On August 29, 2025, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Regulation on Special Conditions for Trade in Certain Types of Goods (“Regulation”), which became applicable on September 1, 2025. In the application of the Regulation, numerous ambiguities were immediately noticed, and its amendments and supplements were adopted on September 12, which have been in effect since September 13.

The main objective of the Regulation is to prevent an excessive increase in the prices of goods of importance for the supply of citizens, primarily in the food category, which is attempted by limiting trading margins and fees.

The Regulation was adopted based on the authority of Article 39 of the Trade Law, according to which the Government may prescribe temporary market protection measures to prevent market disturbances or to eliminate the harmful consequences of market disruptions regarding the supply of goods and services vital for the life and health of people and for the operation of economic entities, institutions, and other organizations of general interest.

The validity of the Regulation is limited to six months, which is the maximum period for applying a temporary measure as stipulated by the Trade Law.

The prescribed limitations apply to the following categories of goods:

• milk, dairy and mixed products, eggs; non-alcoholic beverages, coffee, tea; fresh fruit and vegetables; processed fruit and vegetables; bread and bakery products; pulses; frozen products; fresh and processed meat; fresh and processed fish; savory confectionery; sweet confectionery and cereals; sugar and honey; flour; pasta; oils and fats; vinegar; rice; salt and spices; household chemicals; paper and kitchen supplies; personal hygiene and cosmetics; baby food; nappies.

Below we set out the key measures in the Regulation.

Limitation of Margins

• The maximum retail margin rate, calculated on the selling price excluding value added tax, may not exceed 20%.
• The supplier’s invoiced price may not exceed the invoiced price applicable on August 1, 2025, except for fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and fresh fish, as well as exchange-traded goods such as coffee and cocoa. Namely, the trade of these goods is characterized by pronounced seasonality or is influenced by exchange fluctuations, making price limitation in the described manner impossible, which is why the Regulation was subsequently amended.
• The maximum wholesale margin rate, calculated on the selling price excluding value added tax applicable on August 1, 2025, reduced by rebates and discounts, may not exceed 20% from the first time the goods are placed on the market of the Republic of Serbia.
• The maximum distributor’s margin rate, calculated on the selling price excluding value added tax applicable on August 1, 2025, reduced by rebates, fees and discounts, may not exceed 20% from the first time the goods are placed on the market of the Republic of Serbia.

The prescribed margin rate must be applied by retailers engaged in non-specialized retail trade (excluding those selling at portable sales outlets), as well as wholesalers, whose total business income in 2024 exceeded RSD 4,500,000,000.00.

If, by the date of entry into force of the Regulation, the margin rate on certain products was lower than 20% at the time of the most recent regular price calculation, the lower rate shall apply.

Limitation of Fees

• The total amount of all fees that a retailer may invoice to an individual supplier, including all contractually agreed percentage-based fees and all fixed fees (“Fees”), may not exceed 10% of the supplier’s total net invoiced amount to that retailer during the validity of the Regulation.
• The amount of Fees does not apply to logistics rebates and fees for shortages of goods or write-offs, the maximum amounts of which may not exceed 3% for logistics rebates and 1% for shortages of goods or write-offs, nor to promotional rebates that are fully passed on to the retail selling price.

If Fees, logistics rebates, or fees for shortages of goods or write-offs were not agreed on August 1, 2025, they can be subsequently included within the limits set by the Regulation, and if they were lower, they cannot be increased.

The original text of the Regulation did not allow the application of these fees if they were not agreed upon as of August 1, 2025. However, such regulation effectively placed traders who are essentially in the same legal situation in unequal positions, and making distinctions based on a specific date preceding the adoption of the Regulation cannot justify a deviation from the Constitutional guarantees of a free market and equal legal standing in the market.

Additional Duties of Traders

Traders subject to the Regulation are obliged to submit current price lists for goods covered by the Regulation to the Ministry of Internal and Foreign Trade every Monday during the validity period of the Regulation, no later than 2 p.m. These price lists will then be published on the Ministry’s website. Making wholesale prices publicly available is not a standard practice and is viewed unfavorably from a competition protection standpoint. Along with state-controlled trading conditions, this raises doubts about the existence of genuine competitive pressure, which is a necessary element of a price-balanced market that the Regulation aims to establish, at least declaratively.

The Regulation also imposes a duty on retailers to ensure the uninterrupted supply of all types of goods covered by the Regulation to consumers.

Sanctions

The Regulation prescribes so-called fixed monetary fines for violating its provisions. These are fines of 300,000 dinars for a legal entity and 50,000 dinars for the responsible person within the legal entity, who may additionally be subjected to a protective measure prohibiting them from performing certain activities for a period of six months to one year.

Mandatory monetary fines, as penalties prescribed in absolute amounts, can be imposed by market inspectors during inspection procedures by issuing a misdemeanor order. Considering that the Misdemeanor Law allows payment of half the prescribed fine if voluntarily paid within eight days of issuing the order, the scope of such penal policy is called into question.

Final Remarks

The initial effects of applying the Regulation in practice indicated the necessity of adopting its amendments and supplements, but it seems that not all ambiguities have been resolved, and some additional ones have been created.

It is also noticeable that the text of the Regulation is at a low legal-technical level, due to the lack of definitions of certain terms (for example, the distinction between a wholesaler and a distributor) or inconsistencies in determining the scope of the Regulation (for example, the absence of delimiting which traders are subject to fee restrictions based on turnover, as was done for margin limitations), and so on.

There is an unavoidable impression that the adoption of the Regulation was not preceded by a thorough economic analysis that would clearly point to the causes of high retail prices, which may also lie in the product cost price, particularly high labor and energy costs, as well as the euro exchange rate.

Further effects of the Regulation remain to be monitored to assess whether this type of regulation can be an adequate means of preventing excessive price increases in the future, which is already not the case for certain goods.

This article is to be considered as exclusively informative, with no intention to provide legal advice. If you should need additional information, please contact us directly.