Saatja: "Pasts" <
[email protected]>
Saaja: "Marie Allikmaa - MKM" <
[email protected]>, "info - MKM" <
[email protected]>
Teema: Request for Information Regarding Measures Addressing High Food Prices
Kuupäev: 2025-11-28 08:38
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27.11.2025. Nr. 3.3-11/2025/6945N
Dear Colleagues,
The Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia highly values the
close cooperation between our countries and remains committed to further
strengthening our partnership on matters of regional and economic
significance.
Latvia has been experiencing a prolonged period of elevated food prices in
the retail sector. Household spending on food remains high, and for
lower-income groups it exceeds 30% of total household expenditure. To
ensure the availability of daily groceries at prices aligned with
residents’ purchasing power, a Memorandum on Food Trade was concluded at
the end of May this year. The signatories—representatives of retailers,
farmers, producers, and the public sector—agreed that cooperation, rather
than regulatory intervention, offers the best approach for improving
market functioning and achieving shared goals.
The memorandum includes activities such as establishing a basket of
low-price products, creating a price comparison tool, and promoting local
products. The first assessment of its implementation will be conducted by
January 2026.
In parallel, to strengthen competition, enhance transparency, and
facilitate consumer access to affordable products, Latvia has developed a
solution for the continuous exchange of food price data for monitoring
purposes. Major retailers will be required to submit daily data on key
food products to the Central Statistical Bureau, where they will be made
available to developers of price comparison tools for informing consumers.
Furthermore, the government has approved a pilot project introducing a
reduced VAT rate of 12% for bread, fresh milk, fresh chilled poultry meat,
and fresh poultry eggs (in shells) from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.
Recognising that high food prices create increased pressure on households
and raise concerns about market dynamics and affordability—and noting that
Eurostat data indicate that consumer price levels in the Baltic States
exceed the EU average—we believe this challenge is shared across our
region. In this context, we would appreciate the opportunity to learn from
your experience.
We kindly request information on the following:
* Whether your country is facing similar challenges regarding high
food prices;
* What measures, if any, have been implemented or are being
considered at the policy level to address this issue;
* Any available insights, assessments, or best practices that you
could share.
Any information you are able to provide would be highly valuable for our
ongoing evaluation of potential solutions and for strengthening
Baltic-level cooperation in promoting economic resilience and consumer
welfare.
We thank you in advance for your time, cooperation, and support, and we
look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
IVETA STRUPKĀJA
Director of EU and Foreign Economic Relations
Department
Brīvības iela 55, Rīga, LV-1519, Latvija
[email protected] <mailto:
[email protected]> , www.em.gov.lv
<http://www.em.gov.lv/>