Staff Reporter:
The decision to include information about rice variety, price, and production date on sack labelling will be effective from today.
All rice millers must comply with the new directive that was announced by the Ministry of Food on February 21 in a circular to prevent unreasonable price hikes.
As per the circular, each rice sack or bag must display information regarding rice variety, weight, mill gate price, production date, and the name and location of the manufacturing mills.
The information must be printed on the sack/bag before supplying to the market.
The ministry issued the circular after officials discovered that rice produced from the same variety was being sold in the market under different names and prices.
This adds a financial burden on the consumers, the ministry said in the circular.
“In this context, guidelines have been set to ensure reasonable and affordable rice prices, as well as for monitoring purposes,” read the circular.
This will also help monitor the rice market properly, it added.
The same guideline is also applicable to any corporate company. In such instances, the company can specify both the maximum retail price and the mill gate price.
