The Castilian and Leonese Trade Council has published a favourable report on the commercial strategy of Castilla y León, in an extraordinary meeting held this Friday and chaired by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Employment, Leticia García. Among the measures included is the regulation of sales establishments in points of sale.
The favourable and mandatory report of the Castilian and Leonese Trade Council, obtained this morning, after incorporating the contributions made by the sector, constitutes “a decisive step “for the final approval of the Strategy that the councilor has committed to speeding up during the meetings she has held in recent weeks with representatives of the sector.
“Trade is a strategic sector which will have the full support of the Junta de Castilla y León, both from an economic and regulatory point of view,” stressed García, who also stressed that “this is a priority for the Ministry, which seeks strengthening, legal security, as well as organization and adaptation to current consumption habits.”
The plenary session of the Castilian and Leonese Trade Council published the mandatory report on the Retail and Rural Trade Strategy of Castilla y León 2024-2027. The amendment of Decree 82/2006, of November 16, was also carried out, in which Issues such as opening schedules or sales promotion activities are regulated..
The Retail and Rural Commerce Strategy of Castilla y León aims to define, plan and coordinate the actions to be carried out by the Regional Government to protect and strengthen local retail trade. On the other hand, with the amendment of the decree, the Council intends to rationalize, simplify and clarify the regulation of certain aspects of commercial activity in the Community.
The draft strategy, which integrates the proposals made by the sector, articulates and strengthens support measures for retail trade, in particular local trade and that carried out in rural areas, paying particular attention to modernization and digitalization, without abandoning the commitment to the physical establishment, essential for the social and economic revitalization of rural areas and urban centers and neighborhoods.
The proposal approved by the Council includes six axes and 61 actions related to all the departments of the Junta de Castilla y León that intervene, directly or indirectly, in the trade of the Community.
The six axes on which the document is based are the protection of retail trade; the promotion of training and commercial culture; support for modernization, digitalization and innovation; promoting demand in local trade; the promotion of entrepreneurship in the sector; and the development of a specific plan to support rural trade. In each of these axes, the actions to be carried out during the period of validity of the strategy are specified.
Finally, the document establishes the criteria for carrying out the execution and monitoring of the different measures, as well as the financing of the actions planned to guarantee their development.
The amendments proposed by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment of the General Directorate of Commerce and Consumption aim to achieve a better organization of the aspects regulated in the decree, by simplifying, streamlining and clarifying the regulations. The aim is also to adapt the regulations to the changes that commercial activity and new consumer habits have undergone in recent years, as well as to provide greater legal certainty to the parties involved.
Opening of the holidays
Among the proposed changes, it is worth highlighting that the Ministry the holiday opening schedule must be published in advance authorized so that traders can plan their programming sufficiently in advance, both from a commercial and professional point of view.
Similarly, certain aspects are required when regulating sales promotion (sales), establishing the obligation to accurately determine the previous price of the product on promotion, which will be the lowest of those established in the 30 days preceding the start of the promotion. Likewise, it aims to precisely regulate the identification of products and sales establishments at points of sale.
The favorable report of the Castilian and Leonese Trade Council also allows to advance in the process of modifying the decree which is scheduled to come into force next year.
The Regional Trade Council is a consultative body in which the different associations of traders, chambers of commerce, unions, the employers’ association CEOE Castilla y León, consumer associations, as well as the central, regional and local administration are represented.
