Saudi Gazette report AL-AHSA — Random visits to many bakeries in various parts of the Kingdom revealed that most of them do not comply with the bread weight standards despite constant warnings from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Alsharq newspaper reported. Many citizens and expatriates Alsharq met had made the same complaint: bakeries do not abide by the standard weight because they know they can get away with it as there are no deterring penalties or fines for violators. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry set the standard weight of a white flour loaf at 640 grams. In Jeddah, the weight of a loaf at some bakeries was found to be 500 grams while in Taif it was 400 grams and in Al-Ahsa it was 356 grams. In Najran and Jazan, it was 425 grams and 500 grams consecutively. Faiz Hamada, chairman of the bakeries' committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry said 30 percent of the bakeries around the Kingdom violate the standard weight of bread. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry fails to impose hefty fines or deterring punishment for violators, he added. Some of those bakeries that violate weight regulations, buy their flour at the black market for high prices, he noted. That is why they do not stick to standard weights while others raise the prices of bread. The Grain Silos and Flour Mills Organization (GSFMO) held the ministries of commerce and industry and municipal and rural affairs responsible for high bread prices that hit the market. The JCCI bakeries' committee deputy chairman pointed out that the unlicensed bakeries helped in creating a black market for flour. He said there are 1,200 bakeries in Jeddah and one third of them did not have proper licenses, which means they cannot buy government-subsidized flour from the GSFMO. They buy their flour on the black market and jack up their prices. Section 3/8 of the penalty and fine regulations regarding municipal violations stipulates that any bakery that violates regulations should be fined between SR500-SR3,000 and this fine doubles if a bakery repeats the same violation. In case of continuous violations, a bakery should be shut down.
