DTI mulls SRP on flour

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry will come out soon with a decision whether or not to impose a suggested retail price (SRP) on flour.

In an interview on the sidelines of yesterday’s International Outsourcing Summit, Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo told reporters the decision would likely be reached on Friday.

During the time when sugar prices were high and unstable, Domingo implemented the SRP requirement to stabilize prices.

Last week Domingo said they might impose a SRP on flour because flour millers refuse to explain why they cannot bring down flour prices despite the continued decline in global wheat prices since July.

The imposition of the SRP will pave the way for the department to file profiteering charges against retailers and manufacturers who sell their flour above the government-set SRP. The last time an SRP for flour was issued was during the time of tropical storm Ondoy.

“The DTI might impose an SRP because they (flour millers) are not being cooperative,” Domingo told reporters last week. DTI has ordered millers to submit their costing in order to justify the P930 per bag price of flour.

Millers increased the price of flour last January after the price of wheat in the global market hit $454 per metric ton.