Florin Barbu: Capping the commercial markup could be extended to all food products in stores

The cap on retail markups, currently applied to certain basic food products, could be extended to all food products sold in retail stores, Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu said on Thursday, November 5, at the AGRI4FUTURE National Conference: Romania – Objective 2035. The measure is expected to be analyzed at government level amid rising costs and warnings that food prices may increase.

The minister said that a possible VAT reduction on basic food products could not be confirmed at this time. However, he argued that the retail markup cap mechanism, introduced in 2023, had helped curb prices. According to Barbu, overall inflation is two percentage points higher than food inflation.

The current form of the cap expires at the end of the year. Before deciding whether to extend or amend the measure, the Government will analyze inflation data, including price developments across product subgroups. Data from the National Institute of Statistics is expected on November 12.

Florin Barbu warned that maintaining consumption is essential for the food industry. In his view, a decline in consumption could lead processing units to reduce their activity and productivity, also affecting jobs.