Action plan

Priorities and focus areas for the current year.

Image of the retail sector

Image of the retail-sector employee and employer.
1. To value working in the retail sector both as a customer-facing employee and in numerous other roles. To inform the public about career opportunities in the retail sector and showcase the innovation and modern solutions in retail. To surface and address the concerns of customer-facing staff.
2. To explain and clarify the role and importance of the merchant in the economy and in society more broadly. The retail sector is one of the largest employers in Estonia and a significant contributor to economic development.
Image of the Merchants' Association.
1. To increase the visibility, proactiveness and leadership of the Merchants' Association on topics important to our sector.
2. To stand up for the involvement of business representative organisations in shaping policies that affect them.
To increase the membership of the Merchants' Association and to provide value to existing members.

Legislation

To share knowledge, provide input on topics affecting the retail sector and protect the interests of the retail sector. The main areas of law affecting the retail sector are:
1. Tax policy.
2. Environmental policy, including packaging and recycling.
3. Competition policy.
4. Employment policy.
5. Consumer protection.
6. Issues concerning food and essential consumer goods, including alcohol policy and medicines policy.
To promote self-regulation as an approach and a way of thinking that serves as an alternative to legislative over-regulation.

Education

To support high-quality higher education in the field of trade and cooperation between the private sector and universities.
To support the provision of quality vocational education in the field of trade.

Innovation, research and development

To encourage information exchange on innovative solutions in the trade sector and move towards an increasingly qualified workforce. To cooperate with the relevant development centres on issues relating to the living environment and urban planning.

Subject areas

The main topics the Merchants' Association deals with are:

Good trade practice, consumer protection, tax-environment matters, retail trade statistics, market research, the Food Act, food hygiene, alcohol policy, the organisation of alcohol sales, card payments, trade-sector education, the Trading Act, over-the-counter medicines, packaging waste recycling, the Packaging Act, deposit fees, the Consumer Protection Act, food labelling, tobacco policy, security matters and labour issues in retail.