Tough fines in price display law

Retailers will face tough new penalties if they fail to display clearly the price of their goods under legislation which will come into force from March 1st. Every time a business fails to display a price and is detected it will face penalties of €3,000.

Not only will businesses be required to display price tags, they will also have to indicate the price per unit of goods sold in quantity. And goods sold by weight will have to carry an "equivalent per kilo" price.

The measure is the first step in the establishment of a consumer agenda for Ireland. Retailers who "announce in lights" that they are holding sales may also be forced to adopt the same approach when they increase prices, according to the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney .

Announcing the new pricing laws yesterday, she warned they would be "rigorously enforced" by the Director of Consumer Affairs.

The Consumers' Association of Ireland welcomed the move but insisted inspections of premises must take place on a regular basis. Chief executive Mr Dermot Jewell said he hoped retailers found to have repeatedly broken the law would be fined a number of times.

"Not displaying prices is a problem that has existed for some time. A lot of consumers have complained that they have been unable to compare the prices of products and in a lot of cases were unable to even ascertain the price of a product," he said.

Mr Jewell said many retailers had put an emphasis on bar-coding, rather than price tags, in recent years. The failure to display prices had worsened in the last 12 to 18 months, with many traders having become lax about price display since the introduction of the euro, he said.

"These are very stiff penalties and we would be anxious that there would be sufficient enforcement and inspection to maintain this over time," Mr Jewell added.

The Tánaiste said the new laws would oblige retailers to provide clear and unambiguous information. "Unit pricing will also make it easy for the consumer to make accurate and speedy price comparisons as between competing products which are sold by quantity," she said.

The laws would apply to "everything from washing machines to furniture to basic foodstuffs".

"The new regulations also provide that all goods sold by quantity must be unit priced by reference to the base metric units of one kilogram and one litre. This means that consumers will be able to readily compare value for money when trying to decide between, say, a 500gm and 300gm pack. The equivalent price per kilo will have to be shown for both packs."

Mr Harney said other measures may be introduced if the need arises. She added she would consult with retailers and consumer groups before any other new legislation was introduced.