LAWON TRADE("Off. Herald of RS", Nos. 52/2019 and 35/2026) |
Article 1
This Law shall regulate the conditions and method for conducting of trade in the single market of the Republic of Serbia, as well as trade enhancement and market protection, ban on unfair market competition, and supervision.
Article 2
This Law shall apply to all persons performing trade in the Republic of Serbia.
This Law shall not apply to providing services regulated by a special law.
Meaning of Individual Expressions
Article 3
Individual expressions, within the terms of this Law, shall have the following meanings:
1) Market shall mean the institutionally regulated relationship between the entities on the supply and demand side;
1a) Trader shall be a legal person, sole trader or a natural person who, as part of his business activity or commercial interest, is engaged in wholesale or retail trade and provision of services to consumers, in the manner and under the conditions established by this Law;
2) Goods shall mean the product of work performed by humans in tangible and intangible form aimed for sale on the market, as well as water, natural gas and electric energy when sold in predetermined quantities;
3) Sales facility shall be the place comprising a single physical, functional and technical and technological unit, of the permanent or temporary civil engineering character, furbished in the prescribed manner, which is intended for conducting trade;
4) Point-of-sale shall be the sales facility or other place outside of the sales facility in which conducting of trade has been envisaged and approved, in compliance with the law and other regulations;
5) Consumer shall be the natural person purchasing the goods, i.e. services for the purpose of fulfilling the personal needs or the needs of the household;
6) Producer shall be the legal person, sole trader or natural person that manufactures the product or that is presenting itself in such capacity by placing on the product its business name, the name or trade name, trademark or some other recognizable designation;
7) (Deleted);
8) Competitor shall be the trader that sells goods, or the provider of the service that is, according to its characteristics, purpose and price, interchangeable with goods or service of another trader or service provider in the same market area;
9) Online platform shall be the means used by the person with capacity of the information society service provider, within the terms of the law governing online trade, to provide the service of connecting the parties that trade online. The person managing the electronic platform may also sell its own goods/services via such platform;
10) Online store shall be the internet store used by the trader to offer goods/services.
Article 4
Trade shall be performed freely in the market.
Any restrictions on the freedom of conducting trade shall be prohibited.
Exceptionally, restriction of the freedom to conduct trade may be temporarily imposed in the manner and under the conditions prescribed by the law.
Principle of Equality and Prohibition of Discrimination
Article 5
Traders shall be equal and shall have equal legal positions in the market.
Any form of discrimination in respect of the conditions for conducting trade or violation of traders’ equality in the market shall be prohibited.
Article 6
The market of the Republic of Serbia shall be single and integral.
Exceptionally, acts or activities complying with the law shall be permitted, directed at promotion of regional development of underdeveloped regions, for specific socially vulnerable categories of the population, for the production of and trade in goods/services of existential importance for the population, as well as for the development of certain activities of public interest, i.e. protection of certain goods of special importance.
Article 7
Traders shall act honestly in market competition, in the manner that is not directed at incurring any damage to other traders, i.e. purchasers, or to the public interest, all in compliance with the business morality and fair business practices.
Principle of Stability and Supply
Article 8
The Republic of Serbia shall provide for the conditions for maintenance of stability and supply of the market, in particular in respect of the goods/services of existential importance for the population.
It shall be forbidden to market participants to undertake any activities causing instability and disruption of market supply.
Article 9
State authorities and organizations authorized by law and other regulations to pass acts or undertake activities restricting the trade, as well as in the tasks of market supervision, shall be obliged to act in respect to the scope, method, conditions and duration of such restrictions, i.e. in the tasks of supervision, proportionately to the reasons for restrictions.
1. Definition and Types of Trade
Article 10
Trade shall mean an economic activity representing a sum of business operations related to the procurement and sales of goods, as well as providing services for the purpose of gaining profit.
Trade shall be conducted as:
1) Wholesale and
2) Retail and providing services to consumers.
Article 11
Wholesale trade (wholesaling, wholesale market) shall be the purchase of goods for further sales and/or providing services to legal or natural persons entered in a relevant registry.
Trade at the Point of Purchase
Article 11a
A point of purchase shall be a specialized wholesale trade point for agricultural products and domestic animals, in which the organized purchase of agricultural products and domestic animals is carried out from agricultural producers, for the purpose of resale or performing other economic activity of customers.
Trade at the point of purchase can be carried out by a trader who is registered in the Registry of Purchasers (hereinafter: the Register) for the current year, which is managed by the ministry responsible for trade affairs (hereinafter: the Ministry).
The Register shall be maintained as a single centralized electronic database using the "e-purchase point" software solution.
The Register shall contain data on: business name, company number, TIN of the purchaser; the number or the name of the point of purchase; the period of the year when the purchase is made; working hours of the point of place of purchase and the type of products that are purchased.
The trader who carries out trade at the point of purchase shall designate the place of purchase, i.e. display the data about the business name, company number and TIN, the type of product being purchased, working hours and the period of the year when the purchase is made, as well as to display the notice of purchase by which he clearly and legibly informs the agricultural producer, prior to sale of goods, about the general terms of purchase (price based on quality/class; deadline for payment; method of determining quality/class; procedure to be carried out in case of expressing doubts about determined quality/class and mandatory issuance and the appearance and content of the purchase document), as well as phone numbers of the inspection services of the Ministry and the ministry responsible for agricultural affairs.
The minister in charge of trade affairs shall prescribe the method of registration and maintenance of the Register in more detail.
Retail Trade and Providing Services to Consumers
Article 12
Retail trade (retailing) shall be the sale of goods and/or providing services to the consumers for the purpose of fulfilling their personal needs or the needs of the household.
Manner of Conducting Retail and Providing Services to Consumers
Article 13
Retail and providing services to consumers shall be conducted as:
1) Store based trading;
2) Itinerant trading;
3) Distance trading:
(1) Electronic trade,
(2) Other distance trade using other means.
Article 14
Store based trading shall be the trade:
1) In the sales facility;
2) In portable sales facilities (stalls, counters, vending machines and similar means and equipment);
3) From mobile means and equipment.
Store based trading shall be conducted in different trade formats.
The trade formats shall be organizational and technical forms of conducting trade, which have a specific sales strategy directed at the buyers and competitors (for example, a supermarket, a hypermarket, a discount store, a shopping centre, a cash and carry centre, etc.).
The Minister in charge of trade (hereinafter: the Minister) shall regulate the classification of trade formats in more detail, shall regulate the type of portable sales facilities and forms of trade conducted on mobile means and equipment.
The competent authority of the local government shall issue an act to prescribe the point-of-sales on public and other surfaces where trade is done in portable sales facilities and the time and place of the trade done in mobile means and equipment.
Article 15
Itinerant trading shall be the trade conducted:
1) Outside the point-of-sales;
2) With simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer;
3) With prior consent by the consumer to receive the offer.
Trading from paragraph 1 of this Article shall be especially conducted as:
1) Trade at the address of domicile or residence, or at the workplace of the consumer;
2) Trade on promotional-selling gatherings.
Agricultural and food products may be sold in itinerant trading when they fulfill the conditions prescribed by special regulations.
Proxy and Certificate of Itinerant Trading
Article 16
Itinerant trading may be conducted in person or through employees and contractors, i.e. through a proxy.
The trader and the provider of services to consumers, as well as their proxy, shall possess a written certificate signed by the trader on conducting itinerant trading, which shall in particular include the data on: registration number, tax identification number (TIN), the seat and business name of the trader i.e. provider of services to consumers, name of the proxy, employee i.e. contractor, description of goods/services that are offered for sale, data on the period, method and area in which the trade will be conducted, as well as other pieces of needed data.
The trader and provider of services to consumers, as well as their proxy, shall visibly display the certificate referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, in the place where offer is made, i.e. to hand it over for inspection to the person at whom the offer is directed at the moment when the initial address is made.
The Minister shall prescribe in more detail the contents and the shape of the certificate referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article.
The relations between the proxy and the trader, i.e. the provider of services to consumers, which have not been regulated by this Law and its secondary legislation shall be governed mutatis mutandis by the provisions of the part of the law governing contract and torts that regulates representation.
Article 17
Distance trading shall entail presenting offers and concluding contracts for the sale of goods/services using one or several means of communication at distance.
Electronic trade shall represent a form of distance trading which is materialized in a way that the goods/services are offered, ordered and sold through the internet.
Electronic commerce shall be executed in particular, as:
1) Selling of goods/services through e-shops (basic form of electronic commerce);
2) Selling of goods/services through electronic platform that connects traders and consumers (sales through the e-commerce platform);
3) Selling of goods through e-shops or through electronic platforms, where the goods are delivered to the consumer directly by the manufacturer/wholesaler ("drop shipping" form of electronic commerce).
Other distance retailing shall be performed through other means of communication, particularly as catalogue sales, TV sales, mail orders, printed shipments, advertising materials with order form, telephone, text and multimedia messages in mobile telephony, and speech machines.
It shall be considered that a foreign person performs distance trading in the Republic of Serbia if it is directed to the consumers in the Republic of Serbia.
Distance retailing shall be directed to the consumers in the Republic of Serbia particularly if:
1) Language in official use in the Republic of Serbia is used or the prices are presented in dinars;
2) Delivery of goods in the territory of the Republic of Serbia is offered.
2. Special Market Institutions
Article 18
Special market institutions shall be special, regulated market forms that organize meetings of the sellers and buyers of goods/services, with the aim of selling or promotion thereof.
Special market institutions shall be:
1) Commodity exchange;
2) Fair;
3) Business exhibitions and traditional events;
4) Farmers’ market;
5) Wholesale market;
6) Auction house.
Special market institutions may neither participate in the trade organized by them as sellers nor as buyers.
Article 19
The commodity exchange shall be regulated by a special law.
Article 20
A fair shall be a special market institution engaged in organizing fair exhibitions, as well as in providing ancillary services, and in particular leasing, designing and preparing of exhibition places in a fair facility, warehousing of goods or leasing of warehouse space, organizing or conducting transportation of goods for exhibitors, loading, unloading and packaging of goods, marketing, catering and other services related to the organization of fair exhibitions.
A fair shall be a legal person that is registered in the Business Entities Register in compliance with the law governing registration, which pursues fair activity in a specifically dedicated area (fairground).
The fair exhibition referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall mean the exhibition of goods during a precisely specified period of time, in a special-purpose space (fair area, fairground), by a specified exhibitor, for the purpose of presentation thereof and for acquainting the interested buyers with such goods, i.e. services that such an exhibitor offers.
Trade at the fair exhibition shall be considered as trade at the point-of-sale.
A fair may also organize other cultural and sports performances and events.
Economic Exhibitions and Traditional Events
Article 21
Economic exhibitions shall be the exhibitions of goods/services which are of a temporary or periodic character, outside the fair area.
The traditional events shall be the bazaars, festivals and other events where within the framework of cultural, musical, sports and other social activities, certain goods/services are sold, in compliance with the practices related to the conduct of such activities and to that area (for example, "days" of certain local products, assemblies, and similar).
The organizer of economic exhibitions or traditional events shall:
1) Keep records of persons exhibiting or selling goods/services;
2) Provide for conditions for the presence and work of competent inspections during the exhibition or event;
3) Clearly designate and separate the space where the exhibition or event is held from the surrounding space;
4) Clearly post the organizer and the duration of the exhibition or event;
5) Ensure that the sale of goods at events will be carried out exclusively by traders.
The records from paragraph 3 item 1) of this Article shall include the data on business name, registration number and address of the seat of the trader and service provider, i.e. in case the trader or service provider is a natural person, data on first and family name, address and number from the relevant register, for the purpose of efficient execution of inspection.
It shall be allowed to sell in economic exhibitions and traditional events the goods/services which belong to the scope and purpose of organization of the mentioned exhibitions and events.
Economic exhibition and traditional event may last up to 30 days at longest, during one calendar year.
Trade at these economic exhibitions and events shall be considered as trade at the point-of-sale.
Time and place of the organization of economic exhibitions and traditional events shall be within the competence of the local self-government.
Article 22
Farmers’ market shall be a special market institution engaged in the organization of retail sale, through arranging, maintaining and leasing specialized space for conducing market sale of goods, as well as accompanying services.
The selling in the farmers’ market shall particularly include the selling of goods on stands, in stalls, or special sales facilities, and notably of fresh agricultural and nutritional products, homemade products, and craft products, other consumer goods, as well as providing accompanying services.
The farmers’ marketplace shall be a legal person, registered in the Business Entities Register in compliance with the law governing registration.
Selling in the farmers’ market shall be carried out by traders.
A farmers’ market shall:
1) Clearly designate and separate the market space from the surroundings, as well as to visibly display the days and hours of the marketplace trading;
2) Provide a scale whereon the weight of the goods purchased shall be verified (control scale), clearly mark it in the place where it is placed, and provide for the easy access to such a scale;
3) Ensure that the selling in the farmers’ market is done exclusively by traders;
4) Ensure the conditions for the presence and work of competent inspections during all hours of farmers’ market trading.
The location, furnishing and maintenance of the farmers’ market, method of leasing the market space, working hours and other issues of significance for the operations of the farmers’ market shall be regulated by an act of the competent authority of the local self-government.
Article 23
A wholesale market shall be a special market institution that organizes wholesale trade, through arranging, maintaining and leasing specialized space for displaying and selling fruits, vegetables and other agricultural and nutritional products, other consumer goods, as well as providing accompanying services, and in particular the warehousing of goods, its finalizing, processing, packing, and other services related to handling and transport.
The wholesale market shall be a legal person registered in the Business Entities Register, in compliance with the law governing registration.
Selling in the wholesale market is conducted by traders.
Types of trade conducted in the wholesale market shall be wholesale trade and, exceptionally, the retail trade under the conditions prescribed for the farmers’ market.
Article 24
An auction house shall be a special market institution that organizes the purchase and sale of goods through public bidding.
Trade by public bidding shall be the sale of goods to the buyer that places a higher bid than the other participants in the bidding, on the occasion of a public invitation to bid.
Invitation for sale shall be public if made in a manner enabling a number of unspecified persons to learn about such an invitation and if it includes the designation of goods, initial price and other sales terms.
The rules on public bidding for the purpose of sale shall as well apply mutatis mutandis to public bidding for the purpose of purchase.
Auction house shall be a company, registered in the Business Entities Register in compliance with the law governing registration.
Trader organizing the sale of goods through public bidding in his own name and for his own account shall not be considered an auction house.
A bylaw of the auction house shall prescribe in more detail the manner and rules of trade by public bidding.
III REQUIREMENTS FOR CONDUCTING TRADE
1. General Requirements for Trade
Article 25
Trade may be conducted by legal persons and sole traders.
Trade may be also conducted by:
1) Agricultural producers, in terms of their own products, registered in line with regulations governing agriculture;
2) Persons selling the hunted game, fish, fungi, wild flora and fauna and other forest products, in line with special regulations on hunting, fish fund, veterinary medicine, nature and forest protection;
3) Natural persons that as their vocation conduct the activity of a free profession, as prescribed by special regulations.
Minimum Technical Requirements
Article 26
Minimum technical requirements must be fulfilled for conducting trade, referring to space, equipment and devices.
The Minister shall prescribe minimum technical requirements from paragraph 1 of this Article in more detail.
The Minister and the minister competent for agriculture shall prescribe the minimum technical requirements for trade at the points of purchase in more detail.
Article 27
Goods in the store must comply with the conditions of health and general safety, technical requirements, conditions of packing (packaging), labeling, environmental protection, i.e. with other conditions laid down by this Law and special regulations.
Article 28
Setting the prices in the market shall be free, except for the goods/services for which a different method of pricing has been determined by the law.
Under the conditions of free pricing in the market, the Government shall ensure the stability of market and prices through economic policy measures.
If the law stipulates that the Government shall provide consent to prices of certain goods/services, lay down criteria for their setting or set them by means of its decision, the Government shall rule on such issues at the proposal of the Minister and a minister in charge of the relevant field.
Documents Accompanying the Goods
Article 29
The trader shall possess the documents on manufacturing, procurement and sales of goods, particularly including data on: business name, address, TIN and registration number or the farm number (FN), i.e. number from the relevant register of the manufacturer or supplier; number and date of the issuance of the document; name, measuring unit and quantity of goods; supply price of the goods; charge for own goods; sales price of goods.
Goods in transit must be accompanied by the documents that are directly related to its transportation that particularly include: number and date of the document, business name, address, TIN and registration number or the farm number (FN), i.e. the number from the relevant register of the supplier, recipient and transporter (if any), place and address of the facility wherefrom the supply is made and whereto the delivery is made, first name, family name and signature of responsible persons at the supplier and transporter, or data about the person who applied for the use of the service of electronic government, using a registered electronic identification scheme of a high level of reliability, in accordance with the law, the name and quantity of goods.
The trader shall also possess the documents confirming the fulfillment of requirements regarding the properties of goods when this is prescribed by special regulations.
The documents referred to in this Article must be original ones or copies.
The documents may be in the shape prescribed by the law governing electronic dispatch notes and the law governing electronic invoices.
Article 30
The trader shall maintain records on turnover of goods based on the documents from Article 29 of this Law.
The records of trade performed in the point-of-sale shall be kept for each point-of-sale, separately.
Records of itinerant trading and trade using vending machines from Article 14 paragraph 1 item 2) of this Law shall be kept on the level of the entire trade of such trader on the market of the Republic of Serbia.
For distance trading records shall be kept on the level of the entire distance trade of such trader on the market of the Republic of Serbia or separately for individual organization units in line with previously adopted decision of the trader.
If goods sold via distance trade are delivered from a sales facility, records can be made in a unified manner as referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article.
Trader shall make available the records from paragraph 2 of this Article at the point-of-sale.
Trader shall make available the records from paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article on the location reported to the ministry competent for trade.
The Minister shall prescribe in more detail the content, form, manner of keeping and place where records from paragraph 1 of this Article shall be stored.
Article 31
Designation of trust shall be the designations that separates the trader i.e. service provider, goods/service from its competitors, in line with predetermined criteria.
The issuer of the designation of trust shall be a legal person not trading with goods/services to which the designation of trust refers to, as well as a linked person in terms of the law governing companies.
The issuer of the designation of trust shall deliver to the Ministry the following data: business name, headquarters, designation of trust (trust mark), logo and criteria on the basis of which the designation of trust is issued. The data shall be submitted in electronic form. The issuer of the designation of trust must be independent from the traders to which the designation refers, in accordance with the rules of transparency and avoidance of conflicts of interest.
Requirements for issuing of a designation of trust, i.e. criteria for evaluation of characteristics of the trader, service provider, goods/service, and for issuing of the designation shall be determined by an act prepared by the issuer of the designation.
The requirements referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article must be directly related to the trader, service provider, goods or service, scope of the goods/services to which it may pertain, and the issuance of criteria.
The issuer of the designation of trust shall issue an act on the fulfillment of conditions and criteria from paragraph 4 of this Article to the trader, i.e. service provider.
The issuer of a designation of trust, i.e. the trader and service provider, shall make the act referred to in paras. 4 and 6 of this Article available to each interested person, in the place of sale, through the internet or in any other manner that enables a simple and free access to such a document.
2. Special Conditions for Conducting Retail Trade and Providing Services to Consumers
Data on Trader and Service Provider
Article 32
Trader and service provider shall visibly display the business name, registration number and address of the seat at the point-of-sale.
In case the trader and service provider are natural persons they shall visibly display the first and family name, address and number from relevant registry at the point-of-sale.
In addition to data referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, the trader and service provider shall, at the point-of-sale, also visibly display the address of such sales facility.
In case the type of the trade format is displayed on the trade facility by the trader, the trade facility must be classified in line with Article 14 paragraph 4 of this Law by the trader.
Trader and service provider that engage in distance trade shall make the data from paras. 1 and 2 of this Article available to the consumer prior to the purchase.
Article 33
The trader and service provider shall determine the working hours independently.
The trader and service provider shall display the working hours in the point-of-sale in a clear, unambiguous and easily noticeable manner, as well as to comply with the working hours thus indicated at all times.
In case of any urgent changes, suspensions or other forms of a temporary cessation in conducting trade in a specific point-of-sale, the trader and the service provider shall indicate such changes in the manner referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, prior to cessation in conducting trade.
Article 34
Goods in retail trade must have a label declaration containing the information on the name and type of goods, type and model in line with the nature of the goods, quantity in units of measurement or pieces in line with the properties of goods, business name of the manufacturer, and for goods from import, the business name of the importer and the country of production.
Manufacturer, i.e. the importer in case of imported goods, shall furnish the goods with the label declaration containing accurate information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Data from the label declaration for goods in retail trade cannot be altered or removed.
The label declaration must be displayed visibly in one of the following manners:
1) On the goods or its packaging (including tag, sticker, ring, wrapping, and similar);
2) Immediately adjacent to the goods at the point of sales;
3) In a catalogue or other material offering such goods that is available free of charge to the consumers at the point-of-sale, prior to purchase in a manner not misleading to consumers.
In distance trade, traders shall display the declaration with the data from paragraph 1 of this Article and make that data available to the consumer before the purchase in a form and in a way that is directly and permanently available.
All information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article must be indicated in a clear, easily noticeable and legible manner, in the Serbian language, in Cyrillic or Latin script.
The European Union (hereinafter: EU) may be stated as the country of production within the meaning of paragraph 1 of this Article, if the goods are produced in a country that is an EU Member State.
In addition to data from paragraph 1 of this Article the goods must be marked by a machine-readable identity designation (GTIN identification, QR code, etc.).
The Ministry shall establish a unified code book of goods.
The Minister shall regulate in more detail the manner of maintaining the unified code book of goods.
The goods may also be marked by information in foreign languages, as well as the trademark and other data or pictograms that more closely identify the goods and its properties.
In addition to information from paragraph 1 of this Article contained in the label declaration, the goods shall be labeled in line with special regulations governing labeling and marking.
Article 35
The trader shall display the selling price,as well as the unit price where applicable, on the goods i.e. their packaging, immediately next to the goods or in case of distance trading immediately next to the image or description of goods, in a clear, unambiguous, easily noticeable and legible manner.
Trader conducting trade at a point-of-sale in a facility which the consumer cannot access or a trader conducting itinerant trading shall display the selling price in a manner stated in paragraph 1 of this Article or at a clearly visible place in the pricelist.
The selling price shall be the final price per unit of goods, inclusive of all the taxes and duties.
The selling price for pre-packaged products shall be calculated for the specified quantity of pre-packaged goods.
The pre-packaged goods shall be the goods packaged without the presence of the buyer, where the quantity of such goods may not be modified without a change of the packaging, i.e. without opening of the packaging and visible damaging it.
The selling price for the goods that are not packed but is measured in the presence of the consumer shall be calculated per kilogram, liter, meter, square meter, cubic meter or another unit of measurement that is customarily used for certain goods.
In addition to the selling price for pre-packaged goods, the trader shall display the unit price.
The unit price shall be the final price, inclusive of taxes, calculated per unit of measurement, such as kilogram, liter, meter, square meter, cubic meter or another unit of measurement that is customarily used in the transactions that include certain goods/services.
The unit price does not have to be displayed separately where it is identical to the selling price.
The Minister shall prescribe in more detail the type of goods for which the unit price is displayed and the manner of displaying.
In the sales facility in which retail trade is conducted alongside the wholesale trade, the trader shall clearly, in a noticeable manner, display the selling (retail) price and the wholesale price for each goods offered for sale.
In case of announcing the selling price of goods, the trader shall state the unit price of goods as well.
Service provider shall display in a visible place the unit price of the service (for example, per hour, kilometer, kilowatt hour, and similar) in a clear, unambiguous, easily noticeable and legible manner.
The price shall be displayed in dinars.
Notwithstanding paragraph 14 of this Article, the trader conducting electronic trading that is at the same time directed to consumers in the Republic of Serbia and consumers abroad, may display the price in foreign currency as well, in a manner that provides the consumer with an option to select currency in which the selling price shall be displayed for all goods/services that such trader offers. In the case referred to in this paragraph the trader shall make sure that the price for the consumer accessing the electronic trading from the Republic of Serbia shall be displayed in dinars, first.
Notwithstanding paras. 14 and 15 of this Article, the trader may display the price only in a foreign currency in the following cases:
1) With information about the exchange rate, in the trade of services in tourism that are directly linked with foreign countries, in the trade of vehicles, i.e. in other cases when in line with special regulations the display of price in a foreign currency is allowed in the Republic of Serbia, but the payment is made in dinars;
2) If, in line with the law regulating governing currency transactions, the payments made for goods/services in the Republic of Serbia may be executed in a foreign currency too;
3) If electronic trade is not directed to the consumers in the Republic of Serbia.
In case from paragraph 16 item 1) of this Article, when displaying and charging the price the trader shall indicate the official median exchange rate for dinar as applicable and to apply it in each transaction.
Provisions of this Article shall not apply to the sale made via public bidding.
Article 36
A sales incentive shall mean an offer of goods/services under more favorable conditions compared to regular offer, and in particular at a reduced price, special conditions of sale, delivery, with a promise of a reward, with accompanying gifts, in loyalty programs, or other benefits.
An offer with a sales incentive shall particularly contain:
1) Type of incentive;
2) Precise and clear indication of goods/service to which it pertains;
3) Validity period of the incentive, with an indication of the starting date and its expiry, and in case of a sale, with an indication "until stocks last";
4) Any potential special conditions related to acquiring the right to the incentive.
If the sales incentive is offered for goods whose usage value has been reduced (faulty goods, damaged goods, goods nearing the end of shelf life, and similar), such condition must be clearly and unambiguously displayed at the point-of-sale.
A voucher, coupon or some other means issued for the purpose of exercising the right to an incentive, in addition to information from paragraph 2 of this Article, must also contain the information about the issuer, as well as on the monetary value or the discount amount.
Sales of goods/service within special loyalty programs (loyalty cards, collecting points, and similar) shall represent a special sales incentive where the trader and service provider reward buyers with certain benefits for their loyalty under clearly defined and published terms.
When offering a sales incentive with accompanying gift, the trader shall be allowed to use the words "free", "pay one, take two", "two for one", and similar, only if the buyer bears no expense except for the unavoidable delivery costs.
The offer of the accompanying gift shall be possible only if the trader, i.e. service provider already offers the goods/services without the accompanying gift.
In case the gift refers to an additional quantity of a prepackaged product, the unit price shall not be higher than the unit price of the product without the gift, and in that case the burden of proof shall lie with the trader.
Promotional sale is the sale of goods that are introduced to a trader's offer for the first time and that can be offered at a lower price than the price that will be formed in the regular offer. Promotional sale can last for a maximum of 60 days.
Article 37
Sales at a discounted price may be:
1) Sale;
2) Seasonal discount;
3) Discount sale.
In case of sales of goods/services with discounted price, the trader i.e. service provider shall, in addition to the offer of a sales incentive, in line with Article 36 paragraph 2 of this Law, clearly display both the discounted and previous price, at the point-of-sale.
The previous price shall mean the lowest price at which the trader offered the goods during the 30-day period before the start of the price discount, except for perishable goods and goods with a short shelf life.
The previous price for products that are in a trader's assortment for less than 30 days shall mean the lowest price at which the trader offered the goods in a period not shorter than 15 days before the start of the price discount.
In the event that the price is reduced gradually and without interruption within the same discount, the previous price shall mean the lowest price applied by the trader during the period of 30 days before the start of the discount.
Clearance sale of goods shall mean the sale at a price lower than the previous price, in case the trader goes out of business, terminates operations in certain facilities or discontinues sales of certain goods.
Trader shall physically separate the goods that are on sale and the goods that are sold under regular terms. From the announcement of the sale until the end of its duration, the trader shall not order and include in sale new quantities of goods that are on sale.
Seasonal discount shall mean the sales of goods at discounted price after the expiration of the season and twice during a year at most. Seasonal discount shall start in the period between 25 December and 10 January and between 1 July and 15 July.
Seasonal discount from paragraph 5 of this Article may last 60 days at most, per each seasonal discount.
Discount sales shall mean the sales of goods/services per price lower than the previous price of such goods/services and may not last longer than 31 days.
Trader and service provider organizing discount sales with the validity period up to three days shall not be obliged to display the reduced and previous price, but a clear designation of the discount percentage.
Article 38
It shall be prohibited to advertise sales incentives for goods that are present in such small quantities that it is obvious that the intention is to attract buyers to induce the purchase of other goods, unless available quantities have been clearly displayed at the date of initiation of the sales incentive.
With advertising percentages of discount, the largest percentage of discount may be displayed provided it refers to at least one fifth of the goods offered by the trader on each point of sales to which sales incentives refer to.
When advertising percentages of discount, the largest percentage of discount may be displayed provided it refers to at least one fifth of the goods offered by the trader conducting distance retail or direct selling.
It shall be prohibited to advertise sales incentives announcing alleged sale or apparent reduction of prices for goods or services, the volume of reduction, etc. if the previous price was erroneously displayed or the goods/services were offered at previous price during a negligible short period.
In case goods or services are advertised per beneficial prices for certain categories of persons, for certain areas, points of sales and certain period of time, the category of such person, area, point of sales and period of price validity must be precisely designated.
In case the advertising message compares the price of goods or services of different quality, that is, prices of goods with errors and without them, it must be stated that the lower price is conditioned by lower quality, or error.
Provisions of the law that governs advertising shall apply to the advertising of sales incentives unless prescribed otherwise by this Law.
IV MARKET PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF TRADE
Temporary Measures of Market Protection
Article 39
In order to prevent disturbances in the market or eliminate harmful consequences of the disturbances in the market in respect of the supply of goods and services of vital importance for human life and health and for the operations of business entities, institutions and other organizations of general interest, the Government may introduce temporary measures that pertain to a specific type of goods and services, to a certain category of traders, service providers or consumers, to the working hours, to the need to implement the obligations undertaken by means of an international agreement, to the prices, as well as to some other conditions for conducting trade, except for the measures pertaining to the import and export of goods.
The Government shall introduce the temporary measures referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, as well as the time frame in which such measures shall be applicable, proportionately to the objective and expected results, which may not be longer than six months from the day when the measures were introduced, i.e. at the latest until the fulfillment of the obligation in case of the fulfillment of obligations undertaken by an international agreement, unless special legislation prescribes otherwise.
Article 40
For the purpose of promoting and developing trade and/or electronic trade in the Republic of Serbia, the Government may introduce incentive measures that relate in particular to a certain category of traders or service providers, certain type of goods or services, form and type of trade, as well as the manner of conducting trade.
The Government shall regulate in more detail the incentive measures referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, as well as the period of applicability of such measures, proportionate to the goal and expected results of their application.
Article 41
The unfair market competition (disloyal competition) shall be an act of a trader or a service provider directed against another trader, service provider, i.e. competitor, breaching the codes of business ethics and fair business practices, and damaging or possibly damaging another trader, i.e. service provider (competitor), and in particular:
1) Making false and offensive claims about another trader or service provider;
2) Presenting the information on another trader or their goods, service provider or their service, directed at undermining the reputation and business of such a trader or service provider;
3) Selling the goods with designations, information or shape that create justified confusion among consumers in respect of the source, quality and other characteristics of such goods;
4) Acquiring, using and disclosing a business secret without the consent of its holder, in order to aggravate their position in the market;
5) Promising, i.e. giving higher-value gifts, property-related or other benefits to other traders or service providers, in order to provide advantage to their donor in relation to competitors, i.e. other traders;
6) Unauthorized display of designation of quality, designation of trust or similar mark by the trader.
The unfair market competition shall be forbidden.
A trader who suffers damage due to an act of unfair market competition shall be entitled to damages.
An unfair market competition (disloyal competition) action may be filed to determine the act of unfair market competition, to ban its further performance, to eliminate the occurred consequences, as well as seek damages.
The injured trader or service provider (competitor) shall be entitled to damages for losses, as well as for injury to the business reputation.
The court shall reward a just monetary compensation for injury, if it finds that it can be justified by the circumstances of the case, and in particular by the significance, duration and intensity of the injury, the effect of the injury on the business of the plaintiff, the importance of the damaged property and the purpose that such compensation will serve, as well as that it does not serve the aspirations that are not compatible with the nature and social purpose thereof.
The action may be filed within six months from learning of the damage and the tortfeasor, and within three years from the completion of such an act at the latest.
The court may order that the judgment in favor of the plaintiff be published in the "Official Herald of the Republic of Serbia", at the expense of the tortfeasor.
The procedure initiated by unfair market competition action shall be urgent.
Article 42
The activities of a trader aimed at, i.e. resulting in a significant disturbance of the market, as well as preventing or hindering the implementation of a prescribed restriction on conducting trade as referred to in Article 39 of this Law shall be forbidden, and in particular if committed by concealing certain goods, restricting or suspending the sale thereof, by concluding fictitious agreements on the sales of certain goods whereby the supply or demand and the prices’ levels in the market are changed significantly (prohibited speculation).
Article 43
Organizing, performing, advertising or incentivizing pyramid trading shall be forbidden.
Pyramid trading, within the meaning of this Law, shall be the trade whereby the buyers are enabled to purchase goods or services exclusively from the persons involved in the goods or services’ resale chain or network (network members), in particular when the seller makes such purchase conditional upon:
1) The obligation to pay membership fee or some other charge to the network organizer or to some other member of the network;
2) The obligation to purchase the same or some other goods in quantities or of the value for which the seller is aware or must be aware to be unreasonably high;
3) The obligation to find other persons that will engage in resale of goods offered by the seller, if the right to the reward for finding these persons is conditional upon prior payment or giving a special remuneration to the seller.
Monitoring of Trade and Market
Article 44
The Ministry shall acquire data on trade and trade network from traders and state authorities for the purpose of initiation and monitoring of the effect of measures of economic policy in the area of the market and trade.
A trader shall submit to the Ministry data from paragraph 1 of this Article which is not kept in official records in line with other regulation, once a year, by 31 March at the latest, with balance on 31 December of the previous year.
Data from paragraph 1 of this Article shall be submitted in electronic form.
Acquired data and reports shall be given at request and according to needs of state authorities for the purpose of shaping economic policy, considering and adopting the measures of development market structure protection, as well as other needs in line with the law.
In case data from paragraph 1 of this Article represent a business secret in terms of the law regulating the protection of business secret, trader shall notify the Ministry thereof.
The Minister shall prescribe in more detail the shape and contents of the form, the manner of submission and storing of data from paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 45
Supervision of the implementation of this Law and regulations passed on the basis of this Law shall be conducted by the Ministry, as well as by other state authorities in compliance with their respective purviews defined by special regulations.
Article 46
Inspection supervision of the implementation of this Law and regulations passed on the basis of this Law shall be conducted by:
1) Ministry, through the market inspectors;
2) Local self-government units, through communal inspectors in the part of the supervision dealing with itinerant trading, trade from Article 14 paragraph 1 items 2) and 3) of this Law, except for a stall, as well as in respect of displaying of and complying with the working hours and displaying of data from Article 32 paras. 1-3 of this Law;
3) Other state authorities in accordance with their respective purviews, in compliance with special regulations.
The tasks referred to in paragraph 1, item 2) of this Article shall be performed by the local self-government units as entrusted tasks.
The Principal Market Inspector shall manage the tasks of inspection supervision performed by the market inspectors, as well as the tasks of coordination, i.e. exchange of data pertaining to performance of market supervision.
A person performing the duties of a market inspector must have acquired higher education at basic academic studies in the amount of at least 240 ESPB points, master's academic studies, specialist academic studies, specialist vocational studies, master's vocational studies, i.e. basic studies lasting at least four years or specialist studies at the university, passed the state professional exam, passed the inspector's exam, in accordance with the law regulating inspection supervision and a special professional exam for market inspectors, as well as other conditions determined by the law regulating the rights and duties of civil servants, by other regulation and an act on the internal organization and systematization of job positions in the Ministry.
The Principal Market Inspector, in addition to the conditions referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, must fulfill the conditions for the work in office, in compliance with the law regulating the rights and duties of civil servants and the conditions for an inspection manager, in line with the law regulating inspection supervision.
A communal inspector who performs the supervision tasks referred to in paragraph 1, item 2) of this Article must have acquired higher education at basic academic studies in the amount of at least 240 ESPB points, master's academic studies, specialist academic studies, specialist vocational studies, i.e. basic studies lasting at least four years or specialist studies at the university, passed the state professional exam, passed the inspector exam, in accordance with the law regulating inspection supervision and a special professional exam for market inspectors, as well as other conditions determined by the law regulating the rights and duties of employees in autonomous provinces and local self-government units, other regulation and an act on the internal organization and systematization of job positions in the authority in which he is employed.
The Minister shall regulate the program and method of taking the special vocational exam for the market inspector.
The issues related to the inspection supervision of the implementation of this Law and regulations passed on the basis of this Law that have not been specifically regulated by this Law, shall be governed by the law regulating the inspection supervision.
Official Identification Document and Equipment
Article 47
When performing supervision, the market inspector shall have an official identification document, badge and appropriate type of clothing, shoes and equipment.
The Minister shall prescribe the appearance of the badge and appropriate type of clothes, shoes and equipment worn by the market inspector.
Article 48
In conducting the inspection supervision, a market inspector shall be authorized to:
1) Inspect the business premises, i.e. the space in which the trade activity is conducted;
2) Examine the ledgers, records, documents, electronic documents, as well as other documentation related to conducting of trade, that could not have been acquired ex officio, as well as to copy it or otherwise take a hold of;
3) Conduct identification of the persons conducting the trade by inspecting their identification document or some other legal instrument containing a photograph;
4) Take written and oral statements of the persons conducting the trade, i.e. a witness or an official, as well as to summon these persons to give their statements on the issues of significance for the subject matter of the supervision;
5) Take photographs, make video recordings of the space in which the supervision is conducted, i.e. of the goods and other objects that are subject to supervision;
6) Examine the vehicles, in case where he has learnt that such a vehicle is used for conducting trade;
7) Order the taking of, i.e. take the samples of goods and other objects;
8) Collect the information of relevance for the subject matter of supervision;
9) Instruct an inventory of goods, i.e. making the records of turnover;
10) File a motion before a competent court to pass a decision allowing investigation in the residential or adjoining space, i.e. a search warrant for the residential or adjoining space, in case where he has learnt that prohibited activity has been conducted in such space;
11) Demand police assistance, i.e. communal militia assistance, if he reasonably assess that it is necessary due to the circumstances of the specific case;
12) Carry out mystery shopping;
13) Take other actions in compliance with the law.
It shall be deemed that the business premises referred to in paragraph 1, item 1) of this Article include an apartment, the adjoining room or other space of residential character, which is registered as the seat or place in which the business activity is conducted, in compliance with the regulations on registration of business entities, i.e. other regulations governing special business activities.
Article 49
Mystery shopping shall be performed in a manner prescribed by regulations governing inspection supervision.
The warrant for inspection supervision ordering the method of mystery shopping with regulated elements and rationale shall be issued by the person authorized for the issuance of the warrant for inspection supervision.
Upon performed mystery shopping in distance trading, the market inspector shall not display the official identification document to the supervised subject, while the warrant for inspection supervision may be delivered by electronic means from the official electronic address.
Article 50
In conducting the inspection supervision, the market inspector shall:
1) Notify the supervised subject in writing on the upcoming inspection supervision, in a regulated manner and in regulated time limit, except in cases of exceptions regulated by law prescribing inspection supervision;
2) Prior to the commencement of conducting activities in the control, to present the official identification document and to serve on the supervised subject the warrant to conduct inspection supervision, i.e. show the warrant and present its content when the supervised subject refuses the serving of the inspection supervision warrant;
2a) Before starting to carry out actions in the office supervision, submit an order for inspection supervision from the official electronic address;
3) Perform inspection supervision of the supervised subject that is a legal person, sole trader or other organizational form through which a natural or legal person operates or conducts business, during business hours of such supervised subject, except in cases prescribed by law;
4) Comply with the limits of its authority;
5) Comply with the content of the warrant subject and planned duration of the inspection supervision, except in cases of exceptions prescribed by law;
6) During the inspection supervision of an organizational unit of the supervised subject, acquire all data related to common elements, general acts and processes of the supervised subject if necessary, through the inspection that has jurisdiction according to the seat of the supervised subject;
7) In case of investigation in residential premises, acquire a written decision of the competent court or written consent of the premise owner or user and conduct investigation within 15 days from the day of issuance of the decision of the competent court at the latest;
8) With his signature, certify the control lists from the inspection supervision, which contain the prescribed contents with the facts stated in them, and deliver them as such to the controlled entity as an integral part of the minutes;
9) Undertake, propose and determine the measures or actions for which he is authorized;
10) Issue a certificate to the supervised subject about the seized objects;
11) Pass a decision to impose measures and seize the goods found with a non-registered subject immediately upon learning that the subject is operating without a registration;
12) Provide that all the copies of documentation that are used as the subject of the inspection supervision are identical to their originals;
13) File a report to the competent authority, i.e. a request for the initiation of the misdemeanor proceedings or issue a misdemeanor warrant for punishable actions;
14) Keep records on inspection supervision in electronic form through the management information system;
15) Treat seized goods in line with the law;
16) Fail to impose a measures against the supervised subject if such a subject acted in line with the act on the implementation of regulations regarding the subject of the act on regulation implementation, provided that no extraordinary conditions for imposing the measures occurred in line with the law;
17) Attend prescribed training and other forms of professional development for the conduct of inspection supervision;
18) Act professionally, in line with the code of conduct of public officials, with cordiality and respect towards the persons participating in the procedure of inspection supervision, as well as to respect the principle of proportionality regarding the manner of taking actions during the procedure, so that the obstructions in business operations are kept at the level which is necessary;
19) Restrain from conducting commercial or other activity and jobs for his own benefit or for another employer from the industry wherein the inspection supervision is conducted, from participation in work of expert groups or bodies of supervised subjects, i.e. persons subject to inspection supervision, or from performing other profession, job or procedure which is contrary to the position and the role of the inspector and which is damaging to his independence in job performance.
A breach of work duty referred to in paragraph 1 items 4), 9), 13) and 19) of this Article shall constitute a grave breach of work duties.
Powers and Duties of a Communal Inspector
Article 51
In conducting the tasks referred to in Article 46, paragraph 1, item 2) of this Law, the communal inspector shall be vested with the same powers and duties as the market inspector, in compliance with this Law.
Measures in the Procedure of Inspection Supervision
Article 52
In conducting inspection supervision, the market inspector shall be authorized to impose the following measures:
1) Preventive measures;
2) Removal of a determined illegality;
3) Temporary ban on trade in certain goods, i.e. provision of a certain service;
4) Temporary closure of the sales facility;
5) Temporary ban on conducting itinerant trading;
6) Temporary ban on conducting distance trading;
7) Seizing goods.
The expenses related to the implementation of the prescribed measures shall be borne by the person against whom the measure was imposed.
Article 53
In case where an illegality in business operations or conduct of the supervised subject is detected, the market inspector shall, by way of inspection supervision minutes, order the removal of detected illegality with reasonable period for removal of illegality.
Period from paragraph 1 of this Article cannot be shorter than 24 hours, or longer than two months, unless provided for otherwise for the specific illegality or violation of law by this or separate law.
In case the inspector determines that the supervised subject implemented the measures ordered and removed the illegality, he shall close the inspection supervision procedure by way of serving on the supervised subject the minutes stating that the illegalities in its business operations or conduct have been removed.
In case the supervised subject fails to remove the determined illegality in the period provided, the inspector shall adopt a decision issuing the measure for removal of illegalities and damaging consequences and fulfillment of prescribed obligations with reasonable period from paragraph 2 of this Article.
The inspector may, without delay, adopt a decision imposing measures for the removal of illegalities, without prior warning about the illegality and providing period for the removal of illegality and damaging consequences and meeting prescribed obligations, if this is required by the necessity of taking emergency measures for preventing or removing direct danger for life and health of people, the environment or plant or animal life, due to unsafe or not harmonized product, for preventing disturbances on the market or removing damaging consequences on the market related to supply of goods and services of vital importance for the life and health of people and for the operation of business entities, institutions and other organizations of public interest.
The inspector may impose several measures for removing illegalities at the same time.
The measure to remove illegalities shall not exclude the simultaneous application of other measures prescribed by law.
Temporary Ban on Trade in Certain Goods, i.e. Providing Certain Service
Article 54
The market inspector shall impose the measure of a temporary ban on trade in certain goods, i.e. provision of a certain service, where it is determined that the prescribed conditions for trade in such goods, i.e. service have not been met.
The ban referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article bans placement on the market, including offering, exhibiting, delivering and making the goods available, i.e. in some other way hinders the selling of goods that are subject to the ban.
The goods that are subject to the ban may be specified according to the type, series, piece, quantity, i.e. according to some other manner of identification of goods failing the prescribed conditions for putting into circulation.
The ban referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be imposed to order stoppage in provision of a certain service, i.e. prohibition to commence the provision of a certain service that is subject to the ban, including the ban on selling the goods accompanying the provision of the service.
The person temporarily banned from trading in certain goods, i.e. providing a certain service, may not place such goods on the market, export, destroy accordingly or dispose with such goods in any other manner, i.e. continue to provide the service, until the market inspector in the validating urgent inspection supervision confirms that the reasons causing the imposition of the measure from paragraph 1 of this Article have been removed, i.e. that the goods have been permanently removed from the market.
Temporary Closure of a Sales Facility
Article 55
The market inspector shall impose the measure of temporary closure of a sales facility:
1) If the sales facility does not comply with the prescribed conditions for the trade conducted therein;
2) If it does not comply with the conditions referred to in Article 25 of this Law;
3) If the order to eliminate illegalities referred to in Article 53 of this Law is not complied with within the time limit given, in relation to the sales facility in which such illegalities were determined;
4) In case of a conduct contrary to the measure of the ban on trade in certain goods/services referred to in Article 54 of this Law.
The Principal Market Inspector may impose the measure referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, if there is no real possibility for conducting control in that facility, i.e. if the acting market inspector is prevented or hindered from conducting the control.
The temporary closure of a sales facility shall be imposed until the identified illegality has been eliminated, i.e. until conducting control within the meaning of paragraph 1, item 3) of this Article, but no longer than six months.
The measure referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be implemented by closing the sales facility, by displaying the decision whereby the measure has been imposed and by sealing the entrance into that facility.
Temporary Ban on Conducting Itinerant Trade
Article 56
The market inspector shall impose the measure of temporary ban on conducting itinerant trade if it is determined that the conditions prescribed by this Law have been infringed.
The ban referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may pertain to a certain form of itinerant trading, to a certain type of goods, area, persons conducting trade, i.e. other conditions in respect of which the infringement of this Law has been determined.
The measure referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be imposed for a period which lasts until the prescribed conditions have been complied with, but no longer than six months.
Temporary Ban on Conducting Distance Trading
Article 57
The market inspector shall impose a measure of temporary ban on conducting distance trading if it is determined that the conditions prescribed by this Law have been infringed.
The ban referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may pertain to a certain form of distance trading, to a certain type of goods, area, persons conducting trade, i.e. other conditions in respect of which the infringement of this Law has been determined.
The measure referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be imposed for a period which lasts until the prescribed conditions have been complied with, but no longer than six months.
Article 58
The market inspector shall by means of a decision seize goods from a person:
1) Whom he finds in conducting trade, i.e. preparing goods for putting into circulation, but who is not a trader within the meaning of this Law;
2) Who conducts itinerant trading, trade under Article 14, items 2) and 3) of this Law, except for stalls, contrary to the measure of temporary ban on conducting trade referred to in Art. 54 and 56 of this Law.
The subject matter of the seizing measure referred to in this Article shall be the goods found in the place and at the time of conducting control, in particular the goods put into circulation, i.e. prepared to be put into circulation (stored, prepared, etc.), the goods in possession of the person referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, regardless of the information on the ownership of such goods and other pieces of information in the documents accompanying the goods.
On the occasion of seizing goods, a receipt comprising the information on the type and quantity of seized goods shall be issued.
The goods found in the place of control, which have obviously been abandoned, shall be removed and shall be considered the seized goods, whereby a special decision shall be passed.
The inspector shall, in case of seizure of goods from paragraph 4 of this Article, display the decision whereby he imposed the measure, prominently on the building that is the subject of inspection supervision or on the notice board of the Ministry, the web presentation of the Ministry or in some other convenient way, what shall be deemed as proper serving and entered as such in the inspection supervision minutes.
Safekeeping, Sale, Assignment without Remuneration and Destruction of Seized Goods
Article 59
The inspection shall provide for keeping of goods seized in the process of inspection supervision referred to in Article 46 paragraph 1, items 1) and 2) of the present Law.
Seized goods that meet the prescribed conditions for placing on the market after the finality of the seizing decision shall be sold by the authority through whose inspectors the goods were seized.
In case seized objects are perishable or the costs of keeping such objects are significant, the principal market inspector shall order their sale, if such objects meet the regulated terms for placement on the market.
Funds generated from the sale of goods from paragraph 2 of this Article shall be paid into the budget of the Republic of Serbia, if the goods were seized through market inspectors, i.e. into the budget of the local self-government unit, if they were seized through communal inspection.
The Government at the proposal of the Ministry, i.e. the competent authority of a local self-government unit, may assign the goods referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, and the goods the sale of which is not possible, for humanitarian purposes, free of charge, to state authorities, institutions of social protection, educational and upbringing institutions, cultural institutions, humanitarian organizations and other beneficiaries of humanitarian aid, as well as for other justified purposes.
Where the appraisal determines that the sale of seized goods is not economically justifiable or where the sale of such goods is not actually or legally possible due to other reasons, i.e. where the destruction of seized goods has been prescribed by separate regulations, such goods shall be destroyed in the manner and under the conditions that allow the efficiency and safety of conduct, upon the finality of the decision on seizure.
The rules of the general administrative procedure, i.e. a separate regulation on the basis of which the goods were seized and the law governing enforcement and security interest, shall be applied to determining and compensating the costs of handling the goods.
The Minister shall regulate in more detail the manner of storing, keeping and handling the goods seized during the inspection supervision procedure, as well as the way of storing, keeping and handling the goods seized by means of the decision of the competent court as the subject of a misdemeanor, economic offense or criminal offense.
The regulation from paragraph 8 of this Article shall govern the form and content of records on the handling of goods, as well as the form and content of the confirmation document about seizing i.e. temporary seizing of goods in order to provide evidence of a committed violation of regulations.
Termination of the Legal Effect of the Measure
Article 60
Legal effect of the measure from Article 52 paragraph 1 items 2)-6) of this Law shall cease when it is determined that the reasons for imposing the measure have been remedied.
Legal effect of the measure shall cease by operation of law, by the expiry of the longest legal time limit for a specific measure.
Initiating the Procedure of Inspection Supervision
Article 61
Inspection supervision within the meaning of this Law shall be conducted ex officio, or at the request of the party to the proceedings.
Inspection supervision shall commence when the market inspector serves the warrant for inspection supervision or the warrant for inspection supervision is served from the official e-mail on the supervised subject, i.e. a person present at the location.
In case the supervised subject, i.e. the person present refuses to accept the serving of the warrant for inspection supervision, it shall be considered that the inspection supervision commences upon the presentation of the warrant and its content to the supervised subject, i.e. the person present.
When, in line with the law, the warrant for inspection supervision has not been issued, the inspection supervision shall commence by taking a first action of the market inspector with that purpose.
Reports of violation of law, i.e. other information and acts named otherwise submitted for the purpose of initiating the inspection supervision shall have the effect of the initiative to initiate the proceedings, and the submitters of such initiatives shall have no capacity of a party to the proceedings which can be initiated on the basis of such an initiative.
Article 62
The market inspector shall keep minutes of all the activities in the procedure of inspection supervision that are of significance for determining the state of facts, in line with the law regulating general administrative procedure and the law regulating inspection supervision.
The market inspector shall make an official note on the issues that are not of immediate significance for determining the state of facts.
The minutes shall be served on to the party to the proceedings in accordance with the law immediately upon the completion of an activity in the procedure, and in cases where this is not possible, at the latest within eight business days from the day when the procedural activity has been performed.
Article 63
Case files on the inspection supervision, as well as the individual documents in the files may be maintained in the form of an electronic document in compliance with the law regulating the electronic document.
Article 64
With the aim of providing evidence, a market inspector may temporarily seize certain objects (items, equipment, documents, etc.), which are directly related to determining of the state of facts in the procedure of inspection supervision.
A conclusion shall be passed on the provision of evidence which is performed ex officio.
Time Limit for Passing a Decision
Article 65
In case the market inspector determines any infringement of the law, and the correction of such infringement is entered in the minutes, and the supervised subject fails to remedy such infringement in the set time limit, the market inspector shall pass a decision in compliance with his authority, within five days from the day of issuance of the minutes on the control inspection supervision.
In case the infringement detected requires that a decision must be passed without delay to impose a measure to remedy the infringement, without prior instruction in the minutes to remedy the infringement, as well as the measure from Article 52 paragraph 1 items 3)-7) of this Law, the market inspector shall adopt a decision in line with his authority, at the latest within eight business days from the day of serving of the minutes.
In case of taking measures against the unregistered subject the decision shall be adopted immediately after the inspector determines that the subject performs his activity without registration.
Article 66
An appeal may be filed with the Minister against the decision of a market inspector, i.e. of a communal inspector, within 15 days from the day of receipt thereof.
The decision of the Minister shall be final in an administrative procedure, and an administrative dispute may be initiated against it.
The appeal shall not delay the enforcement of the decision that imposes the measure from Article 54 and Art. 56-58 of this Law.
Article 67
A legal person shall be punished for a misdemeanor with a fine of 100,000.00 dinars if it:
1) Failed to designate the point of purchase in a complete and prescribed manner or failed to display the notice of purchase (Article 11a, paragraph 5);
2) Does not keep the turnover records in a complete and prescribed manner (Article 30);
3) Fails to submit the requested data (Article 31, paragraph 3);
4) Does not have the displayed data about the trader, i.e. service provider, or data about the sales facility (Article 32);
5) Does not display the working hours or fails to comply with the designated working hours (Article 33);
6) Sells goods with improper or irregular label declaration (Article 34);
7) Fails to display the price in line with Article 35 of this Law;
8) Offers the goods, i.e. services to consumers with special sales incentives contrary to Art. 36 and 37 of the present Law;
9) Advertises sales incentives contrary to Article 38 of this Law;
10) Fails to deliver data in compliance with Article 44 of this Law.
For the actions referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, a natural person or a responsible person in a legal person shall be punished with a fine of 10,000.00 dinars.
For the actions referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article a sole trader shall be punished with a fine of 40,000.00 dinars.
Article 68
A legal person shall be punished for a misdemeanor with a fine of 500,000.00 to 2,000,000.00 dinars if it:
1) Conducts trade at a point-of-sale that has not been set by the act of the competent authority of the local self-government unit in line with Article 14 paragraph 5 of this Law;
2) Conducts itinerant trading contrary to the provisions of Article 16 of this Law;
3) Conducts the business activity of a fair, an organizer of business exhibitions and traditional events, of a farmers’ market, a wholesale market, or an auction house, contrary to Art. 20 - 24 of this Law;
4) Conducts trade contrary to Article 26 of this Law;
5) Doesn’t comply with the Government decision on prices referred to in Article 28, paragraph 3 of this Law;
6) Does not possess adequate documents accompanying the goods in the prescribed manner (Article 29);
7) Does not keep the turnover records (Article 30);
8) Issues or displays the designation of trust contrary to Article 31 of this Law;
9) Sells the goods without label declaration (Article 34);
10) (Deleted);
11) (Deleted);
12) Does not comply with the temporary measures of market protection in compliance with Article 39 of this Law;
13) Conducts speculation (Article 42);
14) Organizes, conducts, advertises or promotes pyramid trade (Article 43);
15) Acts contrary to the measure banning the trade of certain goods, i.e. of rendering of a certain service or disposes of goods, i.e. continues to provide a service, until the market inspector in the validating urgent inspection supervision confirms that the reasons for which the measure banning the trade of certain goods i.e. rendering of a certain service was imposed have been remedied, i.e. that the goods have been permanently removed from the market (Article 54);
16) Acts contrary to the measure of a temporary closure of a sales facility (Article 55);
17) Acts contrary to the measure temporary banning the conduct of itinerant trading (Article 56);
18) Acts contrary to the measure temporary banning the conduct of distance trading (Article 57).
For the activities referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, a natural person or a responsible person in the legal person shall be punished with a fine from 50,000.00 to 150,000.00 dinars.
For the activities referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, a sole trader shall be punished with a fine from 50,000.00 to 500,000.00 dinars.
In addition to the misdemeanor punishment referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, a protective measure banning the conduct of a certain business from six months up to two years may also be imposed against the legal person, as well as the protective measure of public announcement of the ruling.
In addition to the misdemeanor punishment referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, a protective measure banning the conduct of certain jobs from three months up to one year may be imposed against the responsible person in the legal person.
In addition to the misdemeanor punishment referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, a protective measure banning the pursuit of a certain business from six months up to two years may be imposed against a sole trader and a natural person.
Article 69
A natural person who is not a trader i.e. service provider in the sense of Article 25 of this Law but is conducting the trade in goods/services shall be punished with a fine of 50,000.00 to 150,000.00 dinars.
In addition to the misdemeanor punishment referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, a protective measure banning the pursuit of a certain business activity from six months up to two years may also be imposed against the natural person.
Article 69a
The penalty for misdemeanors shall be assessed in accordance with the law that governs misdemeanors, taking into account mitigating and aggravating circumstances, such as:
1) The nature of the violation of this Law;
2) The severity of the violation of this Law;
3) Scope and duration of violation of this law;
4) All actions taken by the trader to alleviate or repair the damage suffered by the consumer i.e. that the consumers have suffered;
5) Previous violations of the trader determined by this Law;
6) Тhe financial profit achieved or losses the trader avoided due to the violation of the consumer's rights, if such data are available;
7) Sanctions imposed on the trader for the same violation in other countries in proceedings related to cross-border cases, if information on such sanctions is available;
8) Other mitigating and aggravating circumstances as well.
Article 70
A misdemeanor proceeding for misdemeanors from Art. 67 and 68 of this Law may not be initiated or run in case two years have passed from the day when the misdemeanor was committed.
A misdemeanor proceeding for misdemeanors from Article 69 of this Law may not be initiated or run in case three years have passed from the day when the misdemeanor was committed.
Provisions of the law regulating misdemeanors shall apply to the issues of statute of limitations for initiating and running the misdemeanor proceedings that have not been regulated by this Law.
VII TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 71
The cases of inspection supervision that have not been completed by the day of entry into force of this Law shall be governed by the provisions of the law in accordance to which they were initiated.
Until the adoption of the secondary legislation on the basis of the authorization under this Law, the secondary legislation passed until the day of entry into force of this Law shall be applicable, except for the provisions that are contrary to this Law.
Secondary legislation adopted based on this Law shall be passed within 12 months from the day of entry into force of this Law.
Article 72
On the date of commencement of application of this Law the following shall be repealed:
1) Law on Trade ("Official Herald of RS", Nos. 53/10, 10/13 and 44/18 - other law);
2) Article 16 and Article 78 paragraph 1, item 6) of the Law on Advertising ("Official Herald of RS", No. 6/16).
Article 73
This Law shall enter into force on the eighth day following the day of its publication in the "Official Herald of the Republic of Serbia", except for provisions of Article 34 paragraph 8 of this Law which shall apply upon expiration of six months from the day of entry into force of this Law.
Independent Article of the Law on Amendments and Additions to the Law on Trade
("Off. Herald of the RS", No. 35/2026)
Article 27
This Law shall enter into force on the eighth day from the day of publication in the "Official Herald of the Republic of Serbia".