Business Practices & Corporate Accountability In The News

A bill that would eliminate state requirements for grocery stores to individually price most products would “gut” consumer protections, watchdog groups charge.

Item-pricing reform has been a top priority of the Massachusetts Food Association and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, which have seen proposed legislation stall on Beacon Hill for the last four years. But they now have the backing of House Speaker Sal DiMasi (D-North End), who hopes to get the newest version of such a bill passed before the legislative session ends next month.

In lieu of individual price tags, grocery stores would be able to place self-service, price-reading scanners every 5,000 square feet. The scanners would not be required to print price stickers, as current regulations for non-food retailers mandate, nor would they have to indicate sales prices.

“It’s completely what every retailer wanted in the state,” said Deirdre Cummings, MassPIRG’s legislative director. “Particularly at a time when prices are high, we should be working to strengthen consumers’ ability to spend their money wisely, not making it more difficult to compare and find prices.”

The bill also “decimates” inspection requirements for the scanners and their accuracy, and drastically reduces penalties for violations, said Edgar Dworsky, founder of Somerville-based ConsumerWorld.org. It calls for criminal fines of $250 per inspection for violations in stores using aisle scanners, vs. current parking-ticket-like fines of up to $2,500 per week issued by inspectors.

“To say that the inspector has to go to court if he wants to fine a supermarket a mere $250 is crazy,” said Dworsky, a former assistant attorney general who authored the current food store item-pricing law that took effect in 1987. “If you don’t have tough enforcement, you don’t have compliance. The (attorney general) is not going to go to court to sue Stop & Shop because a can of peas has the wrong price or doesn’t scan.”

The watered-down regulations also would apply to non-food retailers who, since 2003, have been allowed to install self-service scanners instead of individually pricing items, Dworksy said.

DiMasi asked several committee chairmen to craft the redrafted bill, which is pending in the House Ways and Means Committee. “He’s pleased with their hard work and will be working to get this bill passed in the next few weeks,” spokesman David Guarino said.