Illicit Street Trade Will Face Fines and Confiscation

The government has decided to regulate the street trade sector through a new legislative initiative.

According to the provisions of the "Law on Trade and Services," the sale of food, non-food products, agricultural products, and foodstuffs can only take place in designated areas, given that the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Armenia is notified and other requirements are adhered to.

At the same time, the law specifies that only flowers, seedlings, Christmas trees, ice cream, water (including mineral water), juices, and soft drinks can be sold in open-air markets.

Despite these legal regulations, open-air trade of food, non-food products, and agricultural goods continues in areas that are not designated for such activities, particularly in communities and primarily in Yerevan, violating established legal requirements. It is noteworthy that these violations occur continually, despite multiple instances of administrative fines imposed by local self-government bodies, indicating that fines are not effective in preventing such violations.

The proposed package of legislative drafts seeks to grant local self-government bodies the authority to impose not only fines for violations of trading or service provision in unauthorized areas but also to confiscate the items used during the trade or service delivery, as directly stipulated in Article 24 of the Republic of Armenia's Code on Administrative Offenses. According to this article, "The imposition of fines, confiscation of items, and confiscation can be applied both as primary and additional administrative penalties; the other administrative penalties listed in the first part of Article 23 of this Code may only be applied as primary penalties. A single administrative offense may result in a primary or both primary and additional penalties."

If the proposed drafts are adopted, a significant decrease in the incidence of offenses containing the elements specified in Article 162 of the Republic of Armenia's Code on Administrative Offenses is expected.

The authors of the draft are the Yerevan Municipality and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia. The drafts stem from point 3 of sub-point 5 of the government’s program for 2021-2026, which states, "The government will focus on implementing preventive measures aimed at protecting and improving public health, preventing the effects of risk factors, as well as preventing and early detection of the most widespread non-communicable diseases."