Ministry decree for all goods to have price sticker may push up retail price

s According to a Finance Ministry decree, from October, shops will be required to stick a price tag on every product sold, or install barcode scanners with printers - two per every 50 square meters of shopping space. The new regulat ion is aimed at helping customers who come across situations where they are asked to pay more for goods than the price marked on the shelf. After it com es into effect, customers will be able to check the price of a product and t ake a printout from the scanner, which would serve as proof if any doubts ar ise at the cash register. Retailers fear that they will have to install doze ns of barcode scanners, costing zl. 5,000 to zl. 6000 each, even in smaller stores. Hypermarkets argue that even though at present they only have a hand ful of scanners installed, they are sufficient as there are no queues. "With an average area of one store around 12,000 square meters, we would have to s pend zl. 2.9 million per store on scanners," said Lidia Deja, spokeswoman fo r the Geant hypermarket chain. "The EU does not require stores to put a pric e on every product, it is sufficient if it is marked on the shelf," said Ren ata Juszkiewicz from Metro AG, which operates the Real hypermarkets. She add ed that the cost of installing so many scanners would be disproportionate to the benefits. (Gazeta Wyborcza, August. 17-18, p. 27) T.J.