Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 12 Mar 2003

Vol. 563 No. 2

Written Answers - EU Regulations.

Denis Naughten

Question:

187 Mr. Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason the new unit price regulations only apply to retailers with scanning equipment; if the individual pricing of each individual product overcomes the need to implement the unit price regulation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7601/03]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ms Harney)

The reason the unit pricing element of the new European Communities (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) Regulations 2002 (S.I. No. 639 of 2002) applies only to retailers who make use of equipment for printing shelf edge labels or equipment for point of sale scanning is that I decided, following consultation with relevant trade interests, this approach would best take account of the particular circumstances of the small retail sector.

Article 6 of EU Directive 98/6/EC permitted member states to exempt, for a transitional period, certain small retail businesses from the obligation to unit price pre-packaged products. In this connection, I considered using exemption criteria based on the size of retail premises but this pro ved difficult on several grounds. Instead, I had regard to the fact that access to the technology for the printing of shelf edge labels and the use of point of sale scanning equipment can significantly reduce the time and other staff costs associated with pricing and recording sales. On this basis, I decided that the exemption from the requirement to unit price pre-packed goods should be confined to those retailers who do not make use of such technology.

The aim of the regulations is to provide consumers with general price information, selling prices, and unit price information that will enable them to make accurate and immediate comparisons between competing products. In general, therefore, the obligation to indicate unit price is additional to the obligation to indicate the selling price. However, regulation 5(2) does provide for a number of exemptions from the requirement to unit price, in addition to the exemption for small retailers outlined above, including products where the selling price does not relate to quantity, e.g. cars, washing machines, where the unit price is identical to the selling price, products such as sweets and crisps which are less than 50 grams or 50 millilitres, products being sold at a reduced price due to damage or danger of deterioration, and assortment packs, e.g. hampers. In these cases the obligation is to indicate the selling price only.