All
traders within The Gambia are urged to confine themselves within the limits of
the Essential Commodities Emergency Powers Regulations, 2020 or get prosecuted.
In joint press release from different government institutions, the general public is being informed that pursuant to the proclamation of a state of public emergency under section 34(1) (b) of the 1997 Constitution in response to the COVID 19 pandemic, His Excellency the President of the Republic of The Gambia, in the exercise of his powers under section 3 of the Emergency Powers Act [Cap.17:04, Vol.4 Laws of The Gambia, 2009] has promulgated the Essential Commodities Emergency Powers Regulations, 2020.
Under these Regulations, the wholesale and retail prices of all essential commodities are frozen to the prices they were sold in open market as at 18th March, 2020. The essential commodities affected by these Regulations are: rice, maize, millet, flour, sugar, milk, bread, chicken, eggs, meat, fish, cooking oil, onions, tomato paste, potatoes, cement, soap and sanitisers.
The Regulations also prohibit the hoarding of any essential commodity or imposing conditions requiring the buying of other commodities or services as a condition for the sale of an essential commodity.
The re-export of all the above mentioned essential commodities and petroleum products are also suspended for the duration of these Regulations.
An Essential Commodities Committee (ECC) has been established for the strict enforcement of these Regulations and consists of –
The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment; Executive Secretary- Gambia Competition and Consumer Protection Commission; The Solicitor General and Legal Secretary; The Commissioner General, Gambia Revenue Authority; Inspector General of Police; The Director General of SIS; and The President, Consumer Protection Consortium, The Gambia.
Any person who violates these Regulations is liable to prosecution and a fine of five hundred thousand dalasis and the immediate suspension of his or her trade licence, and its revocation upon his or her conviction. Accordingly, all traders are encouraged to cooperate with the ECC in order to alleviate the potential serious impact on the lives of ordinary Gambians in the light of this pandemics
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