Bakeries, butcheries, cafés often fail to display prices

Bakeries, butcheries, cafés often fail to display prices

Economic Affairs Minister Kris Peeters has called on businesses to comply fully with price-display legislation after inspections by the Economic Inspection Service showed that, too often, clients cannot immediately see the prices of articles or services in bakeries, butcheries, cafés and beauty salons. Inspectors visited 819 businesses this year and prices were not correctly displayed in 314 of them. The worst offenders were bakeries, 48% of which were non-compliant, establishments in the Horeca (restauration and hospitality) sector (42% non-compliance), beauty parlours (36%) and mortuaries (34%).

Most of the time, prices were simply not displayed. At other times, prices per kilogramme were missing, for example in butcheries, while in other cases, total prices inclusive of VAT were not indicated. In Horeca establishments, inspectors found that, most of the time, prices were not displayed at the entrance. However, when they visited a second time, the businesses had corrected the situation.

“Consumers need to be able to see clearly how much a product costs in a business,” Minister Peeters commented. “That enables them to compare prices and avoids bad surprises at checkout.”

The Economic Inspection Service plans to conduct further targeted checks in future.


The Brussels Times


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