Official translation
GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
RESOLUTION NO. 697
ON THE APPROVAL OF RETAIL TRADE RULES
11 June 2001
Vilnius
In order to enforce paragraph 1 of Article 6.350 of the Civil Code of Lithuania (Official Gazette 2000, No. 74-2262), the Government of the Republic of Lithuania has resolved:
2. to decide that the rules approved by this Resolution shall enter into force as from 1 July 2001.
Prime Minister Rolandas Paksas
Minister of Economy Eugenijus Gentvilas
APPROVED
by Resolution No. 697of 11 June 2001
of the Government of
the Republic of Lithuania
RETAIL TRADE RULES
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. These rules shall define general requirements for the conducting of retail trade in the Republic of Lithuania.
2. All legal and natural persons engaged in retail trade, who have registered their activity in accordance with the procedure established by laws, must observe these rules.
3. These rules shall not apply to retail trade in water, electricity, fuel and other goods supplied by the engineering networks as well as pharmaceuticals.
4. When other special retail trade rules (in respect to trade in some goods) establish additional or other requirements for the trade in those goods, those rules shall apply.
5. Trade procedure in markets (market-places) and in public places shall be established by the municipal councils in accordance with the Law of Local Self-Government of the Republic of Lithuania (Official Gazette, 1994, No. 55-1049; 2000, No. 91- 2832) and other regulations.
6. Natural persons, having the right to trade without authorizations in accordance with the procedure established by laws, must comply with the requirements established by municipal councils for the trade in the market and public places.
7. The key terms used in these Rules are the following:
The term “seller” shall mean any person (companies and natural persons who have been issued authorizations), engaged in trade;
The term “goods” shall mean any movable object that is to be sold or is offered for sale to the buyer;
The term “technical regulation applicable to goods” shall mean a legal act approved by institutions, ministries and the departments under the ministries and other institutions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in the fields assigned to them and within their competence that defines the obligatory requirements on good safety to be met by goods placed on the market of Lithuania;
The term “consumer purchase-sale contract” shall mean a contract of purchase and sale under which the seller shall assume the obligation to sell the good, the movable object, to the natural person to meet the personal, family or household needs of the latter that are not linked to business or profession, while the buyer shall undertake the obligation to pay the price.
8. Sellers must possess the documents issued in accordance with legislation to the effect that the equipment they use, means for carrying (transporting) goods, premises where retail trade is carried out or where the goods are kept, stored, packed or otherwise managed comply with hygiene, public health care, management of goods and safety requirements laid down in laws.
9. The name of the company or its subdivision engaged in retail trade shall be given on the signboard following model regulations on the exterior advertising approved by the Minister of Economy.
When the seller is the natural person who has been issued authorization, his name, surname and his authorization number shall be indicated. The above data shall be presented in the manner chosen by the natural person who has been issued authorization, however, the data shall be visible to buyers.
10. Buyers shall be notified about the closing of the company or its subdivision (for renovation or similar purposes) at least 5 days before the closing, except for cases when the company or its subdivision is closed due to reasons that were not possible to foresee (in the case of an accident, theft, unexpected inspection, etc.).
II. BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SALE OF GOODS
11. The seller shall be forbidden to:
11.2. sell goods the purchase of which is not approved by documents in accordance with the procedure laid down in laws;
11.3. sell goods without the conformity documents issued in accordance with the procedure laid down in laws;
11.6. sell goods that have been re-marked, repacked or have been otherwise treated in order to extend their term of validity;
11.7. make a decision that the goods will be sold to the buyer only on condition that at the same time or under different circumstances the buyer buys a certain quantity of goods;
11.8. grant the right to the buyer after he has purchased a good straight away or after a certain time to receive a gift or a supplement to the good (except advertising supplements or paraphernalia) when by this the conditions of fair competition are violated or the buyer is being deceived;
12. Only companies that have been issued retail trade licenses in accordance with the procedure set up by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall be allowed to engage in the licensed retail trade, unless the laws provide otherwise.
13. Sex items, with an exception of contraceptives, shall be sold only in specialized shops (shops trading only in sex items).
14. Retail trade in second-hand goods shall be allowed only in marketplaces and in specialized shops (shops trading only in second-hand goods).
Goods must be clean and specially treated to be safe and not dangerous and it is necessary to place the price for each item.
Each consignment of the imported second-hand textiles and footwear must be accompanied by the document or a mark in the accompanying accounting document to confirm that the consignment has been specially treated. The document confirming the treatment of the consignment or the accompanying accounting document shall include the name, the address and the telephone number of the legal person that has performed the treatment, the treatment process as well as names of chemicals used for the treatment. Marketplaces or sales areas of specialized shops (trading in second-hand goods only) shall have warning signs telling the buyers that before using those goods to serve their function, the goods must be treated additionally (to be washed or likewise) in order to remove the residues of disinfectants. In addition, each buyer must be warned about the necessity of such additional treatment by the staff of the shop or the natural person who has been issued authorization.
When selling second-hand electro-technical domestic appliances, electric equipment, mechanisms, the buyer must be notified about their suitability to serve their purpose (it should be indicated that the good is suitable for use to serve its purpose, is not suitable for use to serve its purpose, it should be repaired (reconstructed), etc.), as well as about the changes and improvements if they have been made. The information shall be provided in writing. When the good is suitable for use to serve its purpose, manufacturer’s instructions must be available to the buyer (in the absence of manufacturer’s instructions, the seller’s approved instructions including essential safe and suitable use requirements shall be provided).
15. When non-foodstuffs are sold at discount prices due to their quality defects, in addition to other information about the product in accordance with the procedure laid down in legal acts, the buyer must receive respective information either on price labels or in other ways in writing (it should be indicated that the product price has been reduced, the quality defect due to which the price has been cut down, the product price and whether the product is covered by the warranty). In cases when the product is not covered by the warranty, a respective provision must be included into the document of purchase and sale issued following the procedure stipulated by laws.
16. When a restored (renewed) good is being sold, the buyer must be notified that the good has been restored either in the price label or otherwise in writing with the notice that the product complies with the established safety requirements (provided they apply to the product).
17. Goods for sale must be safe, i. e. the good must comply with the safety requirements applied to that good and set out in the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, technical regulations and other legal acts.
18. Goods for sale must be of adequate quality, i.e. their properties should not be of inferior quality than those laid down for the good in the technical regulation (provided it exists) and in the purchase-sale contract.
19. The properties of the good shall comply with the terms and conditions of the purchase-sale contract, if:
19.2. the good is suitable to be used to serve the function that the goods of that sort are generally used;
20. Goods for sale must make such a set that they meet the conditions for the set laid down in purchase-sale contracts; when such conditions are not fixed in the contracts, goods shall constitute such a set, that they meet the habitual and usual trade requirements.
21. Unless stated otherwise in the contract or not conditioned by the obligation, the seller must deliver goods to the buyer in containers and packages, except in cases when due the nature of goods their packing is not obligatory.
When the contract does not set up packing requirements for goods, goods for sale must be packed in the customary way, and in cases when containers or the packing may be varied - goods must be packed or placed into such containers that their suitability is ensured for storage or transport under usual conditions.
When the obligatory packing requirements are laid down in laws or regulations, the seller must deliver the goods to the buyer following the fixed requirements of laws or regulations relating to the containers and the packing of goods.
22. The amount of the packaging material used to pack bulk products shall not be included into the weight of the good and the value of the packaging material shall not be included into the price of the good.
23. The conditions for the transfer, storage, shelving of goods in warehouses or in the sales area of the shop as well as the their trade conditions shall meet the conditions specified in legal acts (Resolutions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, hygiene norms and regulations, technical regulations applicable to them, etc.), in the manufacturer’s normative documents (in the price labels, etc.) and in the purchase-sale contracts.
24. Weights, weighting-machines and other measuring equipment used for determining the mass, volume and length of the good shall bear the valid verification mark and shall be suitable considering measure limits and accuracy. The measuring equipment shall be verified in accordance with the procedure established by the State Metrology Service.
III. DUTIES OF THE SELLER
25. The seller must:
25.1. sell goods and in accordance with the procedure laid down in laws issue the buyer the document confirming the purchase-sale of goods (payment of the money);
25.2. sell goods together with their paraphernalia and additions that are equivalent to the specimen copy of the good chosen by the buyer;
25.3. ensure that only safe goods, goods of appropriate quality and constituting a full set are for sale;
25.4. when selling non-foodstuffs, issue the warranty document including the exact and clear indication of the warranty term for the quality of the good, provided the goods on sale are covered by such a term;
25.5. for goods that have the fixed term of validity, sell them in such a time that the buyer has real possibilities to use the goods until the expiration of the validity term;
25.6. create conditions for the buyer to examine the good, to try it on or to check its operation or to demonstrate the way it operates, if appropriate, considering the nature of the good.
25.7. provide the buyer with necessary, correct and comprehensive information about goods on sale in the national language.
Information on the safety, quality, function, term of validity, properties of their use, etc. shall be specified while marking goods according to the procedure established by laws.
Information on the price of goods (all taxes included) shall be specified in accordance with the legally established procedure in (on) the price labels of foodstuffs and non-food products (specimens of goods);
25.8. when a good of an inadequate quality is sold, in accordance with legal acts and subject to the choice of the buyer: replace it with the good of an adequate quality; reduce the price of the good accordingly; eliminate defects of the good in reasonable time; cover the expenses of correcting defects; return the amount paid and terminate the contract;
25.9. in accordance with the procedure established by laws, compensate for losses incurred by the buyer provided they have been caused by the inadequate quality of the good or as a result of the fact that the information about the good has not been supplied or the information has been inaccurate;
25.10. having learnt out that the goods for sale are unsafe, discontinue the retail trade in those goods, notify the buyers, the National Council for the Protection of Consumer Rights, the State Food and Veterinary Service or the State Non-Food Product Inspectorate under the Ministry of Economy, remove the goods from the market and carry out other duties laid down in the Law on Product Safety of the Republic of Lithuania (Official Gazette, 1999, No. 52-1673) and other regulations on product safety.
IV. DUTIES AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE BUYER
26. The buyer shall have the right to:
26.1. pending the conclusion of the consumer purchase-sale contract receive in writing the essential, correct and comprehensive information about the goods on sale in the national language and to familiarize himself with their safety documents.
26.2. pending the conclusion of the consumer purchase-sale contract examine the good and demand that the seller checks the good or demonstrates the way it operates in the presence of the buyer provided it is possible considering the nature of the good;
27. The buyer must pay for the good purchased (to pay its fixed price).
Unless the consumer purchase-sale contract provides otherwise, the buyer must pay the total price at once.
V. BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONCLUSION OF COMSUMER PURCHASE-SALE CONTRACTS
29. The expenses from the sale of goods shall be covered by the seller, unless the consumer purchase-sale contract provides otherwise.
The expenses of the consumer purchase-sale contract shall be covered by the buyer only when at the time of the conclusion of the contract the seller specifically defines them or provides the calculation criteria of the expenses.
30. The consumer purchase-sale contract may include the provision that the buyer shall receive goods within a certain time specified in the contract during which the seller shall have no right to sell the same goods to another buyer.
Unless otherwise provided in the contract, while the buyer fails to arrive on time or fails to perform other actions needed for the acceptance of goods, it shall be considered that the buyer refuses to execute the contract.
Additional expenses incurred by the buyer related to the transfer of the goods within a certain term shall be included into the price of the good, unless the contract or the laws provide otherwise.
31. The consumer purchase-sale contract may be concluded based on the specimen copies of goods displayed to the buyer (descriptions of goods, catalogues, models, etc.).
Unless the contract or laws stipulate otherwise, the contract based on the displayed specimen copies of goods shall be considered as concluded when the seller delivers the good to the place specified in the contract, and in cases when the delivery location is not specified in the contract - to the buyer’s place of residence.
The buyer shall have the right to decline the contract based on the specimen copies of goods prior to their delivery. However, in such a case the buyer must cover the required expenses incurred by the seller related to the execution of the contract till the buyer’s refusal, unless the contract provides otherwise.
32. When goods are sold using sale machines, the owner of the machine must inform the buyer by providing the name of the seller (the name of the seller and the office) on the machine or in some other way, the working regime of the machine, as well as actions that the buyer must perform in order to buy a good and the sequence of actions.
The consumer purchase-sale contract in such cases shall be acknowledged as concluded from the moment when the buyer performs the actions needed to get the good from the machine.
When the buyer does not get the good that he has paid for, the seller must at the request of the buyer provide the good or return the amount paid without delay.
33. Any terms of the consumer purchase-sale contract concluded between the seller and the buyer, that have not been defined individually, may be acknowledged as unfair in the respect of the buyer in accordance with the procedure established by laws.
When the terms of the consumer purchase-sale contracts have been recognized as unfair, the losses incurred due to the application of those contracts by the buyer shall be covered in accordance with the procedure established by laws.
VI. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE EMPLOYEES
Employees of the companies trading in foodstuffs and toys and natural persons having acquired authorizations to trade in those goods must comply with the requirements relating to hygiene norms and regulations approved by the Minister of Health. They must check their health as provided for in the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 7 May 1999 No. 544 "On the List of Jobs and Activity Types where Persons who have undergone Health Checks in Advance and who later on Periodically Check their Health in relation to Contaminating Diseases are allowed to Work and the Procedure for Health Checks of such Persons (Official Gazette, 1999, No. 41-1294).
VII. PROCEDURE OF PAYMENTS TO BUYERS
35. Payments shall be made and the documents confirming the purchase-sale of goods (the payment of money) to buyers shall be issued in accordance with the procedure established by laws.
36. The buyer may put forward his or her claims regarding incorrect payment if the buyer checks the money or the sum paid by the payment card at the counter.
The buyer may put forward his or her claims regarding incorrect payment by the payment card to the bank that has issued the card in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract concluded with the bank.
VIII. CONTROL
37. The activities of sellers, the safety and the quality of the goods they sell may be monitored by the State Food and Veterinary Service, the State Non-Food Product Inspectorate under the Ministry of Economy, by the employees of the State Tax Inspectorates and other institutions in accordance with the procedure established by laws.
38. The employees from control institutions and authorities must be accompanied to the auxiliary premises (storage rooms, freezers, workshops, etc.) by the person in charge of the valuables stored in those premises.
39. The owner of the company (the Manager), the person who has been issued authorization, having familiarized himself with the results of control procedures performed by the employees from control institutions or other authorities, must within the set time period eliminate the defects found and notify the control institutions and authorities thereof.