On 19 November 2002 the Government by Resolution No 1797 approved the Order for Issue of Business Certificates to Inhabitants. This Order is appended by the list of the types of individual activities which may be performed having a business certificate.

      On 22 October 2002 the Parliament adopted Law No IX-1142 on Amendment of the Law on Small and Medium- Size Business Development. The title of the law was changed to “Law on Small and Medium-Size Business”. The main purpose of this Law is to harmonise the statutory regulation of the development of small and medium-size business in the Republic of Lithuania, in particular the definition of small and medium-size business, with the law of European Union and the provisions of the Law on Control of State Support to Economic Entities. The Law gives a new definition of small and medium-size business entities. The criteria which define small and medium business are harmonised with the criteria applied in the European Union as set forth in the Commission Recommendation of 3 April 1996 concerning the definition of small and medium enterprises (96/280/EC) as well as the criteria determined in the Law on Control of State Support to Economic Entities. While defining small and medium-size enterprise, as compared to the provisions of the former wording of this Law, the present wording additionally provides for the criteria of maximum annual income and the assets of an enterprise; for the purposes of the definition of small and medium-size enterprises the maximum number of employees has been increased up to 249, for small enterprises - up to 49 employees, for micro enterprises - up to 9 employees; also, the requirement for self-governance of small and medium-size enterprises has been particularised establishing that an enterprise will not be considered as medium-size (or small) if 1/4 or more of its capital or voting rights belong to an entity which is not a medium (or small) undertaking. Besides, the Law establishes the principle that when determining whether an enterprise is to be ascribed to small and medium-size business, it is necessary to evaluate appropriate indices not only of such enterprise but also of all its controlled enterprises. Thus, the enterprises which do not meet the criteria of a small and medium-size enterprise are deprived of the possibility to use state support both through their subsidiaries and their controlling enterprises.

      It is established that small and medium-size business entities may be subject to the following forms of the state support: 1) tax privileges (if such are provided in laws), fee privileges; 2) financial support: granting of preferential credits, partial or full coverage of interest, provision of guarantees, insurance of credits, investment of the risk capital into small and medium-size enterprises, compensation of certain expenses (expenses related to incorporation, investigation, guarantee fees, credit insurance premiums, acquisition of quality certificates and other expenses), subsidies for creation of working places; 3) services including consultations to the owners of enterprises, members of the bodies and employees of enterprises, training, qualification improvement or requalification under preferential conditions; 4) incorporation of and services rendered by business incubators, business centres, technological parks. While defining the forms of the state support to small and medium-size business, a non-finite list of the forms of support to small and medium-size business is provided. The Law leaves the possibility for small and medium-size business also to apply other forms of support established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, county governors and municipalities.

      This Law specifies the restrictions for receipt of the state support. Beside other entities which are not subject to the state support, the Law mentions small and medium-size entities the income whereof from non-state supported activities during the last financial year comprise more than 1/3 of the total income of the enterprise for the last financial year. The Law will come into effect as of 1 January 2003.

      On 14 November 2002 the Competition Council by Resolution No 129 approved the Work Regulations of the Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania.

      On 26 November 2002 the Government by Resolution

      No 1855 approved the Order for Exemption of Individual

      (Personal) Enterprises and Partnerships from Unpaid

      Compulsory Health Insurance Contributions, Fines and

      Default Interests for the Period from 1 January 2000 to 31

      October 2000.

      On 30 October 2002 the Minister of Finance by Order No 339 approved the Order for Recognition and Evaluation of Income Received in Kind. This Order regulates the recognition and evaluation of the income received in kind from Lithuanian and foreign units as well as permanent and nonpermanent residents of Lithuania.

      On 7 November 2002 the Parliament adopted Law No For more information please contact: Ramûnas Petravièius, tel. 268 18 88 IX-1181 on Design. This Law establishes the legal protection, registration and use of industrial design in the Republic of Lithuania. The Law on Design is fully harmonised with the requirements of Directive 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 on the legal protection of designs and the WTO Agreement on Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The Law defines the main concepts, the detailed requirements for recognition of a product’s image as design, discerns and particularises the grounds for recognition of the registration of the design as null and void. Section Five of the Law specifies in greater detail the provisions concerning the rights granted by the design, contains a new Article 39 which regulates the expiration (extinction) of the rights granted by design. In view of the former situation when the applicants or their representatives sometimes do not manage to perform actions within the terms set forth by the law, this wording of the Law provides for the possibility to prolong certain terms once upon payment of an additional fee for prolongation of the term. It also provides for restitution of the rights and terms (restitutio in integrum principle) in cases when an applicant has failed to pay timely the determined fee for registration of the design for justifiable reasons. Article 44 provides for persons entitled to request to recognise the registration of the design null and void. The Law, except for Article 53, will come into effect as of 1 January 2003.

       On 22 January 2002 the Parliament adopted Law No IX-1150 on Amendment of Articles 1, 18, 26, 32, 34, 38, 43, 44, 46 of the Law on Trade Marks and Supplementing Thereof with an Annex. This Law specifies the provisions of the Law on Trade Marks subject to the Amendments to the Common Regulations under the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Madrid Protocol, as adopted by the Assembly of the Madrid Union of the World Intellectual Property Organisation held on 24 September – 3 October 2001, and subject to the comments of the European Commission experts on compliance of the Law with the First Council Directive of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the member states relating to trade marks (89/104/ EEC).

      On 5 November 2002 the Director of the State Social Insurance Fund Board by Order No 536 approved the Rules for Submission of Data on Social Insurance Contributions by Self-Working Persons and for Completion of Forms.

      On 12 November 2002 the Minister of Finance by Order No 356 approved the Cases When a Local Tax Administrator is Entitled to Indicate to the Value Added Tax Payer the Distribution Criterion to be Used in Calculation of Deductible VAT Amount and the Order for Application of such Provisions. This Order establishes the cases and the procedure when a local tax administrator has the right to indicate to the value added tax payer the distribution criterion to be used while determining the percentage of VAT on procurement and/or import of certain acquired and/or imported goods and/or services in respect of the following activities: 1) supply of goods and/or rendering of services taxable by VAT; 2) supply of goods and/ or rendering of services outside the territory of the country when such supply of goods and/or rendering of services under the provisions of the Law on Value Added Tax would not be exempt from VAT if it took place within the territory of the country. This condition will be not applied in case of insurance and/or some other financial services under the law, that are rendered outside the territory of the country.

       On 21 November 2002 the Head of the State Tax Inspectorate by Order No 332 approved the Rules for Submission of Documents Acknowledging Payment of Tax on Positive Income Payable by a Controlled Foreign Unit.

      On 12 November 2002 the Director of the Communications Regulatory Authority by Order No 151 approved the Order for Servicing of Citizens and Other Persons in Communications Regulatory Authority.