RIYADH: The Consumer Protection Association (CPA) has been conducting surprise inspections at shops and grocery markets to check prices and inspect vegetables for the presence of pesticides. A source at the CPA said that a report on the inspections will be drawn up. “The report will be presented to the authorities responsible for monitoring prices and price rises, as they have not been fulfilling their duties in this area to the utmost.” The source said that the Ministry of Trade and Industry can suspend vegetable exports if prices increase further. Traders say that continued exporting to the Gulf will affect local markets, and have called for the Ministry of Agriculture and other authorities to set quotas for farmers or traders exporting agricultural produce. Muhammad Hameed, a vegetable trader, said the rise in prices is due to unregulated exports causing a supply shortage at home. “Saudi farmers are exporting to neighboring countries where they sell at higher prices than the local market,” he said. “The domination of foreign traders over vegetable stores and prices generally has become clear in recent times. A box of apples is up from 12 to 15 riyals, a small bag of onions up from five to eight, and a box of oranges now costs 30 instead of 25 riyals.” The rise, he said, has been across the board, with all categories of produce going up by 15 percent without exception. “That is also due to frost in Europe, the disruption of global air traffic, and flooding in India and Pakistan which have destroyed a large number of fruit and vegetable farms, and a fall in imports from Turkey and Syria,” he said.
