Legislation aimed at expanding the powers of the Cost of Living Commission will deliver greater pricing transparency on essential goods, insisted the home affairs minister.

Alexa Lightbourne said that retailers and wholesalers were “extensively consulted” about the Bill, which would enable price-increase controls on certain everyday items.

However, industry bosses said they were not given sufficient opportunity to voice their concerns and one grocery store manager warned of “a significant impact on Bermuda’s supermarket industry”.

The Cost of Living Amendment (No 2) Act 2026 would enable price-increase controls on essential commodities and allow for the designation, price-information monitoring and price sharing of critical services.

The Bill would also permit consultation and collaboration between the commission and other public authorities with responsibility for the regulation or consumer protection of commodities.

Senators last month delayed a final vote on the amendment, meaning that a third reading will not take place until the next sitting of the Senate in September.

Ms Lightbourne, the Minister of Home Affairs, said this week: “The Government hears the concerns raised by industry and by senators and welcomes the further period before the Senate resumes. But the people of Bermuda have a voice too and that must also be heard.

“Food is too expensive and Bermudians are asked to accept price increases with no explanation attached.”

Zach Moniz, the manager of Lindo’s, said earlier that if approved, the new legislation would put additional pressure on businesses already grappling with the administrative burden of previous changes.

He said that prices increases on covered goods would be limited to 5 per cent without approval.

Mr Moniz noted that the proposal was “not realistic” considering some of the perishable goods on the list, including berries and eggs, which can go through significant price fluctuations based on international supply and demand.

He said: “Eventually, you are going to say I can’t take a risk on if the minister is going to approve this price. I might just have to sit on it until the price comes down again.”

The minister said this week that the Bill rested on transparency about what it cost to land and supply essential goods.

She added that the Government had tried voluntary compliance during the nine-month duration of the Affordable Bermuda Basket — designed to provide short-term relief while affordability legislation and policy was reformed and implemented — but only one retailer had submitted data consistently.

“As late as June this year the commission's follow-up record still listed submissions outstanding,” Ms Lightbourne said.

“We know that perishables move on short cycles and thin windows, and this provision does not slow that movement.

“No consignment waits on a decision. For designated critical services, the Bill provides for verified notice of an increase of 5 per cent or more within a fiscal year and publication of that notice. People have a right to know.”

She insisted: “There has been extensive consultation.

“The commission met retailers, requested sample data and confirmed the categories alongside retailers themselves based on the current framework enabled by law.

“Retailers are on record saying the monthly data requested would be a straightforward task to produce.

“The Government has been transparent at every stage and asks the same in return.

“The question now before the Senate is simple: 'Do Bermudians deserve transparent prices for the cost of essential goods?'

“A vote against this Bill is a vote to keep matters exactly as they are at a moment when the public has demanded more.

“Transparency is not a burden. Transparency is the basis of informed decision making by any Government.”

When asked, the ministry would not state which retailers were consulted nor the businesses that reportedly said producing the requested monthly pricing data would be “straightforward”.

Mr Moniz said this week that there had been “no meaningful consultation”.

He added: “The delay to the third reading gives senators an important opportunity to take a closer look at the Bill, particularly the onerous reporting requirements it would impose.

“While government senators have continued to insist that stakeholders were consulted during the development of the legislation, that was not our experience.”

He added that an earlier amendment was passed without his knowledge before being confronted with a second amendment, which introduced further requirements and uncertainty.

Mr Moniz warned of “a significant impact on Bermuda’s supermarket industry” as it already juggled a “range of challenges”.

“Those costs do not simply disappear; they ultimately become part of the overall cost of doing business.”

He added that customers and suppliers had voiced concerns.

“What seems to be a common view is that while everyone supports the goal of improving affordability and transparency, there are questions about whether these reporting requirements will actually address the root causes of higher prices,” Mr Moniz said.

“The concern is that imposing significant new administrative obligations on businesses will increase operating costs without materially affecting the underlying drivers of the cost of living.”

Asked what he would like the Government to do instead, Mr Moniz said they should “focus on creating an environment where businesses can compete, innovate and deliver value to customers”.

He added: “Businesses know that customers are looking for value, especially in the current economic environment, and we respond accordingly.

“Additional red tape does not make groceries cheaper it simply adds to the cost of doing business.”

Details of a meeting between Lindo’s and the Cost of Living Commission were also reported.

“I asked whether the Government’s primary objective was to determine whether duty relief was being properly reflected in the pricing of goods receiving that relief,” Mr Moniz said.

“I suggested that if this was the goal, there might be a far more practical and proportionate approach.

“Rather than requiring extensive reporting across thousands of products, the Government could conduct an audit of one randomly selected shipment each month.”

A subsequent meeting took place with a group of retailers, where Mr Moniz put forward the same suggestion. However, events then took a turn.

“On a Thursday evening, we received a letter requiring reporting on every essential item within our database, with the information to be submitted by the following Monday,” the supermarkets manager said.

“Given the scale and complexity of the request, this represented a significant undertaking in a very limited time frame. Then, on Sunday evening, a further letter was received reminding businesses of the legal penalties associated with non-compliance.”

The MarketPlace was also contacted for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.

One senior industry source collected a range comments from wholesalers, shippers and importers.

They said that some of the data requested recently “does not exist in any system on this island”.

The group added: “A till can print a shelf price; it cannot reconcile freight, duty codes, supplier credits and wastage at the push of a button.”

They added: “This law was written by people who have no idea how food gets to this island and how it is priced, and they call it easy from a chamber where none of them will ever have to file a thing.

“The mandate was to lower the cost of living. This Bill raises it and nobody in Government has produced a single page of modelling saying otherwise.

“Today it is groceries. Tomorrow it is whatever the minister of the day calls essential, freight, building supplies, water trucks etc.”