Trade association fears that price adjustments only favor manufacturers

Leaders of the business sector do not know the date when Venezuelan authorities will notify the new prices of the 19 items whose prices were frozen last November.

Since the National Superintendence of Fair Costs and Prices (Sundecop) started the registration of the companies related to 19 categories of products, Venezuelan authorities have promised to announce the new prices in different dates, but they have failed to do so.

Initially, the announcement was to be made on December 15, but it was postponed until January 15. Later, Venezuela's Vice-President Elías Jaua said that the government was going to provide information to the companies so they could assess prices. He also said that the new prices would be published on February 1.

Carlos Fernández, the president of the Venezuelan Council of Trade and Services (Consecomercio), said that there is uncertainty among storekeepers and distributors of those 19 products.

In view of the doubts about the criteria used by Sundecop, Fernández issued a warning. "It would be absurd to set final prices based on factory costs."

Retailers fear that prices to be set will only respond to the needs of producers rather than to the requirements of the rest of the links involved in the production chain.

"In many cases, trade in Venezuela is made through wholesalers; manufacturers supply products to wholesalers, and wholesalers supply products to retailers... We have to take all these types of realities into account," Fernández stated.

Meanwhile, Carlos Larrazábal, the president of the Venezuelan Confederation of Industries (Conindustria), highlighted the silence of Sundecop, despite promises made by Jaua. "To the best of our knowledge, no company has received an official notification."

He also said that the Sundecop has not set up the "technical groups" to work along with Venezuelan companies.

Sources of the Executive Office have said that "it is not the right political moment" to announce the new prices.

rdeniz@eluniversal.com