BRATISLAVA, April 19, (WEBNOVINY) — The dialogue between the Slovak government and merchants is improving, but the state is still not doing what it should, claim representatives of the Slovak Association of Trade and Tourism. “I feel that we have still not reached the core of the problem. We are still not dealing with the whole chain. We have not sufficiently focused on production and processing, but are concentrating hugely on retailers,” complained Tesco Stores SR Commercial Director Lukas Urbanek.
According to Urbanek, sometimes even merchants are “cheated” by their suppliers, such as when they supply goods other than specified. “It has to be clearly differentiated where the responsibility lies,” he added. Merchants thus refuse to accept responsibility for the entire chain, from farmers to consumers. The association’s head Pavol Konstiak stated that traders can be responsible for the sale of products after their due date or for damaged packaging, but not for poor-quality products from suppliers, in particular as in line with current regulation, traders can not physically check producers.
Merchants hope that parliament will eventually scrap the law on inappropriate conditions in retail chains. The vote on the law has been moved from the March to May session. The coalition will first have to come to agreement on the matter.
The state should focus on support for Slovak production rather than setting barriers and restrictions. “The state should clearly support the interest of the Slovak consumer in Slovak production,” Urbanek added.
SITA