The 16 new items are facial tissues, bedclothes, water pumps, buckets, dry batteries, sandbags, candles, bottled water, toothbrushes and toothpaste, flashlights, sealants, rubber boots, small boats (seating up to 15 people), life jackets and bricks.
Manufacturers of these items are required to declare production costs and the prices of raw materials used in manufacturing the products. Retail prices are then set by an independent board which hands the list to the Commerce Ministry to enforce.
People found selling these items at prices higher than the official price face a maximum five-year jail sentence, a fine of up to B100,000, or both.
The 16 items bring to 55 the number of products whose prices are controlled.
The other 39, announced in January last year, are:
- Corrugated cardboard, writing and printer paper, and Kraft paper;
- Motorbikes, cars, trucks, tyres and car batteries;
- Gasoline and LPG gas;
- Drip-grind coffee and sweetened condensed milk;
- Paddy rice, corn, eggs, garlic, cassava and cassava products, wheat flour, yoghurt, powdered and fresh milk, sugar, vegetable and animal oils, pork, instant food in sealed containers and food in reclosable containers;
- Animal feed, fertilisers and herbicides;
- Cement; electric cable, steel rod and iron plate;
- School uniforms;
- Detergents, washing powder and dishwashing products;
- Soap and sanitary napkins;
- Low-density polyethylene (mostly use for plastic bags);
- Medicines;
- Paper pulp.