The Chamber of Industry Mercadeo and Food Distribution (MIDA) radiates the juveniles in the federal tribunal a legal action to detain the power in force of the new tariffs recently approved by the Public Transport Negotiation Agreement (NTSP) with the fin existing contractual agreements for the transport of food and to avoid an increase in food costs that impacts consumer spending.
The radical demand seeks the regulation and the circular map of the NTSP, which institutes the new tariffs, declares them null and void, as well as the declaration of a permanent injunction imposing on the governing body the issuance of unpaid debts.
“We have this urgent legal action, a law that has aggravated all cases, with the ability to protect consumers and detain another increase in the cost of food operations in Puerto Rico,” the LCD said. Manuel Reyes Alfonso, Executive Vice President of the organization, in written statements.
It is agreed that the actions of the NTSP are in violation of the Ley Promesa, and that the circular card was not issued to the Junta de Supervision Fiscal previamente para revision et aprobacion Asimismo, the tariffs are in conflict with the Fiscal Plan approved for the fiscal year 2020-2021.
According to Reyes, there has been a lack of information about how to increase tariffs and the existence of a new tariff system in sectors that offer private contracts negotiated free of charge for both parties and consumers. For this reason, it is unregulated that what is regulated by the Fiscal Plan is expanding the authority of the NTSP and dramatically changing the way we negotiate in our economy. The result is that it claims to implant the governing body in the food industry and at the end of the consumer, which will be affected by any increase in prices resulting from the application of the new tariffs.
“When the NTSP imposed temporary tariffs on transport in December, it ignored the existing commercial relations between the Independent carriers and the food trades. There is no serious analysis of the impact of this change on our economy. Historically, the Public Service Commission, the predecessor of the NTSP, has respected these relations, excluding its regulatory tariffs on the same rates agreed between private entities, carriers and merchants. It is absurd, and therefore the proposal for private contracts, pretending to apply tariffs designed for individual journeys that cover miles of journeys, offering guarantees and certainty to the transport companies, ”Reyes Alfonso concludes.
The recommendation:
The MIDA report states that the tariffs included in the new NTSP regulations do not take into account the functioning of the food distribution industry. Explained that the demand for the distribution and transport of food is a complex in which the companies contract individually with the two of the Independent trucks.
Asimismo, the payers and the transporters are based on the number of quays or “bultos” located in the retailers. The rates vary according to the location of the tents to receive merchandise, and for the type of cargo to buy: dry, fresh, refrigerated or congelada. We also influence the contraction of other factors, such as the weight and weight of the bumps. Load carriageways include multiple lots in different stores and municipalities.
It is stated that this contract is often revised annually because it also incorrectly states that the rates were not changed in 15 years so that it was adjusted in a much more efficient manner than any regulatory process.
‘I created a problem donde not lo había. The industry has always had a good relationship with its miles of carriers as evidenced by commercial relationships that lasted for decades. Everything in a negotiation can aspire to more than this process of negotiation which ensures efficiency in the consumer benefit chain. These sums are summarized in the taxes imposed by the operators with which the governor did not want to intervene, on the electricity and the international ones we control. “We are urging Governor Pierluisi to take a look at the food industry, defending the consumers of these foods and allowing us to clarify the confusion that has provoked a small sector that does not represent the private transport industry,” he said. Reyes.
The appeal filed by MIDA is the second appeal filed by private sector entities in relation to this regulation affecting the Chamber of Commerce issued last year in the Local Appellate Tribunal in the final months of January.