The Directorate for Consumer Protection and Defense of Market Competition (Acodeco) carried out legal proceedings in the facilities of 13 rice factories and the association that brings them together in order to determine whether they exercise an absolute monopoly in the distribution and commercialization of rice throughout the country.
It is about an administrative investigation that officially started last year from National Administration for Free Market Competition, in the face of the alleged commission of absolute monopolistic practices, consisting of price coordination and limiting the production, distribution or commercialization of first-class rice.
These acts violate numbers 1 and 2 of Article 13 of Law 45 from 2007, indicated I agree.
The evidence gathered at this stage undergoes a careful juridical-economic analysis by the research team, in order to determine whether it is necessary to expand it or to conclude whether or not there is enough evidence to initiate a lawsuit before the courts.
Each economic entity involved could be fined up to one million balbos.
In recent interviews, director IThis was confirmed by the Institute for Agricultural Marketing (IMA), Carlos RognoniSince the main problem is the price of 40 cents, for factories that do not have significant volumes, their profit margin is narrowed, they prefer to sell special rice that has no price regulation and sells between 55 and 60 cents per pound.
Quality
Last year, in the procedure he carried out Institute of Metrology verified 56 brands of national pilado rice, of which only two met the quality parameters.
According to these results, of the 54 rice brands that did not meet the quality analysis, 32 were special and 22 were premium. The only two brands that met were premium rice.
According to the technical regulation Royal Decree DGNTI-COPANIT 75-2002which is the current standard, special rice must contain at least 94.5% whole grains, 5% broken grains and 0.5% rice.
First-class rice, 70% whole grain, 25% broken grain and 5% rice. Second, 55% whole grains, 30% broken and 15% rice.
Source: Panama America
I am Jason Root, author with 24 Instant News. I specialize in the Economy section, and have been writing for this sector for the past three years. My work focuses on the latest economic developments around the world and how these developments impact businesses and people’s lives. I also write about current trends in economics, business strategies and investments.
