Following a meeting held between Maltese and Cypriot officers responsible for a smooth euro changeover in their respective countries, Cyprus will be imitating Malta’s Fair-pricing Agreements In Retailing (Fair) initiative, as the country also gears up to adopt the euro next January.

The European Commission had asked the National Euro Changeover Committee to pass on information to their Cypriot counterparts regarding euro changeover initiatives and the Cypriot euro team actually flew to Malta last week to meet NECC officers.

Cyprus will be launching the Fair initiative on 1 July, with a two-month period for voluntary display of prices. Dual display will be mandatory as from 1 September. In Malta, dual display of prices has been voluntary since January and the mandatory period starts on 1 July.

NECC spokesperson Melvyn Mangion told this newspaper that during last week’s meeting, Maltese and Cypriot officers discussed a number of other issues and following the success of the Fair initiative in Malta, the Cypriots chose to imitate the scheme.

NECC launched a pilot project as it introduced the Fair initiative last November. It was later launched for all businesses with the aim of bridging the interests of both retailers and consumers.

Fair is intended to emphasise transparency and fairness in the pricing of goods and services. It also promotes the implementation of dual display during the changeover process.

The use of dual display of prices acts as a highly effective tool in empowering consumers and ultimately helps them get accustomed to the change in currency and become more familiar with the new prices in euro, thus paving the way to a smooth and efficient changeover, said Mr Mangion.

Fair is a guarantee of fair-pricing and peace of mind as it is designed to instil a sense of confidence in consumers in preparation for the introduction of the single European currency.

The NECC spokesperson said that with the introduction of Fair, consumers now have the certainty that retail outlets subscribing to this initiative are offering price stability and a safe shopping environment.

By means of the initiative, retailers are earning consumers’ trust, but they are also enjoying many benefits offered by NECC. Retailers are obliged to promote reliability and customer protection, while abiding by Fair’s main principles, such as the use of the correct central parity rate during the changeover process.

To date, the Euro Observatory has received more than 5,000 applications. No fewer than 75 euro assistants are reaching out to business outlets to promote the initiative.

Mr Mangion confirmed that in a few weeks’ time, NECC will be launching a consumer-oriented campaign with regard to the Fair initiative.

Those who have not yet applied to join the initiative may do so by the end of September by calling euro helpline 154, or by downloading the application form from www.euro.gov.mt. NECC has also started issuing a monthly newspaper, which includes an exhaustive list of Fair outlets and which is being sent to every household.