Status last checked on 9 October 2026, against Narodne novine up to issue 114/2026.
In September, Croatian shops were given three weeks to show an anchor price next to every price and to publish a machine-readable price list every working day. Shortly before the deadline the government stepped back. The rules were not scrapped. Their start was moved to 17 November 2026.
Count the current price, the anchor price, the lowest price of the last 30 days during a promotion, the unit price per kilo or litre and the base price coming with the amended Consumer Protection Act, and one jar of honey could carry five prices. Here is what was ordered, what is on hold, what applies today and what we would keep ready.
What Was Ordered in September
On 10 September 2026 the government adopted two decisions under the Act on Exceptional Price Control Measures (Narodne novine 101/2026). Both were to apply from 1 October.
- Anchor price. Every retailer and service provider registered in Croatia shows, next to the retail price, the price that applied to the same product or service on 10 September 2026. On the shelf, in adverts and on websites. Shops that already show a 2 May 2025 price under the 2025 rules keep that date for those products (more below).
- Daily price lists. Every trader with a website publishes its price lists as XML or CSV files that software can read and collect automatically. Retailers update them once a day, by 08:00 for that working day. Service providers update them on every change. Each product carries its name, code, brand, unit price, retail price, any promotion, the anchor price, barcode and availability. File names follow a set pattern per outlet, and every file stays online for 30 days.
The reference day was the day of the decision itself, so many businesses first had to rebuild their 10 September prices from invoices and exports. Shops and agencies across the country then spent three weeks building anchor price fields, price history, daily feeds and new product page layouts.
What Changed at the End of September
In the last days of September the government announced that the rules would be reworked. On 29 September it amended both decisions, replacing “1 October 2026” with “17 November 2026” (Narodne novine 110/2026, in force from 30 September). Nothing else in the decisions changed.
So the obligations still stand, with a later start. The government has said the Ministry of Economy will first prepare rulebooks, and exemptions have been mentioned. None had been published when we last checked. The decisions may change again before 17 November, or they may not.
The September deadline cost businesses real money for work that is now on hold. The lesson for the next version is simple: rules that need software work best when the people who build that software see a draft first and get enough time to build it once.
What Else Starts on 17 November
The date matters for a second reason. The amendments to the Consumer Protection Act (Narodne novine 59/2026) rewrite its article 7 with effect from 17 November 2026. From then, a trader has to show the retail price, the unit price and a base price, defined as the retail price that applied on a specific day in an earlier period. The same article requires traders to publish their current price lists on their websites.
Which day, which products and in what format is left to rulebooks from the minister. Those had not been published when we checked. A separate rulebook on how retail and unit prices are shown was published in September (Narodne novine 105/2026).
So whatever happens to the September decisions, a base price and published price lists are already written into the law for 17 November. The details are not, and how the base price will relate to the anchor price is one of the open questions. The September decisions apply to traders registered in Croatia; foreign shops selling to the same customers are not covered by them.
What Applies Today
- The 2025 anchor price. Until 17 November the 2025 decision on price lists and an additional price (Narodne novine 75/25) still applies to the shops it covers. They show the price of 2 May 2025 next to food, drinks, cosmetics, cleaning products, toiletries and household products, and publish their price lists online. When the new decisions start, those shops keep the 2 May 2025 price for these products (decision 1212, point IV).
- Promotions. When you reduce a price, show the lowest price you charged in the 30 days before the promotion. The postponement does not touch this rule.
- Unit prices. The price per kilo, litre or other unit where the law requires it, as before.
- The EU guarantee notice. Since 27 September every seller of consumer goods also shows the harmonised notice on the legal guarantee. It is one fixed page with no daily files, as we explain here.
What We Would Keep Ready
- Keep what you built. Do not delete the anchor price fields, the price history or the feeds from September. Hide them on the front end if you need to, and keep the data.
- Record every price change. Store each price with its date, per product and per outlet where prices differ. Whatever reference day the final rules choose, you can only show a price you recorded.
- Keep the feed generator configurable. XML and CSV, per outlet, on a schedule, with a 30-day archive. Field names, file names and timing belong in settings, not in code.
- Make the price display switchable. One price, or a price with a reference price, chosen per product type and changed without a new release.
- Check the 30-day rule in promotions now. It applies today, and it is the part an inspector can already check.
- Watch Narodne novine before 17 November. Plan a short window of work after the final text appears, not a rebuild.
What It Means for You
If you sell to Croatian consumers from a Croatian company, check whether the 2025 rules already apply to your shop, plan for something new on 17 November, and expect the details to change before then. The cheapest path is to keep what you built, make it switchable and wait for the final text before building more. If you want us to check what your shop already has and what it would still need, book a 20-minute call. If it turns out you do not need us, we will tell you.