Romanian Retail Mkt Needs Good Commercial Practices Code- Assoc

The report also says the freedom of negotiation must not be restricted in any way.

According to the association, the profitability rate of large retailers in the food sector goes below 5% of their turnover.

The association adopted a stance on the matter following talks last week between the representatives of retailers, producers in the food industry and agriculture minister Dacian Ciolos, when the proposal to draft the aforementioned Code was forwarded.

Ciolos said that this Code would set some principles for further talks and civilized debates between retailers and producers.

Thus, the ministries of agriculture, finance and commerce decided to draft a memorandum stipulating the setting up of a group to work on the Code, which will be presented in the government meeting on Wednesday.

Large retail chains account for 35% of the Romania commerce, and their main suppliers mainly consist of Romanian companies.

The association consists of 16 members, namely, Altex, Billa, Bricostore, Carrefour, Cora, Diverta, DoMo, Flamingo, La Fourmi, Delhaize (Mega Image), Mobexpert, Praktiker and Selgros.

Producers in the food sector have recently asked that all taxes levied by supermarkets be screened to inform consumers on the actual price of a product and its markup pricing.

Moreover, they stressed retailers abuse of power, by imposing certain contractual terms, which significantly reduce producers’ profit, trigger an artificial increase in prices and cause proximity stores to go bankrupt.

The Romanian Competition Council started two weeks ago an “analytic” investigation on the retail market to see if economic operators use disloyal and monopolistic practices to ensure their dominant position on the market ".