Cost of breadbasket items remains steady –

but retailers still operating on ‘honour system’, with no checks in place

BY DELANA ISLES

The cost of breadbasket items in the TCI has been holding moderate from February to March, a fact observed in the monthly report from the Department of Trade, Industry and Fair Competition.

However, this means little since the cost of food in the TCI is reflective of the rising cost of food in the United States where reports indicate food prices remain stubbornly high, after an uptick in February.

CBS reported on Wednesday, April 12, that inflation eased to 5% in March, its lowest level in almost 2 years.

A year ago, the TCI government introduced several measures to address the rising cost of living in the territory, among them cutting the customs processing fee (CPF) and an exemption on import duty for retailers.

However, meat, fish and chicken are all substantially pricier than they were two years ago, as well as cereal and bread, which cost about 20% more today than they did in 2021.

In August 2022, the government implemented a suite of measures to bring some relief to residents.

Among those measures was the slashing of import duties on items such as: rice, flour, grits, bread, spaghetti/instant noodles, macaroni & cheese dinner, cornflakes – cereal, chicken, Vienna canned sausage, fresh and canned meats, cheese, evaporated milk, eggs, cooking oil, fruits, sugar, instant baby food/juices, water, cleaning supplies (gloves, bleach, alcohol, Lysol detergent), disinfectant (bleach, hand sanitiser, antibacterial soap), adult and baby diapers, protein nutritional shakes such as ensure, boost or Glucerna, and tea and coffee.

And on March 15, Cabinet approved the extension to the Customs (Import Duty Exemption) (No. 2) Order 2022 and (Customs Processing Fee) (Variation of Rate) (No. 2) Order 2022 (the Order), exempting the payment of Import Customs Duties and Customs Processing Fee on the importation of Breadbasket Items to September 30, 2023.

Who is really benefiting from the import duties on food items being slashed?

This means continued savings for retailers.

However, questions remain as to who is monitoring whether businesses are passing these savings on to consumers, and whether measures will be put in place to halt price gouging.

The Weekly News reached out to the Minister of Finance, Honourable Erwin Jay Saunders for some insight. He shared that they do not have measures in place just yet to ensure consumers are reaping the benefits of price cuts to retailers.

Rather, they are working with an “honour system”.

“We have not taken an approach where we’ve been going and saying to the retailer why haven’t these prices changed, this seems excessively high given that you’ve gotten some concessions.

“Right now, we’re depending on the retailers, to be honest.” He said the approach that has been taken is to provide the