Normativni okvir trgovačke djelatnosti u 1997.

The year 1997 was a turning point for trade regulation in Croatia, as the Trade Act (Official Gazette 11/96) came into force on 1 January 1997, the first comprehensive legislative act in this area since the country gained independence. This regulation regulated in detail the conditions for conducting wholesale and retail trade, the rights and obligations of traders, and inspection supervision of the market. It introduced mandatory compliance with minimum technical requirements for sales facilities and specified permitted trade forms. In addition to the basic Trade Act, the 1997 regulatory framework also included the Companies Act (in force since 1995), which defined the legal forms and organization of economic entities (d.o.o., d.d., crafts). A key segment was also customs and tax regulations, with 1997 being the last year of application of the old sales tax system before the introduction of VAT at the beginning of 1998. The protection of market competition was ensured by the then newly established Act on the Protection of Market Competition (Official Gazette 84/95), while consumer protection was closely linked to the General Conditions of Business and Control of the State Inspectorate.