The American Samoa Attorney General, Sialega M. Togafau, says a government task force has found that price gouging occurs in the territory.
Sialega today testified before the Senate Economic Development Committee which is considering a measure to prohibit the practice of price gouging.
He did not give any specific examples of businesses charging excessively.
The committee chairman, Senator Alo Dr. Paul Stevenson, says many people have complained about price gouging, especially in building materials.
He says some firms hiked their prices by 100 percent following recent cyclones.
Sialega says the proposed bill will give the government the authority to deals with price gouging, which he said has surfaced since cyclone Ofa in the late 1980s.
