"Shrinkflation": SPÖ Demands High Penalties

Before the final coalition negotiations on a "shrinkflation" law on Monday, the SPÖ is demanding higher penalties for violations of consumer protection standards. The term "shrinkflation" describes smaller packaging contents at the same or increasing price.

"Shrinkflation": 500 Reports After "Action Sharp"

Julia Herr, deputy SPÖ club chairwoman, told the APA: "The penalties for retail corporations - even in the case of repeat offenses - are so low, as if one would only have to pay 50 cents for speeding in traffic." This does not deter, which is why a change is needed. Therefore, a tightening is necessary.

The SPÖ points out that an "Action Sharp" with intensified controls by the market authorities has resulted in 500 reports since the beginning of the year, 200 of them in October alone - and this, even though controls had been announced in advance. This shows that it is a structural problem. Nevertheless, the maximum penalty for such violations is only 1,450 euros, the Social Democrats are annoyed. By comparison: Anyone collecting more than two kilos of mushrooms in Salzburg pays up to 14,600 euros in fines. For large retail corporations with millions in sales, such "lax penalties" do not pose a risk.

Penalties Too Low for SPÖ

If one assumes a realistic average penalty of 500 euros per case, this would result in a total penalty amount of 100,000 euros for the 200 cases in October, for example. How little this is can be seen from the fact that the four largest food retailers in Austria spent around 500 million euros on advertising alone last year. Those who deceive pay less in fines than they spend on self-promotion in a few minutes. The SPÖ now wants to orient itself on international models. In Germany, fines of up to 25,000 euros per violation could be imposed. In France, companies paid up to 15,000 euros per case. Large companies in Hungary faced fines of up to 2.5 percent of annual sales.

If one were to orient oneself on the French or German penalty levels, the food corporations would pay a total of 3 to 5 million instead of 100,000 euros for 200 such violations, argue the Social Democrats. However, how high the penalties should be from the SPÖ's point of view for discount violations or unmarked "shrinkflation" is left open before the final coalition discussion round. However, it is important to the SPÖ that penalties should differentiate between large companies and smaller businesses.

(APA/Red)

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