This typology includes the ordinary tobacconist, accessible to the public, where a license number is shown by means of a "T" sign displayed outside the retailer’s main entrance.

Conditions for opening an ordinary resale

To set up an ordinary resale of manufactured tobacco, the following minimum conditions must be met in relation to the proposed premises:

  1. Distance to nearest resale:
    • 300 meters in municipalities with populations up to 30,000 inhabitants;
    • 250m in municipalities with populations ranging from 30,001 to 100,000 inhabitants;
    • 200m in municipalities with populations over 100,000 inhabitants.

    In any case, in municipalities with a population of up to 10,000 inhabitants, the establishment of a new retailer is not allowed if the ratio of one retailer per 1,500 inhabitants has already been reached, unless the nearest ordinary retailer already in operation is more than 600m away.

    The extent of the distance between the premises proposed for the new institution and the nearest retailer must be carried out following the shortest pedestrian path, in compliance with the provisions of Legislative Decree 30 April 1992, n. 285 and subsequent amendments (Highway Code).

  2. Productivity: without prejudice to the parameter of the minimum distance, the establishment of a new retailer is not allowed when the fourth part of the sum of the additions made by the three stores closest to those to be established and each of which placed at a distance of less than 600m compared to the proposed location for the establishment of the new retailer, is not equal to or greater than:
    • € 19,965 in municipalities with a population of up to 30,000;
    • € 31,990 in municipalities with a population from 30,001 to 100,000
    • € 39,825 in municipalities with a population greater than 100,000 inhabitants.

In all cases in which the headquarters of the retailer to be established is more than 600 meters away from the three closest outlets, the distance and productivity parameters do not apply.

The aforementioned amounts are adjusted every two years by provision of the Director of the Agency.

Operating modes

A report must be submitted in order to boost the activity of the Agency Office responsible for the territory:

  • on plain paper according to the following application form to be sent at any time of the year
  • using the digital transmission service available for users with SPID credentials – Access the service

On the basis of this report and the others that may be presented, the competent Territorial Office will formulate, for each semester, a provisional plan of the institutions to be valid for the following semester.

Such scheme will be published on the institutional website of the Customs and Monopolies Agency so that everyone may view it in order to allow people to make comments within a period of twenty days from its publication.

After this deadline, the competent Territorial Office will formulate the final plan also made available on the abovementioned institutional website.

For each area deemed suitable for the new institution, and on the basis of the final approved plan, the competent Territorial Office will publish the notice for the assignment of the new resale which will take place as follows:

  1. through a competition reserved for particular categories of subjects and in order, in municipalities with a population not exceeding 30,000 inhabitants:
    • refugees already registered with the same license in the territories of origin;
    • war invalids, war widows and similar categories;
    • holders of military decoration awarded for valor, other refugees recognized as such, mutilated and disabled from work with a reduction in working capacity of no less than 40%, widows of those who died in accidents at work.

    With equal qualifications, those with the largest number of dependents are preferred and, in the event of further equality, those who have proposed the most suitable premises recognized at the sole discretion of the Agency.

  2. In municipalities with a population greater than 30,000 inhabitants and in provincial capitals through a public auction in which everyone can participate without distinction as long as they can demonstrate that they have the availability of premises which are located in the competition area.

The related notices are made public through publication on the institutional website of the Customs Agency, as well as in the Praetorian Register of the Municipality where the new retailer is established and in the register of the competent Territorial Office.

If the aforementioned tenders are unsuccessful, the Agency may proceed with the assignment of the retailer by way of private negotiation to the highest bidder on the basis of the sum established by a Commission set up for the purpose. The relevant notice will be made public as described above.

The person who has been assigned the retail outlet will be required to attend a training course for tobacconists pursuant to art. 55, paragraph 2 quinines, D.L. 78/2010.