The Competition Council conveys that all large commercial networks have agreed to participate in the voluntary agreement to reduce the price of milk, as a result of the discussions initiated by the Competition Council, and in the next period they will negotiate with each processor they collaborate with.

"During the month of May we will see substantial reductions, on the shelf, of the prices of fresh milk, given that the retailers have confirmed their participation in the voluntary agreement. It may take a few days until this measure is applied in all stores, taking into account that the contracts with each manufacturer must be renegotiated and the existing stocks exhausted", said Bogdan Chirițoiu, the president of the Competition Council.

The voluntary agreement between retailers and processors to reduce the price for fresh milk for consumption was agreed for a period of six months and is to apply from May 1, as decided at the meeting with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, representatives of farmers, processors from the food industry, of the Association of Large Retail Networks in Romania and of the Association of Goods Distribution Companies in Romania.

Thus, the reduction of at least 20% of the shelf price will be applied to milk of Romanian origin that currently costs more than 7 lei/liter, without being included in any promotion, and will be shared between retailers (minimum 10%) and processors (minimum 10%).

"We expect that in the six months that the agreement is valid, consumption will increase. In addition, economic forecasts indicate that inflation will decrease, and thus we will no longer see such high increases in food prices", added the president of the Competition Council.

The competition authority became involved in the implementation actions of this agreement to guide interested companies to participate so that they do not risk violating the competition rules. Thus, the agreement must take place within the established parameters:

negotiations should be bilateral between each supplier and each retailer, with the latter having the possibility to apply discounts of at least 10%.

The Competition Council will monitor this initiative together with the responsible institutions, such as the National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC), using the Food Price Monitor, the online platform that displays the prices of food products.