Vice Premier Jiang Yi-huah stated June 4 that relevant government ministries have been closely monitoring the price fluctuations of both local and imported products.
"Whether prices rise across the board or the price of a single item jumps abnormally, the government is paying close attention and taking action when appropriate. It is making an all-out effort to keep prices stable," he assured after convening the 43rd meeting of the Executive Yuan's commodity price stabilization task force Monday.
The task force's data showed that the prices of 17 daily commodities fluctuated between March and May. Rice, flour, sugar, milk, milk powder, detergent, toilet paper, shower gel and toothpaste became slightly more costly; pork, chicken, eggs, soy sauce, instant noodles, shampoo and sliced bread slightly less. Moreover, the prices of some brands of cooking oil dropped over 6 percent due to sales promotions.
The Executive Yuan Department of Consumer Protection surveyed the prices of 10 essential products in tandem with the Consumers' Foundation, Chinese Taipei and found that recent prices of most of those goods are below the peak prices seen during the survey period of January 2011 to May 2012.
According to the Ministry of Justice, district prosecutors offices have invited local authorities to convene with them about preventing illegal hoarding and opportunistic price hikes, and a complaint reporting network has also been established. A joint investigation on May 10 led to the refinement of communication mechanisms which will allow efficient cooperation between departments in future cases.
Meanwhile, the Fair Trade Commission, in addition to actively monitoring a wide range of consumer price trends itself, is facilitating other agencies' price surveys and legal investigations and aggressively investigating unjustified price hikes by monopolies and cartels. As of May 29, 2012, citizens have reported 76 cartel and profiteering cases to the commission, of which 47 have already been closed and 29 are still under investigation.