Will the Consumer Be the Victim?

Despite the expectations of the Food and Agriculture Organization “FAO” which reported that, the international production of wheat crops in year 2012 was the second biggest production estimated 690 million tons, its declarations pointed that the international prices of food substances were up at the beginning of this year at a rate of 1%.
However, the latest detailed bulletin in the report of ” crops expectations and food situation” issued by FAO notified that wheat production of this current year decreased by 10 million tons than the production of last year, which was a primo registered production in year 2011.
Although expanding the agriculture and expectations of increasing in many states these year , as a result to the continuous hike of prices . It was expected that the crops will return to its normal situation in the regions ,which achieved high records of production in the last year. The report added that it is too early to inform on an exact international expectations of cereals production in year 2012.
In another direction, the index of food prices issued by FAO registered an increase of 1% within the first quarter of recent year. The highest increase are mostly in prices of sugar, edibles oils, explained the report and pointed that new burdens were accrued in the bill of importing appeared in doubling the price of US dollar and increasing the prices of shipment.
Whereas Sudan is a part f the international economic system and is affecting with the international finance crises addition to results of the south Sudan secession and reducing oil income in the public budget. Addition the rate of inflation had witnessed an increase evaluated of 21% compared with the rate of the last year, that reached to 16%.
The Sudanese Minister of finance explained that the continuous hike of food substances prices due to the rise of the exchange prices ,while the gab of the regulator parallel market reached to 55, 5% this current year , while it was 8,8% in the last year.
A paper of ( organizing the internal trade and the current requirements) in the draft of Trade and the Consumer protection law disclosed on huge increase in the list of Sudan imported commodities , while it raised from 9,6 billion in 2009 to 15, billion in 2010 , in a rate of 3,7%. Besides the increase of importing the food substances evaluated with 44.4% due to increasing the value of Sugar imports from 108,9 million US dollar in 2009 to 509,4 million in 2010.
Moreover, the paper detailed on the huge jump in importing wheat last year reached to 1,8 million tons as it expected that the quantities may reach to 2,2 million tones in the current year. Dependence of the state on the imported food will double the risks of facing the international prices fluctuations what will increase the amount of the governmental support to commodities addition to reducing the national food security.
The volunteer organizations play important role to protect the consumer in frame of the current conditions, addition to save the consumer’s rights through enlightening them with their rights and to transport the people’s complaints to the concerned parts and addition to control the prices of the necessary commodities in the markets.
Sudan is the unique state in Africa and in Middle East that established since 1999 a special prosecutor to protect the consumer, the environment and the public health. Besides it protects the consumers from the danger and risks of expired food substances and drugs and the chaos and monopoly of the strategic goods. There are more than (13) law and constitutions adopted by the prosecutor of protecting the consumer included the sentences of prison, penalty, and confiscation.