Reilly: fewer price tags might be OK
seacoastonline.com
By Associated Press,
BOSTON- Retail stores shouldn't have to put price tags on every item as long as they make price scanners available to the customer, Attorney General Thomas Reilly has said.
A 32-year-old state rule requires that a price tag be put on most individual items. Retailers say it's an antiquated, burdensome rule. But consumer advocates favor the current regulation so people won't be unpleasantly surprised at the cash register.
Reilly has unveiled a new proposal that would allow retailers to get rid of individual price tags if they place bar codes on every product and install a scanner with a paper printer. One scanner would have to be available for every 7,500 square feet of floor space, with a minimum of one per store.
A price would also have to be displayed on the shelf, said Alice Moore, chief of the Public Protection Bureau of the attorney general's office. And items costing $200 or more would still be required to carry price tags.
''The changes in the regulation really seek to strike the balance between notifying consumers of the price and allowing retailers to take advantage of electronic technology,'' Moore told The Boston Globe.
Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, praised the proposal as ''a huge step to bringing this law into the 21st century'' that would relieve ''the regulatory burdens on retailers and the cost burden upon consumers.''
Edgar Dworsky, a former assistant attorney general and editor of a consumer-oriented Web site, said the proposed regulation ''is tipped toward the retail side.''
He said it would present inconveniences to shoppers.
''Go into a Macy's or Filene's and you're going to have to find these'' scanners somewhere in the stores, he said.
Republican Gov. Mitt Romney has recently proposed that retailers pay a fee for a waiver from the price tag regulation.
Public comment on the regulation is to be sought at hearings on May 5 in Boston and May 7 in Springfield.
Supermarket industry representatives said the new regulation could lead to changes in item pricing in supermarkets. Supermarkets also must label most items, but they are covered under a different state law. Supermarkets have expressed interest in electronic shelf labels that could be changed instantaneously, saving the expense of relabeling individual products when prices change.
Chris Flynn, president of the Massachusetts Food Association, said that if Reilly's proposal is approved, the Legislature should give supermarkets similar relief |
