Working Start > Business Startup > Trading Certificate

Trading Certificate or Concession

Definition, Explanation

In certain sectors of trades, there is a second requirement to the business starter for starting a trade namely the trading certificate, besides the usual business registration with which the trade license is handed out. The regulations are mainly in the German Industrial Code (Gewerbeordnung, GewO), section B on traders requiring a special certificate. Other regulations to for trade-starting are the ones of the Makler- and Bauträgerverordnung (realtors and builders regulation), the Handwerksordnung (handicrafts regulations), the Gaststättengesetz (restaurant businesses licensing act), and the Gesetz über das Kreditwesen (banking and credits act). A trading certificate is required for all so-called Vertrauensgewerbe (trades of trust), e.g.:

• Credit agencies (§ 29 GewO)
• Builders and construction managers (§ 33e GewO)
• Security services (§ 34a GewO)
• Exposition of persons (§ 33a GewO)
• Marriage bureaus (§ 38 GewO)
• Brokers of credits, real estates or capital investment (§ 34c, d, e GewO)
  Note: for financial services, no trading certificate is required, but instead a certificate by the Bundesaufsichtsamt für Kreditwesen (credit authority). For the brokering of building-loan contracts and insurances, it takes no certificate
• Pawnbrokers (§ 34 GewO)
• Auctioneers (§ 34b GewO)
• Amusement arcades or casinos, money gambling machines, lotteries, gambling (§ 33 GewO)
• Private hospitals (§ 38 GewO)
• Changing-places trades (Reisegewerbe) (§ 38 GewO)
• Temporary employment agencies and other companies lending employees to other companies in terms of employer assignment

and in trade sectors with trade-specific license requirements. Including:

• Handicrafts
• Dealers (§ 38 GewO)
• Traders of goods who broker credits or deferred payment along with their goods, are not required to have a trading certificate (such as car financing, or direct mail selling), but are obliged to register
• Catering businesses, such as restaurants, refreshment stands, sandwich bars, discos and hotels
• For running a wheeled snack bar (staying in the same place for less than 6 weeks), one only requires a changing-places trade card (Reisegewerbekarte), to be obtained at the municipal public order office (Ordnungsamt)
• Transport and traffic trades
• Alternative practitioners (acc. to the act of Heilpraktikergesetz HPG)

Special requirements:

• Traders of trust must hand in a police clearance certificate (polizeiliches Führungszeugnis) to the “Bundeszentralregister”
• Craftsmen are required to have a master craftsman certificate, to be accepted in the register of craftsmen (Handwerksrolle)
• Traders of weapons, OTC drugs, toxins, certain animals, unsealed milk, or minced meat, are required to have a special expertise certificate
• For trading in precious metals, discarded metal, and second-hand goods, there are special requirements concerning the bookkeeping
• For a gastronomy business, one has to attend an information procedure on food and sanitary products at the local CCI (IHK). Also, there are building-related restrictions
• “Konzessionen” are granted to taxi drivers, also to long-distance traffic drivers. In local traffic, up to 50 km from the town centre, a municipal permission is required, also for bus driving

Required documents for applying for a trading certificate:

• Personal identity card, or passport
• Police criminal record
• Tax clearance certificate by the revenue
• Your extract from the register of trade and industrial offences (Gewerbezentralregister)
• Ground plan and building permission for restaurants, amusement arcades, hospitals
• Possibly expertise certificate
• Craftsmen register extract, for craftsmen
• Informal application letter, respective application form, depending on the authority
• Extract from the trade register or the cooperative society register

Charge:

The fee charged for the trading certificate, respective concession, is different depending on the kind of trade. For gastronomy, it can be up to several thousands of Euros.

Cancellation of the trading certificate:

Violations of trade law are prosecuted according to Regulatory Offences Act, or according to criminal law. Especially unreliability of the trader is penalized, for the protection of society or the employees of the company. In the worst case, the trader will be banned from his trade or profession, and the facilities will be closed by force.

Tips, Checklist

• Ask your CCI (IHK) whether a trading certificate is necessary
• Apply for the trading certificate at the local respective trade office (Gewerbeamt)
• Get informed, there, about the required documents and the fee charged
• Familiarize yourself with the regulations of Trade Regulation Act (Gewerbeordnung), and other regulations applying to your kind of business
• For different trades, there are mostly distinct information sheets and application forms for the certificate, to be obtained at your CCI (IHK), or trade office
• As a craftsman of a craft liable to registration, you have to get registered in the Register of craftsmen in case you want to start your own business

Last update: 07/05/2010