H.E. the Minister of Commerce and Industry has issued a decree subjecting the infant milk to the rules and regulation of the provision organization in the extraordinary situation. This is after the end of the two-week deadline given to the institutions and factories producing or importing infant milk in the Kingdom to correct their situation. The Ministerial Decree specifies the maximum price of the infant milk can, weighing 400 grams, not to exceed SR 29 , and the maximum price for more than 400 grams cans, to be calculated on the basis of the price per kilo, and not to exceed SR 70 . The prices of the infant milk cans to be then determined according to the percentage of this level and according to their weights, with the exception of the products that are used to treat pathological conditions. The Ministerial Decree gave the companies and institutions a maximum period of 15 days to reflect the new prices at all sale centers in the Kingdom.
Weight of the Infant Milk Can Maximum Price
400 grams SR 29
700 grams SR 49
800 grams SR 56
900 grams SR 63
MCI has started with the Ministry of Health to study the practices carried out by the companies and the institutions producing, importing or distributing infant milk to the hospitals, which involve providing marketing support for their products in an unacceptable ways leading to the monopolization in the market and increasing the prices on the consumers, in addition to removing all the administrative and routine obstacles that limit the import of infant milk products under the provisions of this decree.
MCI contacted the companies producing or importing infant milk during the past two weeks in order to review all the violations with the company executives, and look at each company plans for correcting its situation.
According to the rules and regulations of the provision organization for the extraordinary situations, the penalty will be a fine and the closure of the shop with the red wax from 3 days to a month or arresting the violator from 3 days to a month or all of them, and publishing the decree at the expense of the violator for everyone who offers or sells the infant milk with more than the specified price in the decree, or who reduces the weight of the can, or who stores and monopolizes the goods for raising the price, or who refrains from selling or imposes restrictions on the sale.
MCI and the Competition Council began the investigation procedures with the largest institutions and companies producing or importing infant milk in the kingdom earlier this month after completing the control procedures and collecting the information jointly about the observed infant milk price rises in an increasing and synchronized way, and to ensure that the work of the institutions and companies producing or importing infant milk in the Kingdom is complying with the rules and regulation of the Competition System and the regulation of the Provision Organization.
It is worth mentioning that the violation of the institutions and companies to the provisions of the competition system requiring a financial penalty up to 10% percent of the total sales, and to be doubled in case of repetition with the publishing of the judgment at the expense of the violator.