Profeco Sanctioned 1,463 Stores During the Mexico Bird Flu Crisis Rocio Zayas - Rumbo de Mexico
go to original November 3, 2012

The sanctions were imposed on stores for either not clearly displaying prices, not respecting prices, placing conditions on sales, having incorrectly calibrated scales or refusing to sell eggs to consumers, even if they had them in stock. (The News)

MEXICO CITY – The Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco) announced that it imposed fines totaling 15 million pesos on 1,463 businesses for improper selling practices in the sale of eggs during the recent outbreak of bird flu (H7N3).

Egg prices in Mexico soared last August after bird flu was detected in the state of Jalisco. The subsequent culling of chickens led to a large-scale egg shortage in the country, which bumped up egg prices in some cases by more than double. This posed a serious problem because, according to the International Egg Commission (IEC), Mexico consumes 321 eggs per person per year.

Speaking at a press conference, Profeco head Bernardo Altamirano Rodríguez said that the agency has sanctioned 1,463 establishments. The sanctions were imposed on stores for either not clearly displaying prices, not respecting prices, placing conditions on sales, having incorrectly calibrated scales or refusing to sell eggs to consumers, even if they had them in stock.

He said that the bird flu outbreak has been Profeco’s biggest challenge so far.

“We have imposed 15.2 million pesos worth of fines on different establishments, suppliers, producers, et cetera. We have resolved 762 cases with economic sanctions, while another 440 are pending … (and in) 261 cases fines were not necessary ...”

Altamirano Rodríguez said that there are two types situations requiring penalties. The first has to do with commercial behavior; 656 suppliers were fined 6.6 million pesos, and second, with abusive practices, where, so far, 106 fines have been meted out, representing 8.6 million pesos.

He said that while the perpetrators have been identified and fined, they still have the chance to appeal the decision.

The Profeco has carried out more than 10,000 verifications throughout the country, and has asked 14 national egg producers and 12 local producers from the Altos de Jalisco area how the bird flu impacted them, in order to measure the overall impact of the crisis.

Approximately 22.3 million birds were lost in the outbreak, Altamirano Rodríguez said.

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