Ministerial Decree: The infant milk is subject to the rules and regulation of provision organization
MCI and the Trade Competition Council have started the investigation with the largest institutions and companies producing and importing infant milk in the kingdom after completing the research procedures, investigation and joint collection and detection of evidence and information during the last period regarding the price rises of infant milk in an increasing and synchronized way , and to ensure that the work and prices of the institutions and companies producing or importing infant milk in the Kingdom are complying with the rules of trade competition system and the rules and regulation of provision organization, in preparation for more stern action to correct all the notes and remarks recorded by the Ministry and the above mentioned Council.
MCI and the Trade Competition Council have finished the control work and gathering the information about seven national and foreign institutions and companies producing and importing infant milk whose prices have been rising in an increasing and synchronized way as observed during the last period. The control work included the formation of joint work teams composed of observers from the Ministry and the Council. These Control Teams have visited 10 main sites of these institutions and companies in Riyadh and Jeddah simultaneously , and completed the procedures of hearing the sayings of the institutions and companies officials and collecting the related documents and keeping them pending the completion of the investigation procedures, as well as referring the other observations and violations to the concerned authorities.
Seven national and foreign institutions and companies will be subject to investigation by the two above mentioned parties in accordance with the competition rules system and the rules and regulation of the provision organization regarding the detected violations including marketing procedures, administrative decisions, agreements and contracts all in violation. The companies under investigation will be given two weeks to correct the violating situation before taking more stern measures by the Ministry.
Based on preliminary information obtained by the Ministry and the Council, H.E. the Minister of Commerce and Industry has issued a decree for subjecting the infant milk to the rules of provision organization and the infant milk will be considered as a provisioning item, and based on the findings of the investigations with these companies, the Ministry may subject these products to the rules and regulation of the extraordinary situation, under which the Ministry would tighten the control procedures on the infant milk products and will impose the necessary penalties contained in such cases on the institutions and companies proved to be greedy and responsible for the manipulation of prices.
It is worth mentioning that the violation of the competition system requiring a financial penalty up to 10 percent of the total sales in addition to returning all the gains made by the violating company, the penalty will be doubled in case of repetition with publishing the judgment at the expense of the offender. The violation of the rules of the extraordinary situation for the provision organization requires a fine ranging between five thousand and fifty thousand riyals with the confiscation of the price difference and the closure of the shop with red wax from three days to one month or all what is mentioned, with the confiscation of all goods seized and publishing the decree at the expense of the violator .