The price agreement announced by President Lacalle Pou with the beef chain could be illegal for contradicting the Law for the Promotion and Defense of Competition. Article 4 of that rule says that It is forbidden to “contract or impose directly or indirectly purchase or sale prices or other transaction conditions.
Lacalle Pou told Channel 12 of Melo on Friday that The Value Added Tax (VAT) will be removed from the strip roast, which “will mean a decrease of around $50” per kilogram. That initiative required a bill —which was voted on by the Senate this Tuesday and later by the Deputies— because it is not allowed to do so by decree, according to the president.
Instead, with the other bovine cuts on the bone “it is simply an agreement with the entire chain from the refrigerators to the wholesalers and finally, to the buyer”, which will last “at least a month”. “We have solved the issue of beef with this VAT project and with the agreement not to raise the other cuts,” said Lacalle Pou.
a background
The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) already called a price agreement previously during the current administration. It was in 2020 with the main supermarket chains and the Center for Retail Storekeepers, Baristas, Self-service and Related of Uruguay (Cambadu) to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the basic consumer basket.
Back then, the economist specialized in competition Sebastián Fleitas assured that “the legislation seems very clear in Uruguay that price agreements are prohibited without having to prove that they harm the consumer. It is a practice that the legislation says: ‘Noor can be done no matter what its effectunless there is a law —or a decree that refers to a law— that allows it to be done’”.
Faced with the current agreement, Fleitas yesterday reiterated the same position as in the previous agreement through his Twitter account.
The Observer He contacted the MEF to know his position, but from the portfolio they replied that, “for the moment, there will be no comments from the authorities” on that subject.
