Merchants: As of Monday, the mask will no longer be mandatory in stores that work with the opportunity passport.

As of September 13, a ban on the admission of customers to stores or other commercial spaces larger than 1,500 square meters without a passport of opportunity (GP) or equivalent document will come into force. Non-GP clients will also not be able to serve non-essential clients: only people with immunity to COVID-19, or a negative test, or people up to 16 years of age will be allowed in.

R. Vainienė confirms that the masks can be removed in such stores.

“Although it is recommended with a mask, it is no longer a duty, where entry is only with a GP, it will be possible without a mask.” So traders will certainly no longer require it, as this is still just a recommendation, there is no reason to require it. If masks are a really frustrating thing for someone, then it really is a relief to visit those stores with their GP. But only in those stores that work with GPs ”, explains R. Vainienė.

Merchants confirm it. Ernesta Dapkienė, director of Maxima’s Image and Communication Department, says that the masks will continue to be recommended in larger stores.

“We will comply with all Government requirements. From now on, the new regime provides for the use of masks and the fulfillment of distances for activities subject to the Passport Passport requirement as of September 13. The masks will remain mandatory only in those stores where the requirement of having an Opportunity Passport or other equivalent document will not apply ”, says E. Dapkienė.

Vaida Budrienė, communication manager for retail chain Iki, confirms that masks will only be recommended in large stores, but masks will remain mandatory in small stores.

“We will announce everywhere that this is a recommendation, as established in the legislation,” he explains, adding that in the larger stores, passports will be verified with the help of security personnel.

Darius Ryliškis, representative of Norfa, has not yet been able to give an exact answer: “We are still coordinating some details with the Ministry of Health, so we can say more precisely.”

However, traders are opposed to such a procedure: before the new restrictions take effect, the offer to increase the commercial space, which can be visited by non-GPs, to at least 5000 m2. meters.

A meeting of representatives of the Lithuanian Association of Business Enterprises and the Ministry of Health will be organized on Wednesday, where it is expected to expose the emerging fears of traders.

“There are a lot of questions about the implementation. We haven’t met them so far, arguing that they somehow don’t see their role here. Information has emerged about the deliberations that GPs will not be inspected at the supermarket entrance, but at each store, somehow they see the process that way. We will have a meeting about the process itself, ”says R. Vainienė.

There may be queues, conflicts

The merchant representative explains that existing restrictions are difficult to implement.

“Large grocery stores have a large flow of visitors, especially during peak hours, and inspections will be extremely difficult. Queues and conflict situations are anticipated, all kinds of things will happen. Nobody else applies this except in Cyprus. This, apparently, it is also because it is not easy to implement, other states have not followed this path. Nowhere in the EU, except in Cyprus, can the possibility of having the passport be verified in any store be verified “, teaches R . Vainienė.

He stressed that opportunity passport verification is not as simple as it sounds.

“It will take about 10 documents to verify: the passport verifier that stores are looking for now, half laughing, half serious, will have to be both a good mathematician and a polyglot. Because if you get a vaccination report from a medical center , you will have to count how many weeks have passed since each dose of the vaccine. You will need to know about the vaccines. And polyglot, because you will have to check the vaccination documents in a foreign language, they must also be recognized “, says R. Vainienė.

She estimates that, on average, between 2.5 and 4 thousand people visit the largest stores. visitors per day, and half a million people visit the big shops of Lithuania every day.

He is also concerned about uncertainties in supermarkets.

“If there is only one check at the door of the mall, visitors enter and move freely everywhere. But if someone decides that a bank, a pharmacy or other services that last up to 15 minutes should be admitted, then a verification in each store. That would mean 100 to 300 checkpoints for some supermarkets. If a person goes to several stores, they will have to show that GP so many times, not to mention the costs for merchants, “fears R. Vainienė.

It also considers that the new restriction will distort the conditions of competition for traders.

“Now in the same market, in a completely identical market, setting a square meter limit results in very strong segmentation of companies and different conditions of competition. We even get complaints from suppliers that merchants are reducing orders. This creation of different conditions is disappointing throughout the supply chain, ”warns R. Vainienė.

Each merchant will decide individually

R. Vainenė explained that it is not clear at the moment how each merchant will solve the inspections, they will establish separate procedures.

“There is such an experiment here that there is no experience from other countries, so now we can only trust our projections. A person must have a document proving that they have been vaccinated, are sick or have proof, that is, they meet the requirements of a GP, or they are a child under 16 years of age. And then there will be a check at the door. Or not at the door, as any merchant will decide. It is possible that in small stores, regions, the inspection is carried out at the checkout, because there may be only one employee and only 4-5 buyers visit per day. I cannot say what the process will be like, because there is no experience from other countries, there is no experience from Lithuania and each trader can implement it differently ”, says R. Vainienė.

She explains that there is no single way to verify passports: it will be different in small convenience stores, in larger stores in big cities, and in supermarkets.

“We will probably see the diversity of such a genre,” summarized R. Vainienė.

In addition to the passport, from September 13 it will be possible to visit shops, markets, whose main activities are the sale of food, veterinary medicine, animal feed, pharmacies, optical items and orthopedic technical devices, plants, seeds, fertilizers. The markets must have a separate entrance from the outside, their commercial area cannot exceed 1,500 square meters. meters.

Ministry: Coordination Scenarios

Aistė Šuksta, an adviser to the Ministry of Health for Public Relations, could not answer whether the restrictions that would take effect on Monday could change: “It will be seen after the meeting which issues will be specifically discussed.”

“We are constantly discussing how the legislation can be implemented in practice and what are the perceptions and options that we can offer from an epidemiological point of view, and the scenarios are being harmonized. This is a communication that takes place on a regular basis and that will take place not only on Wednesday but also on Thursday ”, said the advisor.

A. Šuksta confirmed that during the meeting, stores of goods or necessary services operating in supermarkets will also be discussed.