What is itinerant trade?
Itinerant trade means the sale, marketing, and presentation with a view to sale of products and services to a consumer by a retailer outside its establishment, or by any other person not having such an establishment.
This legislation applies to any person, retailer or not, exercising such sales.
It covers the sale of products as well as the provision of services.
However, it does not cover:
- the sale to professionals for professional purposes;
- services carried out by professionals who are part of a profession subject to ethical regulations, approved by the public authorities.
Is authorisation required, or do specific conditions need to be met?
Yes, authorisation, or at least the respect of specific conditions, may be required by the seller depending on his status (trader, association, individual), the type of sale (commercial or not) and the point of sale (for example on the public highway or as part of a demonstration at home.
In order to limit the risk of forgery, the authorisation for itinerant trade is issued on an electronic medium as well as on a hard copy (paper authorisations lost their validity from 1 April 2014).
Who does this apply to?
This itinerant activity authorisation is required for anyone exercising an itinerant activity:
- individuals working for themselves;
- the person responsible for the everyday management of a company or association;
- the agents for these people, companies, or associations.
For how long is this authorisation valid?
It is valid for the duration of the activity.
From where can this be obtained?
This can be obtained from an approved business one-stop shop.
How much does the itinerant activity authorisation cost?
- 150 Euros if you are an employer
- 100 Euros if you are an agent
Which conditions govern the exercise of itinerant activity?
- An itinerant activity authorisation is required.
- This is only authorised in certain places, and additional authorisation may be required depending on the latter (for example, the authorisation of the municipality to exercise itinerant sales at communal markets and in the public domain.
- It may be subject to certain time restrictions (generally at the home of consumers).
- It cannot cover all products and services.
When can an itinerant activity be exercised?
To protect the consumer, itinerant trade is only allowed in certain locations:
- public markets;
- private markets approved by the municipality;
- the public domain;
- private land adjoining the public highway and commercial parking areas based on prior authorisation from the municipality or the landowner;
- railway, airport, and metro stations;
- shopping centres;
- fairgrounds, only for itinerant activities related to catering;
- cafés, hotels, and restaurants, but only for the sale of flowers.
Itinerant trade is also authorised on the occasion of certain events:
- flea markets approved by the municipality;
- cultural and sporting events, when the products sold relate to the purpose of the event, or correspond to products sold by small catering establishments.