Skopje, 10 March 2022 (MIA) – Bread, cooking oil and flour type 400 as of Thursday will be tagged purchase prices whereas profit margins in wholesale trade will be reduced for some basic foodstuffs from 5 to 4 percent and from 10 to 3 percent in retail. Margin reduction will be introduced for white sugar, long life milk, fresh meat, cured meat, including salami and sausages, cheese, rice, eggs, pâté and macaroni. Having been published in the Official Gazette, the decision regulating special conditions for trading certain items is in place until May 31. Margins have been lowered in agreement with the largest chain of supermarkets and traders of these basic food products, according to Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi. “By doing so, the Economy Ministry in cooperation with the chambers of commerce and traders is making efforts to ease the pressure following price hikes and to protect the standards for living of the citizens,” Bekteshi said. Wheat, fruit, vegetables and salt are exempted under the decision. Wheat will be imported from Serbia to provide continuous supply and delivery of wheat according to the agreed quantities of the traders. Fruit and vegetables aren’t covered because their prices are expected to drop after the arrival of a new package from Turkey. As a temporary measure introduced late Wednesday, export of cooking oil is fully banned after an analysis revealed that 330 tons were exported from the country from March 1 until March 8. A ban on flour, wheat and corn is likely to be introduced as well due to demand for export from neighboring and European countries. Also, next Tuesday, a measure will be announced for importing cooking oil from all countries with zero-percent customs duties. According to the CEFTA agreement, customs duties for cooking oil are not paid when imported from CEFTA member countries. Customs duties stand at 29 percent when imported from other countries, according to a briefing held at the Economy Ministry. The measure is expected to contribute to increasing market competitiveness and stabilizing cooking oil price. The Economy Ministry called on lawmakers to soon adopt law amendments, stipulating reduction of VAT for basic food products from 5 to zero percent, for oil and oil derivatives from 18 to 10 percent as well as reduction of fuel excise tax. Earlier, the government sent amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax and Law on Excise Tax to Parliament after presenting a fresh set of measures designed to alleviate the consequences from “one of the greatest economic crises ever.”