Consumers in Cyprus will soon be paying for the actual net weight of products, as opposed to the weight including packaging that suppliers often use during the weighing process, resulting in inflated costs for consumers.
Starting from January 1, 2024, a decree issued by Energy Minister George Papanastasiou will enforce a change in this practice.
According to Consumer Service Director Constantinos Karagiorgis, businesses will be required to exclude the weight of packaging from the final price of a product.
This means that the weight indicated will solely pertain to the product content, not the packaging.
Karagiorgis clarified that this practice will apply to consumer-purchased products where both weight and price are determined at the final weighing.
For example, if someone buys a kilogram of bakery goods, the weight of the paper box used for transport will be deducted, resulting in the consumer paying less than they do currently.
It’s worth noting that the decree specifies that the weight of packaging should be subtracted from both the product weight and the price.
The calculation will consider the net weight of all packaging types, such as paper, plastic, wood, etc. However, this measure will not be applied when the weight of the packaging is negligible.
The decision to implement this change came after consumer complaints about being charged for a specific product weight, only to discover that the purchased item weighed less when accounting for the packaging during the final weighing and pricing process.
The Consumer Service has emphasized that this new practice, set to take effect in the new year, will not impact pre-packaged products where the net weight is already indicated on the packaging.
