New Croatian price control measures

The Croatian Government has adopted two new measures that significantly expand the country's price transparency framework: the Decision on Display of Additional Prices as a Direct Price Control Measure and the Decision on the Publication of Price Lists of Products and Services as a Direct Price Control Measure.

The Decisions were adopted on 10 September 2026 as part of the Government's Package of Measures for the Protection of Households and the Economy against Price Increases and will enter into force on 1 October 2026. The measures aim to enhance market transparency, enable consumers to make informed purchasing decisions and protect consumers' economic interests.

Although certain price transparency obligations were already in place, including the display of reference ("anchor") prices for selected consumer goods, the new framework significantly broadens their scope. The new Decisions extend both anchor-price disclosure and digital price-list publication requirements to all products and services offered to consumers, resulting in considerably greater compliance obligations for B2C businesses.

Mandatory Display of Additional (Anchor) Prices

Under the first Decision, traders and service providers are required to display an additional (anchor) price alongside the current retail price at the point of sale or service. As a general rule, the anchor price corresponds to the price applicable on 10 September 2026, which serves as the reference date for the new transparency regime.

An exception applies to certain FMCG categories that were already subject to a similar obligation under the previous framework, including food and beverages, cosmetics, and cleaning products. For these products, the relevant reference date remains 2 May 2025.

The obligation also applies to advertising and promotional materials, including leaflets, catalogues and digital advertisements, as well as websites through which products or services are offered to consumers. 

Mandatory Online Publication of Price Lists 

The second Decision introduces a comprehensive obligation for traders and service providers that operate a website to publish their price lists online in .xml or .csv format, suitable for automatic data processing. 

The frequency of updates varies depending on the nature of the business. Traders offering products must update their online price lists on a daily basis, while service providers are required to update them whenever a price change occurs. Another important requirement is that previously valid price lists must remain accessible for at least 30 days. 

Businesses must also enable automated data retrieval. Where a trader operates multiple sales locations, including online stores, a separate price list must be published for each individual location.

Implications for Businesses

The new framework requires businesses to review their pricing practices and systems for communicating pricing information, and to take the necessary operational and technical measures to ensure compliance with the following key requirements:

• display anchor prices alongside current retail prices at all points of sale and service;
• update advertising and promotional materials to include the relevant anchor price;
• publish structured digital price lists (.csv or .xml) on their websites with regular updates;
• enable automated data retrieval of pricing information;
• ensure that anchor prices are displayed consistently in promotional sales campaigns, allowing consumers to compare current prices with the relevant reference prices.

The new rules will apply as of 1 October 2026.