Premier: Gov't to Organise Round Table with Agro Sector on VAT on Foodstuffs

Bratislava, September 19 (TASR) - In order to apply consistently the reduced value-added tax (VAT) rate on basic foodstuffs, the government will organise a round table with other partners of the agriculture-food vertical, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday at a briefing following a meeting with representatives of retail chains, with Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Richard Takac (both Smer-SD) in attendance. The traders declared that their common interest, together with the government, will be to transfer as much as possible the change of the VAT rate to 5 percent into a reduction in the prices of basic foodstuffs. "We'll insist that the decision [on the VAT reduction] will be visible as of the beginning of 2025. In order to give credit to our joint efforts, we've agreed [with the traders] to convene another meeting very quickly, where others from the agriculture-food chain will also be present. We'll invite primary producers, suppliers, processors and trade representatives to say that we care very much about the basic food chain," emphasised the premier. Takac announced that the Agriculture Ministry will carry out price checks in the entire agriculture-food vertical by the end of this year. "We'll carry out this year at least two to three targeted checks across the entire vertical - in supermarket chains, food producers, and farmers. We'll get basic information on a certain list of foodstuffs, especially how much the food is bought for, what is the margin, how much is it sold for. This will then be compared with similar checks carried out after January 1, 2025," added Takac. am/mcs