Heyliger-Marten orders study of supermarket prices and costs
Minister Grisha Heyliger-Marten said the Ministry will compare about 40 grocery items and examine costs behind local prices.
Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication Grisha Heyliger-Marten said her Ministry is preparing a supermarket pricing and cost-structure study to examine grocery prices in Sint Maarten and identify possible government measures for consumers.
According to the Minister, the study will compare about 40 commonly purchased items with prices in Curaçao, the Dominican Republic and relevant online markets. It will examine shipping and freight, utilities, labour, taxation and other operating costs, as well as wholesale and retail market structures and competition.
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Heyliger-Marten told Parliament the findings are expected to inform the revision of the price-control basket, competition and fair-trade legislation, consumer protection and cost-of-living policy. The Ministry is reviewing products and categories in the basket, price-setting methods, packaging changes and shrinkflation, among other work.
The Minister said a demonstration version of a digital maximum-price system has been developed and is being tested. The Ministry is targeting completion of the demo before the end of 2026. She said the full system has no confirmed public launch date after its planned second-quarter 2026 launch did not take place.
Heyliger-Marten said the updated Maximum Price List and Hurricane Maximum Price List were scheduled for publication during the first full week of October 2026, subject to technical and legal steps. Once maximum prices are legally established, the Inspectorate of Economic and Transport Affairs can compare shelf and cash-register prices with regulated maximums and take enforcement action.
The Minister reported that the Inspectorate carried out 54 price-control inspections in 2026 and took 23 enforcement actions involving violations, assessing about Cg. 8,225 in fines.
File photo: Hardscarf / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped, SXM Today mark added
