Goodbye shelves and supply: the State stops setting prices

Title II ('Economic Deregulation') of DNU 70/2023 repealed two laws that gave the State power to intervene in domestic commerce: art. 7 repealed Law 27.545 (Shelves), which imposed display quotas, limits on per-supplier participation and marketing restrictions in supermarkets; art. 9 repealed Law 20.680 (Supply), which empowered the State to set prices, profit margins and marketing volumes, and even to order the continuity of production under penalty. With both falling, the State loses those price and display control tools over commerce. The repeal remains in force: although the Senate rejected the DNU (Mar 14, 2024, 42 to 35), the Chamber of Deputies never considered it, and under Law 26.122 a DNU only loses validity if BOTH chambers reject it. verif · Dec 20, 2023 ↗

Decree signed on Dec 20, 2023 (City of Buenos Aires, confirmed in Infoleg) and published in the Official Gazette on Dec 21, 2023 (notice 301122). The DNU took effect 8 calendar days after publication, i.e. Dec 29, 2023 (corroborated by press coverage of Dec 29, 2023). The repeal of both laws was not judicially suspended and is in force as of the consultation date. verif · Dec 21, 2023 ↗

The entire domestic goods-commerce chain: supermarkets and retail chains (which stop being subject to Law 27.545's per-supplier shelf quotas), suppliers and food SMEs (which no longer have display guaranteed by legal quota), and the universe of producing and marketing companies that were under the threat of price, margin and volume setting of the Supply Law (20.680). It benefits consumers and new entrants insofar as it reduces the regulatory cost, but it removes from SMEs the display quota the Shelf Law guaranteed them. verif · Dec 20, 2023 ↗