• Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK, is appealing to sellers to cut prices of food products following the statutory VAT changes to be implemented from 1 February onwards.
• At a special meeting with the industry, he announced actions to be taken by UOKiK and Trade Inspection, including constant monitoring of prices of selected food products and denouncing negative practices of sellers.
• The first monitoring results concerning the price level of food products will be available in a few days. 

- "Within a few days, when doing everyday shopping, we should feel the VAT reductions on basic food products introduced in the Government's Anti-Inflation Shield. At today's meeting with the industry, I called for responsible actions by sellers. There is still time for chains to rethink their pricing strategies so that customers benefit from the changes resulting from the VAT reduction on food. I also very much appreciate the positive and responsible reaction of those chains that have already announced reductions in their shops. My appeal also goes to vendors and producers. We are all facing a huge challenge. Next week, I will meet their representatives to raise awareness of this sector as well," says Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

From February 1, in line with the Government Anti-Inflation Shield prepared by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, VAT rates will be reduced to 0% for food products currently taxed at 5%. These include meat, fish and fish products, dairy products, fruit and vegetables, cereal products and bakery products, certain beverages and even products for infant and child nutrition such as porridges.

Today, President Tomasz Chróstny invited the Polish Organisation of Trade and Distribution and the Polish Chamber of Commerce along with more than a dozen retail chains to a meeting to call for positive practices towards consumers. At the same time, he announced actions that the Office will take in the nearest future.

"We start constant monitoring of food prices from the next week onwards. Among other things, we will put products such as bread, dairy products, vegetables and fruit in a basket that we check periodically. We will monitor the value of the basket of basic goods in the largest retail chains in Poland. We aim to verify sellers' response to the statutory reductions. We also encourage small enterprises to take responsibility and not to use the situation to increase prices and margins at the expense of consumers," explains Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

Due to the introduction of zero VAT on food products, employees of the Trade Inspection will start actions in selected retail outlets in the last week of January.

In his analysis, the President of UOKiK covered a basket of several basic products including butter, milk, bread, oil, sugar, flour, eggs, dairy products, meat, fruit and vegetables. Furthermore, during their investigation, inspectors will check whether the seller has placed information at the cash register about reducing the VAT rate to zero on food products in force from February to the end of July.

The next step would be to take proceedings concerning breaching collective interests of consumers, for which a penalty of up to 10% of turnover could be imposed. The President of UOKiK does not rule out actions against other entities as well.

Consumers, if you noticed irregularities related to the price of goods after VAT reductions, notify UOKiK. A special email address has been set up to make it easier to report any irregularities: zgloszenia.ceny@uokik.gov.pl.

Consumer support:

Phone 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer hotline
Email: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or county
Trade Inspection – in your voivodeship

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL