Mexico: Regulator reports high inflation in Agri-foods sector

On Wednesday the Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission published the “Report on Competition Conditions in the Agri-Foods Sector”, which analyses the sector’s structural, regulatory and functional characteristics from a competition perspective.

In the last decade within the OECD countries, the prices of food products have increased faster than other prices, but in Mexico the gap is even greater, which can be a sign of distortions of competition in the markets, but also other problems such as high transaction costs, adjustment and storage, expectations and perceptions of consumers, including state intervention revealed COFECE today.

In Mexico from 2005 to 2014, the difference between inflation in food products and the rest of the economy was 23.2 percentage points, the highest compared with other countries studied, COFECE reported.

The Agri-Foods sector is comprised of a large number of markets which range from agricultural activities, to farming and food processing as well as their distribution and merchandising channels.

The extensive report which made available on the regulators website. COFECE issued a long list of policy recommendations to encourage competition, within which highlights the need to improve how to monitor markets.

Full content: El Economista

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