Marcel Ciolacu: Some traders reduced the weight, but left the prices the same | Romania

Reducing the weights of the products has reached the center of attention of the authorities.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that a regulation will be drawn up by which manufacturers will be obliged to visibly inform on the packaging that a product has a lower weight, but the price is unchanged.

The Prime Minister specified that this phenomenon is increasingly common in European countries.

Marcel Ciolacu: Some retailers have reduced product weights but kept prices the same. I believe this is a form of consumer fraud. It is actually a camouflaged and economically unjustified increase in price, under a very similar packaging. I ask all the control authorities in Romania to intervene urgently, and in parallel to prepare a regulation on the French model – manufacturers must be obliged to visibly indicate on the packaging that they have reduced the weight, if the price of the product has remained unchanged, and, obviously, harsh sanctions for failure to comply with this obligation.

The price increase of the products was “masked” by the producers in several areas of the world by maintaining the price, but for a smaller quantity.

In several states, consumers have revolted against this phenomenon, called shrinkflation, and authorities have forced manufacturers to clearly indicate on the label that the product has shrunk. Those who do not comply risk very large fines.