A new panel is to probe the rising cost of food to ensure people aren’t forking out too much money for their weekly groceries.Premier and Finance Minister Paula Cox has made the long-awaited announcement that she is setting up a Price Control Commission to protect consumers from “unwarranted price increases”.She told the House of Assembly yesterday she was concerned people were paying too much for food while suppliers continued to cash in on their profits.In a groundbreaking move for Bermuda Ms Cox is to instruct the “collaborative team effort” between Government, suppliers, retailers and consumers.It comes after Ms Cox’s budget brief expressed concerns about the “worrying leaps” in the cost of food basics during these tough economic times.Ms Cox said: “We must ensure that consumers are protected from unwarranted price increases while suppliers continue to remain profitable.”Both the Bermuda Public Services Union and Bermuda Industrial Union highlighted the rising cost of food during negotiations over Government cutbacks earlier this year.The BPSU went as far as to ask Government to set a freeze on food prices to help its members through the economic crisis.It will be the responsibility of the Price Control Commission to identify the essential goods and services to be the focus of the enquiry.The overall aim is to produce a report for Ms Cox recommending on how Government can assist in ensuring that consumers get the best prices.The three-person panel of Lucia Peniston, Anthony Richardson and Daniel Reece will be tasked with:l Inviting interest groups, consumers and Bermudians to provide data, statistics and other information.l Inviting input from wholesalers, supermarkets and other relevant stores, businesses and services providing essential goods and services.l Consulting with the various unions including the Bermuda Trade Union Congress, the Bermuda Industrial Union, the Bermuda Public Services Union, the Fire Services Union, Bermuda Union of Teachers and the Prison Officers Union.l Consulting with the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation, and employer groups including the Chamber of Commerce and Bermuda Employers Council.l Obtaining information from shipping companies and other importers regarding the current cost of shipping, both air and freight.Ms Cox told the House she was putting her words into action following her budget brief for the Ministry of Finance in March this year.Her budget brief read: “Recently, the prices of food staples in global commodity markets have risen in worrying leaps. The Ministry of Finance has considered the implications for Bermuda and the policy options available to Government.“Given that Bermuda imports substantial proportions of the food consumed on Island, we are in the position of ‘price takers’. In these circumstances, a regime of price controls could have unintended consequences including the disruption of supply lines.“Accordingly, Government will use the powers of enquiry available under the Price Commission Act 1974 to obtain information from food importers about their import costs and margins to ensure that consumers are protected from unwarranted price increases.”Under Section 9 of the Price Commission Act 1974, a Minister can require the Price Control Commission to conduct an inquiry into “the price or charge made for any commodity” or “the cost of supply of any commodity”.The latest Government figures showed retails sales continued to drop, declining 7.9 percent by volume during May.Driving the fall were building material stores and liquor stores, which decreased by 7.9 percent and 7.4 percent respectively, both contributing to the 4.1 percent decline in value (or four percent after adjusting for inflation) for the month.The Department of Statistics’ Retail Sales Index revealed that food stores’ sales also fell 4.6 percent but service station sales rose 3.9 percent compared to May 2010 due to a 17.9 percent increase in the cost of fuel.l What do you think about this? E-mail news[AT]royalgazette.bm