65 rule violations found in markets

65 rule violations found in markets Olivia Olarte-Ulherr / 22 July 2013 The customer protection department at the Ministry of Economy brought to light over 60 violations during its Ramadan inspection. “I found at least 65 fines in all these (inspections) in the market,” Dr Hashem Al Nuaimi, director of Customer Protection at the ministry, told Khaleej Times. These include 16 violations from the Abu Dhabi Fruits and Vegetable Market, 20 in Dubai, five in Sharjah and 25 in Fujairah for “no labelling of the items and some for increasing prices without any reason.” The offenders were given a warning letter and so far no one has been penalised, Dr Al Nuaimi said. However, a repeat of the offence could carry a fine between Dh5,000 and Dh100,000. According to Dr Al Nuaimi, non-conformances this year went down compared to last year. The Ramadan initiative sees the customer protection department visiting supermarkets and fruits and vegetable markets across the emirate to ensure availability of Ramadan items and the prices are in-keeping with the ministry regulation. During his visit to the Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society in Abu Dhabi Mall on Sunday, the director was pleased to find that “everything is fine … no shortage of items” and that there were more than 250 Ramadan items available at the supermarket, including the 100 items with fixed prices. “They also have two Ramadan baskets, one is priced at Dh99 and the other Dh170,” he said. Both the regular and premium baskets have 16 items inside but differ in brands. They include a tin of pineapple slices, oil, rose water, tea bags, basmati rice, almond and raisins. Other special offers at the Co-op include 5kg Masafi basmati rice, with casserole at Dh55.50; 2,475g Nido at Dh51.75; 1.8ltr x 2 Abeer cooking oil at Dh22.90; and Australian lamb shoulder at Dh22.85 per kg. Dr Al Nuaimi’s next visit will be the markets in Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah and Ajman. olivia@khaleejtimes.com Taylor Scott International