THE EUROPEAN

By Joseph Dalby (barister bases in Brussels)

The Commission has this month taken the first step towards the introduction of a Union-wide regime for the display of selling and unit prices on shop goods. By the time it is in operation every emporium, from supermarket to corner shop, will have to ensure that both the sale price and the unit price of each product is clearly visible to consumers.

The object of this proposal is two-fold. It is felt that the current wide and complicated system is so nightmarish that a new approach is needed to make price and value comparisons easier. It is also believed that unit pricing may reveal to consumers that they are paying exorbitant prices for certain goods compared to others. This has been borne out in France and Sweden, which already require unit pricing. Many supermarket chains are using the system to emphasise low prices.

In bringing forth these proposals the Commission is trying to bring order to a chaos largely of the Union's own making.

While the diversity of national pricing systems is a feature the Union has had to inherit, the Commission sees that it has compounded those differences with a patchwork of rules and standards. In theory unit pricing is compulsory, but it is complicated by many exemptions and qualifications and the method of targeting product ranges has proved unsatisfactory.

The new regime abandons product ranges in favour of a global approach, although a division will be kept between food-stuffs and non-food products. However, the basic rule is the same in both cases : the sale price and the unit price must be unequivocal, easily identifiable and clearly legible.

The law means changes for every shopkeeper in the Union. It is probable that when the directive is adopted member states will be required to enforce the new regime. This can only mean spot checks by administrations at a local level. National consumer associations will no doubt be alert to merchants who abuse the system.

Most small merchants will arguable have the most changes to make. Because of this, the law will give small traders a four-year exemption to adjust to the new system. The Commission is pushing for an increase in the use of optical bar code readers as the ultimate labour-saving device. Retailers may find insisting on suppliers providing suggested unit prices equally helpful.

Such an extensive proposal questions whether pricing curiosities across member states will remain or be lost under the weight of legislation. Items customarily sold by weight or piece can continue to be offered so. The object of the law is not to harmonise the way in which certain products are sold but to ensure that relevant prices can be clearly seen.

This said, the increased compulsory use of unit pricing will mean some conversion of national practices. But custom and common sense also have a great part to play. It is agreed that it is absurd to stipulate the price of one grain of rice or, as the Commission observes, "a square centimentre of T-shirt". Instead the characteristics of any product will dictate the composition of its unit price. A platter of cheses will thus become a single unit rather than several units.

In the case of products sold by weight, however, reference to a standard scale will offer comparisons between different products, whether they compete or not. The Commission seems to be offering this as a unique selling point; it seems to think that a kilo of wool might compare favourably with a kilo of caviar, or vice versa.

Whether consumers will be convincer of the merit of this remains to be seen. After all, which weighs more, a tonne of feathers or a tonne of stones?