RIYADH — The Ministry of Commerce has set up committees to monitor flour distribution in Asir, Jizan and Najran regions following a recent shortage that has led to black market dealings.
The decision came after several meetings held by the ministry and the Grain Silos & Flour Mills Organization (GSFMO) with distributors. The meeting instructed flour distributors to verify the identity of people they are selling flour in order to put an end to price gouging.
“We’ve mentioned to the distributors that there will be penalties imposed upon those who violate the regulations. Furthermore, the violator will be barred from work,” said Saleh Khalil, general manager of the Provision Directorate at the Ministry of Commerce.
The GSFMO has assigned a file for each distributor containing all his data to sustain the monitoring process. All distributors have been asked to contact the Ministry of Commerce to update the data about the businesses buying flour from them.
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abou Kharsha, head of the branch of the Ministry of Commerce in Asir, said that checkpoints had been informed to keep an eye out for purveyors delivering flour between southern cities in an attempt to stop price gougers.
Abou Kharsha asserted that violators would be issued harsh penalties, which include confiscating the flour and banning the traders from the market. The authorities also set quotas on buyers in order to give small bakeries a chance at the limited supply.
Ali ibn Hamid Al-Shahry, a flour supplier from Al-Majarda in the Asir Region, said that the GSFMO branch in Khamis Mushayt recently placed 2,500 bags of flour for sale after 12 days without stock. The flour was being distributed among local bakeries with the authorization from the municipality.
In a related development, Al-Majarda Municipality slapped SR1,000 fines on a number of bakeries that had reduced the size of their loaves from 640 grams to 400 grams without informing customers.
The flour shortage is hurting small bakeries that buy flour from purveyors. Large bakeries that buy directly from the GSFMO are reportedly seeing an increase in sales since customers of smaller bakeries are resorting to buying bread made in automated bakeries that are sold in large chain stores.
