During the visit, officials assured that there is sufficient supply of basic grains, so there are no reasons for price increases in beans, corn and rice. "With these inspections we have verified what we already presumed: there is a good supply of basic grains. Domestic production has been very good, although we are a little short of self-sufficiency", said minister Guardado.

"It is important to see that the measures taken by the Central Government with reference to having given more agricultural packages, technical assistance and accompaniment- have borne fruit (...) the corn production registered for the 2022-2023 cycle is 22,700,000 quintals of white corn and 2,700,000 quintals of beans", said the head of the ministry of Agricultura y Ganadería.

The president of the DC said that to date more than 2,650 price verifications have been carried out in the supply chain, among these are importers, distributors and final points of sale, such as supermarkets and market stalls.

 "As a result of these inquiries we have already activated the requirement of information to 50 traders, where we have detected price increases, in order to determine if there is an abusive practice that is established by our regulatory framework", Salazar said.

He also explained that since march 2022, when the Government implemented the economic support measures for the population, there are already 107 cases in the sanctioning court, due to unjustified price increases or for hindering the work of the Defensoría del Consumidor, of which 46 of them have been fined, totaling more than $147,000.

The officials called on the population in general to have good commercial practices and to respect prices according to the regulatory framework, since in case of finding cost abuses in food products and agricultural inputs for production, a sanction will be imposed on the trader, which could be up to 500 minimum wages.

Before any irregular price, citizens can make complaints to the Defensoría del Consumidor through 910 or WhatsApp 7844-1482.

Translated by: A.M