{"id":257061,"date":"2025-11-06T11:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T15:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=257061"},"modified":"2025-11-06T11:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T15:30:09","slug":"government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Monitoring Supermarkets for Food Price Reductions After Tariff Suspension"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Prices and Consumer Affairs Division is monitoring local supermarkets to ensure consumers benefit from the government\u2019s temporary suspension of the Common External Tariff (CET) on basic food items, Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Thursday.<\/p>

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Speaking at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing, Merchant confirmed that the measure is already in force. \u201cIt is in place,\u201d he said. \u201cIndividuals should have already started to see some decrease in the cost of those items. The tariffs have been removed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to a question about whether consumer protection officials are adequately equipped to verify compliance, Merchant said, \u201cThey are equipped. They were the first to be notified of the reduction as this came through the Ministry of Trade. They are aware and they are monitoring.\u201d<\/p>

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He added that price-tracking data will be reflected in upcoming reports. \u201cWe should see some reporting during the next cycle of monthly reports that we get from these divisions as it relates to the lifting of the CET on these items,\u201d he said.<\/p>

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The Cabinet decision to lift import tariffs on key goods was intended to ease the cost of living, and officials have pledged corrective action if retailers fail to pass on the savings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Prices and Consumer Affairs Division is monitoring local supermarkets to ensure consumers benefit from the government\u2019s temporary suspension of the Common External Tariff (CET) on basic food items, Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Thursday. Speaking at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing, Merchant confirmed that the measure is already in force. \u201cIt is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":257063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment Monitoring Supermarkets for Food Price Reductions After Tariff Suspension - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government Monitoring Supermarkets for Food Price Reductions After Tariff Suspension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Prices and Consumer Affairs Division is monitoring local supermarkets to ensure consumers benefit from the government\u2019s temporary suspension of the Common External Tariff (CET) on basic food items, Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Thursday. Speaking at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing, Merchant confirmed that the measure is already in force. \u201cIt is […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-06T15:30:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-06T15:30:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot_6-11-2025_112938_www.bing_.com_.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"631\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"516\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"anr_staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"anr_staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"anr_staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f66ae26f5698168092c3ef9bccb12038\"},\"headline\":\"Government Monitoring Supermarkets for Food Price Reductions After Tariff Suspension\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-06T15:30:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-06T15:30:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension\/\"},\"wordCount\":210,\"commentCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:631\/h:516\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot_6-11-2025_112938_www.bing_.com_.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-monitoring-supermarkets-for-food-price-reductions-after-tariff-suspension\/\",\"name\":\"Government Monitoring Supermarkets for Food Price Reductions After Tariff Suspension - 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