“We see the price freeze highly positive, we needed to put a brake on it, that there be a very specific price and control policy to put a stop to the inflationary spiral”Claudio Boada, the director of the Union of Users and Consumers, told Télam.
“Either the market has concrete freedom to set prices and takes the entire market, or the State sets limits to curb this voracity, because we are in a distributive bid,” he added.
Prior to the meeting, Boada said that “we believe in the need for participatory control, control and oversight remain in the hands of the State, but consumers with our presence in all outlets can provide insight into what is happening.”
“There are 1,500 products, they are not few, they are not many, but when establishing price references, consumers lost the notion of prices, we pay and legitimize what they charge us,” he considered important “to establish references where there are prices that are maintained,” he added.
For price control “I understand that the mechanisms exist but they must be made visible and disseminated and after consumers see that the contributions they make have a result, that is very important, it is not to get the fight out but it is valuable information for management.”
“We have to have fluid and permanent dialogue because we do not believe that this is a merely electoral question, nor is it a question from now to January 7; if Argentina lived a history of inflation, we have to begin to build a history of stable prices, it is a first step, the freezing is very necessary but it must be accompanied by other medium and long-term actions so that this can be put on track, “he said.
In this context, he pointed out that “shortages by entrepreneurs are presented almost as a natural law, if there is control, shortages happen; when they say that there will be shortages, the large corporations are telling us ‘we are going to short out the market.’ , It is a deliberate action of a certain sector “.
For his part, the holder of the Association for the Defense of Users and Consumers Rights (Adduc), Osvaldo Bassano, told Télam that “We support the freeze because we consider that the way things are, with the speculation of concentrated groups is fine, now we believe that it is not enough, it should be complemented with other measures.”
He considered that “it is necessary to intervene to avoid these concentrations” and explained that “Arcor concentrates between 70 and 80% of food production, which generates a serious problem.”
He said that on behalf of the State “there are tools in Article 42 of the National Constitution, consumer law speaks of corporate social responsibility, abuse of dominant position, monopoly, in case of shortage if there is unhealthy speculation and more in food “.
“Also on the other side it is necessary that social organizations, mayors realize that defending the consumer is defending everyone, we are not talking about stores but large groups that do not comply with the norm,” he added.
Bassano said that “compliance (of the freeze) is quite strong and there is no shortage” and assured that there are companies that “make policy with prices” and are “companies in the last year earned more than in 2018; they want the market to dominate so that consumers end up being slaves. “
“There is going to be a confrontation between consumers and these groups, the consumer is free, the consumer must report it or not buy the product,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, the holder of the Defense of Users and Consumers (Deuco), Pedro Bussetti, maintained in dialogue with Télam that “Finally, having prices frozen for a reasonable time for Argentines will mean having some predictability.”
He pointed out that “the large supermarket chains today serve only 35% of the demand, the rest of the purchase in the local shops” for which he considered it necessary to control “the prices that the grocer has to pay in the wholesaler, which in some cases they are bigger than he has to offer the public. “
“It must be stated that if Arcor delivers the jam to the supermarket to sell at a price, it has to deliver it to the wholesaler at a lower price so that it can reach the merchant,” he explained.
In this context, he said that “all businessmen who have had profitability despite the pandemic have to collaborate at this time that there is a socio-economic emergency, in which there are Argentines who fail to cover the cost of the basic food basket.”
“They always use the argument of a possible shortage, we reject that there are causes for the shortage,” he concluded.
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