The purpose of the law is to create a legal basis for commercial activity, to develop a distribution network of goods and commercial services, free competition, and to protect the life, health, safety and economic interests of consumers.
Regulation scope
- This law regulates activities in the field of domestic trade, establishes the basic requirements for the implementation of this activity, the forms of its implementation and the powers of the central sectoral public administration bodies and local public administration bodies in the field of trade.
- For the purposes of this law, the types of activities for trade in food and non-food products and the provision of services are defined in accordance with the Classifier of Economic Activities of Moldova - NACE Rev.2 (CAEM-2).
Central public administration bodies authorized in the field of trade
- Central public administration bodies ensure the harmonious development of trade networks and the procedure for the distribution of goods and commercial services, as well as equal conditions of activity for all traders regardless of their type of ownership and organizational and legal form.
- The rules for the implementation of trading activities, including sanitary and sanitary-veterinary rules, as well as food safety and consumer protection rules are approved by the Government.
- The central sectoral public administration body responsible for the development of state policy in the field of trade and for regulating this area is the Ministry of Economy and Digitalization.
- The State Inspectorate for Supervision of Non-Food Products and Consumer Protection
- a) coordinates and implements the state strategy in the field of consumer protection;
- e) carries out state control over compliance with the norms and rules for conducting trade activities, including by carrying out control purchases.
- The supervisory authorities develop, publish and periodically update (in the event of changes in current legislation or for the purpose of improvement) reference guides that contain clearly stated requirements to be met by traders when implementing trading activities. Control authorities ensure that the guidelines are published on their official websites and made available to the general public.
Powers of local public administration authorities in the field of trade
Trading activities carried out locally are administered and coordinated by local public administration authorities in accordance with the national regulations in force.
Article 7. Forms of Trade
- a) Wholesale Trade;
- b) Retail Trade;
- c) Cash and Carry Trade;
- d) Provision of Commercial Services;
- e) Catering.
Article 13, paragraph (6). To carry out commercial activities, a merchant must:
- b) register in accordance with current legislation;
- c) submit notification to the local public authority in accordance with this law;
- d) obtain the appropriate permit, if required by law in relation to the merchant's activities.
Article 14. Notification of Trading Activity
(1) Trading activity is subject to the filing of a notification in the field of trade by a person registered in accordance with the law. Trading activity commences on the day the local government authority issues a certificate of acceptance through the trade information resource.
(2) In cases provided by law, the commencement and implementation of trading activity may be subject to the receipt of the relevant permits.
(3) In the event of failure to issue certificates or placement plans within the specified timeframe, or in the event of any action or inaction by a local public authority related to the notification that makes it impossible to commence, modify, suspend, or terminate trading activities, approval shall be granted by default, the notification shall be considered submitted, and the trader may commence/terminate the activity:
- a) from the third working day following the day of filing the notification, or
- b) from the 16th working day from the day of filing the notification in the cases specified in paragraph a) of part (3) of Article 213.
(4) In the cases specified in part (3), the identification number of the notification shall be the number generated by the trade information resource when entering the notification into the system (file number).
(5) The notification must contain the general information required by paragraph (6), as well as other information appropriate to the specific activity, type of trading entity, and conditions of activity, in accordance with the forms provided in Appendix 7.
(6) The general information required for notification is:
- a) the name, address, IDNO, and contact information of the trader or his legal representative;
- b) the name and code of the trading activity in accordance with Appendix 1 (at the four-digit level), indicating the sale of alcoholic beverages, beer, and/or tobacco products;
- c) the name and address of the trading entity or market/amplaza;
- d) the type of trading entity in accordance with the Nomenclature of Trading Entities;
- e) the working hours of the trading entity;
- f) the cadastral number of the real estate property at the location of the trading unit, with the exception of small-scale retail;
- g) indication of the location of the trading unit in an apartment building;
- h) the trading and/or total area, as applicable;
- i) a declaration of compliance with the law under the merchant's own responsibility.
(7) Other information in the notification, not specified in part (6), shall be indicated in accordance with the trading activity, the products sold or services provided, the type of trading unit, and the ownership of the land on which the trading unit is located.
The trading activities specified in items 5.8, 5.8.1, 5.8.2, 5.8.3 and 5.81 of paragraph 5 of Part I and items 3.3 and 3.4 of paragraph 3 of Part II of Appendix 6 to the Law on Veterinary and Sanitary Activities No. 221/2007, as well as the activities specified in Appendix 2 of the Law on State Supervision of Public Health No. 10/2009 (in accordance with the following classes of the said Appendix (CAEM-2): 46.46; 47.30; 47.73; 55.20 – only for children's camps; 93.29 – only for beach activities; 96.02; 96.04; 96.09), shall be indicated in the notification even in cases where they are not the main activity of the merchant.
(8) The local public administration authorities shall verify the correctness of the notification regarding the correlation of the elements specified in paragraph (7) and shall provide, upon request, assistance to depositors in completing the notifications.
Article 15. Requirements for Notification of Commencement of Trading Activities
(1) The information included by a trader in the notification of commencement of trading activities must comply with the prohibitions and requirements provided for by this Law and the local trade regulations approved by the local council, in accordance with paragraph (5) of Article 6.
(2) The notification of commencement of trading activities shall be submitted by the trader separately for each trading unit, except for the cases provided for in paragraph (5) of Article 12 and paragraph (1) of Article 121.
(3) Notification of commencement, modification, suspension, or termination of trading activities may be submitted online through an information resource in the field of trade or directly to the reception window of the local public administration body.
(4) Notification of the commencement, modification, suspension or termination of commercial activity shall be submitted to the local public administration body (village (commune), city or municipality mayor's office) at the location of the planned or ongoing commercial activity, which may be different from the mayor's office in whose jurisdiction the person has his legal address or place of residence.
(7) Submission of notification of the commencement or modification of commercial activity shall imply payment by the submitter to the local public administration body of a notification fee in the amount of 100 lei, except for cases where an exemption from this fee applies in accordance with letter p) of paragraph (1) of Article 6.
(8) Confirmation of payment of the notification fee shall be submitted on a physical or electronic medium through an information resource in the field of trade, depending on the method of payment and the form of submission of the notification, within three working days from the date of issuance of the notice of receipt under penalty of its cancellation by the issuing local public administration body.
Article 16. Receipt of Notification
(1) Upon receipt of the notification, the local public administration body is obliged to:
- a) process the notification data in the trade information resource;
- b) issue to the trader, in accordance with the submission form – in person or online – a certificate of acceptance or refusal to accept the notification, indicating the following information:
– date and time of receipt of the notification;
– notification serial number assigned by the trade information resource;
– last name and first name, position and contact information (telephone, e-mail) of the responsible person of the local public administration body that accepted the notification or refused to accept it; - c) notify the territorial body of the state fire supervision about the notification received and transfer the information contained therein;
- d) in case of refusal to accept, indicate the reason and provide recommendations for eliminating the deficiencies.
(2) A certificate of acceptance or refusal to accept shall be issued:
- a) no later than the second working day following the day of filing the notification, if filed online;
- b) on the day of filing the notification – if the notification is filed at the reception desk of the local public authority;
- c) by way of derogation from points a) and b), within 15 working days from the date of filing the notification in the field of trade – in the cases provided for in point a) of part (3) of Article 213.
Article 17. Verification of the accuracy of data and compliance with the requirements for carrying out trading activities
(1) The local public authority shall verify the data specified in the notification for compliance with the provisions of this Law.
(2) These notifications and documents submitted by the trader shall be processed on a one-stop-shop basis as follows:
- a) the accuracy of the data on the trader's name/business name, legal address/residence, administrator, and IDNO/IDNP shall be verified by accessing data from the State Register of Legal Entities and, respectively, the State Population Register or other state registers, as necessary;
- b) the accuracy of the data on the address of the trading entity shall be verified by accessing data from information resources maintained by the Public Services Agency, as necessary;
- c) compliance with urban planning, land development, and construction requirements shall be verified by accessing data and interacting with the responsible units of the local public administration authority, as necessary.
(3) The local public administration authority shall cooperate with other public authorities or with private entities in order to exercise its powers to verify the legality of the activities of traders. At the request of a local public authority, the said authorities and entities shall provide relevant information in compliance with the law.
(4) The local public authority may inspect the activities of a merchant in accordance with the provisions of the Code of the Republic of Moldova on Contraventions.
(5) Information about the new notification (with an attached notification of commencement or change, as the case may be) shall be sent via the trade information resource to the Technical Supervision Agency in all cases, to the National Food Safety Agency if the trader carries out the activities specified in items 5.8, 5.8.1, 5.8.2, 5.8.3 and 5.81 of paragraph 5 of Part I and items 3.3 and 3.4 of paragraph 3 of Part II of Appendix 6 to the Law on Veterinary and Sanitary Activities No. 221/2007, and to the National Agency for Public Health if the trader carries out the activities specified in Appendix 2 to the Law on State Supervision of Public Health No. 10/2009 (in accordance with the following classes of the said Appendix (CAEM-2): 46.46; 47.30; 47.73; 55.10; 55.20 – only for children's camps; 93.29 – only for beach activities; 96.02; 96.04; 96.09).
(6) The authorities specified in part (5) shall review the data from the notification to determine whether the entrepreneur's activities comply with the requirements established by law. They may also use the data from the notification to establish an illegal act stipulated by the law on offenses or criminal law, or exercise state control if there are grounds for such control established by law.
Legal basis of the Republic of Moldova
-
Law No. 231/2010 on internal trade
-
Classification of Economic Activities in Moldova - NACE Rev.2 (CAEM-2)
-
Law on Veterinary and Sanitary Activities No. 221/2007
-
Law on State Supervision of Public Health No. 10/2009
-
Contravention Code of the Republic of Moldova No. 218/2008
-
Law No. 436/2006 on Local Public Administration
-
Public Administration