Legal bases

Trade law regulates which professions are subject to authorisation. Examples of activities subject to authorisation are those of pawnbrokers, guards, auctioneers, brokers, investment advisors and insurance intermediaries. In addition, the operation of arcades and the installation of machines also require permission.

In addition, the trade regulations contain regulations on so-called trades requiring monitoring. These are trades that do not require a licence, but require special supervision. These include, for example, second-hand trade in certain categories of goods, detectives, partnership agencies, travel agencies and key services.

In addition, the trade regulations include regulations on the travel industry as well as on trade fairs and markets.

The Trade Code is a federal law that is implemented by the Länder as a matter of their own. In North Rhine-Westphalia, however, the Jurisdiction Ordinance has largely declared the municipalities responsible for the implementation of the Trade Ordinance. The highest technical supervision in the field of trade law is the responsibility of the Ministry.

Since 1953, craft law has been regulated in the Law on the Order of Crafts, the Crafts Code, and has already been amended several times and adapted to current developments. The last major amendment to the Crafts Regulations took place in 2004 and implemented the current structure in Crafts Law.

The Crafts Code is a federal law. The federal states have the opportunity to participate in changes via the Federal Council. This is one of the tasks of the unit, as well as the coordination of legal positions and procedures with the Federal Government, other federal states and the craft associations.

In addition, the unit supervises the North Rhine-Westphalian Chambers of Crafts, in particular with regard to exemptions and authorisations to exercise the right to register as craftsmen. This competence was transferred to the Chambers of Crafts in 2006 by the Regulation on competences under the Crafts Code and the EU/EEA Crafts Regulation. Before applying for an authorisation to exercise or a derogation, a free consultation on the application requirements by the competent Chamber of Crafts is recommended, because the rejection of an application is also subject to a fee.

On the portal [recht.nrw.de] (https://recht.nrw.de/lmi/owa/br_start) you will find all applicable legal texts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Rechtsportal is a service of the Ministry of the Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (IM NRW).

In a joint project with juris GmbH, the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection makes almost all current federal law available free of charge on the ‘Laws on the Internet’ page.

On the website of the Federal Gazette you can also search for publications, announcements and other legally relevant company news free of charge and without registration.

The EUR-Lex database gives you access to European Union legislation. EUR-Lex is a database where you can find, among other things, contracts, international agreements, legislation and information on complementary law.