DTI tightens watch on prices

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is stepping up its nationwide monitoring of basic necessities and prime commodities as rising fuel costs threaten to push up the prices of food and other essential goods.

Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque has ordered DTI offices across the country to closely monitor groceries, supermarkets and other markets to ensure that businesses do not use higher petroleum prices as a reason to impose unjustified price increases.

“Inatasan na nila ang lahat ng kanilang tanggapan upang paigtingin ang monitoring at matiyak na lahat ng prime commodities ay hindi basta-basta nagtataas ng presyo,” Roque said in a radio interview over Radyo Pilipinas.

Roque said the government is closely watching commodity prices but has not found it necessary to impose a price cap at this point, describing the situation as still manageable.

The intensified monitoring comes as higher fuel prices raise transportation, production and distribution costs, creating additional pressure on the prices of basic goods.

The DTI warned business owners, manufacturers and retailers against artificial price increases, with violators facing penalties and fines under existing consumer protection laws. The agency’s Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau is tasked with price and supply monitoring of basic necessities and prime commodities under the Price Act and other fair-trade laws.

The government has also continued deploying measures intended to cushion consumers and vulnerable sectors from higher energy and food costs, including fuel assistance and affordable-rice programs. The Palace said the P20-per-kilo rice program had expanded to hundreds of outlets nationwide by July.

For consumers, the latest price watch means the DTI will be keeping a closer eye on whether increases in essential goods are justified by actual market conditions or go beyond prevailing suggested retail prices.

The agency has previously imposed enforcement measures against businesses that violate price-control or fair-trade rules, including notices of violation and other sanctions provided under law.