Argentine Congress passes anti-trust 'Supermarket Aisles' law
Argentina's Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill this afternoon seeking to limit anti-trust practices in the country's supermarket and grocery store chains.
The 'Supermarket Aisles' Law was passed 56-0 - three months after the Lower House passed the bill by 180-1. President Alberto Fernández, who took office in December, strongly supports the legislation.
The law establishes that grocery chains may grant any one firm or supplier 30% of the space in any given aisle, which must be shared with at least five other suppliers.
It also determines that 25% should be reserved for small/medium business products, and 5% to those of family farming.
In display stands and end caps - the most coveted sectors - 50% of the space must be reserved for products from small/medium businesses and cooperatives.
Predatory practices
The law seeks to curb predatory practices by both supermarkets and larger suppliers. Some 84% of the country's $14 billion in supermarket sales last year were rung up by just 8 firms.
Food and beverage prices rose 4.7% in Argentina in January alone - over twice the 2.3% rate for consumer prices as a whole.
Over the past 12 months, food prices have jumped by 58.8% - outstripping both overall inflation (52.9%) as well as wage growth (40.9%).
Today's bill follows legislation passed on December 23 to distribute 4 million EBT cards (covering 9% of Argentina's population), and a January 7 agreement expanding the number of items in the voluntary - but legally binding - 'Price Care' program from 70 to 310.
Real supermarket sales fell by 26% between 2015 and 2019, during the right-wing Mauricio Macri administration - a period known locally as the "Macrisis."
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The mayor of Pilar, Argentina, Federico Achával, verifies compliance in the voluntary - but legally binding - 'Price Care' program, which commits suppliers and stores to limit price hikes in the products included.
Today's bill complements the program by banning monopolization of supermarket shelves, currently dominated by around 20 distributors and 8 supermarket chains.
Food and beverage inflation had reached 59%, pushing nearly 10% of Argentines into hunger - in a country known for its agricultural wealth.
