Trade Ministry Sets Conditions for Operating Hours, Holidays, Maintenance, and Resumption Post-Official Holidays
A ministerial decree published in the latest Official Gazette (No. 21), dated March 17, 2025, and signed by the Minister of Internal Trade and Market Regulation, outlines the conditions and procedures for managing operating hours, holidays, technical maintenance stoppages, and the resumption of activities after official holidays in Algeria.
The decree mandates traders tasked with maintaining operations during official holidays and breaks to ensure continuity of commercial activities and a steady supply of goods and services. Governors, after consulting consumer protection associations and professional organizations, will issue a list of traders required to operate, including substitutes for excused absences. Valid excuses include illness (supported by a medical certificate), the death of a close relative (verified by a death certificate), or technical maintenance stoppages, with justifications submitted to the regionally competent Provincial Trade Directorate.
The list of designated traders will be published at the Provincial Trade Directorate’s headquarters, municipal offices, and their websites. Traders must resume activities at the end of holidays, operating shifts, maintenance stoppages, or official holidays.
Individuals or entities in production, distribution, or services may halt trade during annual holidays by submitting a request to the Provincial Trade Directorate 60 days in advance, with approval or reasoned rejection communicated within 15 days. Technical maintenance stoppages, whether total or partial, can be scheduled (e.g., preventive maintenance) or unscheduled (e.g., emergencies). Scheduled stoppages require a request filed in January each year for review with relevant authorities, with a response within 15 days. Unscheduled stoppages must be reported to the Directorate upon occurrence. Extensions for maintenance stoppages can be requested with justification.
Traders seeking a weekly rest day must also submit a request to the Directorate, with the option to adjust the chosen day per the same procedures.
