lack of electronic scales and asked the municipality and standards and metrology organisation to calibrate the markets’ scales and to make them electronic.

Of 100 shops investigated, inspectors found 21 to be in breach of various laws.

Fines for the offences, which ranged from a lack of price tags on products and goods unfit for human consumption to shops where the sign was unclear, were between Dh5,000 nd Dh10,000.

The director said that about 13,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables entered Dubai market per day, while 4,000 tonnes entered Abu Dhabi market.

They agreed with the municipalities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi to extend by two hours the working hours of fruit and vegetable refrigerators.

“Because Ajman markets get their goods from the refrigerators not from port, we extended the operating hours of the refrigerators from 12am to 2am to provide the largest possible amount of goods to the [whole] markets in UAE.”

MoE officials said that from the beginning of Ramadan they had made 60 announced and 380 unannounced inspection tours that covered all the markets of the country.