On Control of Entrepreneurial Activity

Law of Georgia

On Control of Entrepreneurial Activity

Article 1🔗

1. Everyone has the right to freely pursue entrepreneurial activity.

2. In accordance with the Constitution of Georgia, entrepreneurial activity may be restricted only by law.

3. The State, a municipal body, as well as another administrative body shall be entitled to exercise control over an entrepreneur's activity only in the manner prescribed by law.

Law of Georgia of 24 September 2009 No. 1697 - LHG I, No. 29, 12.10.2009, Art. 180

Law of Georgia of 15 July 2020 No. 6894 - website, 28.07.2020

Article 2🔗

1. The terms used in this Law have the following meaning:

a) entrepreneur – an enterprise of any organisational-legal form provided for by the Law of Georgia “On Entrepreneurs”, as well as a non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entity that carries on entrepreneurial activity, in the part of this activity;

b) control of entrepreneurial activity – the activity of state and municipal bodies and other administrative bodies regulated by the legislation of Georgia, the purpose of which is to verify the financial-economic activity of an entrepreneur and the performance of the obligations imposed on him, as well as to establish the compliance of the entrepreneur's activity with the legislation of Georgia, to detect offences in his activity or to impose an appropriate sanction on him. For the purposes of this Law, control does not include the issuance of a licence, permit or certificate, or the adoption of a decision on authorisation, provided for by the legislation of Georgia, the requirement of a certificate in a trade network and the drawing up of the relevant act, activity carried out in the field of environmental protection for the purpose of verifying the fulfilment of international treaties of Georgia, the use of natural resources and other environmental requirements, activity provided for by contracts and licences related to oil and gas resources and natural hydrogen resources, the inspection provided for by paragraph 3 of Article 8 of the Law of Georgia “On the Legal Entity of Public Law – the Operational-Technical Agency of Georgia”, activity carried out for the purpose of preventing and responding to forced labour and labour exploitation, as well as the facilitation of control over the implementation of decisions carried out by the Administration of the Government of Georgia in accordance with the Law of Georgia “On the Structure, Powers and Rules of Activity of the Government of Georgia”;

c) controlling body – the state, a municipal body, as well as another administrative body which, in accordance with the law, is authorised to exercise control over entrepreneurial activity.

2. Control over the financial-economic activity of an entrepreneur shall be exercised, in the cases provided for by the legislation of Georgia and within the limits established by law, by the tax authorities, as well as by the State Audit Office (except for tax relations provided for by the Tax Code of Georgia).

3. (Removed).

Law of Georgia of 23 July 2003 No. 2565 – LHG I, No. 24, 20.08.2003, Art. 183

Law of Georgia of 29 December 2004 No. 919 – LHG I, No. 41, 30.12.2004, Art. 203

Law of Georgia of 29 December 2004 No. 843 – LHG I, No. 42, 30.12.2004, Art. 220

Law of Georgia of 29 December 2006 No. 4229 – LHG I, No. 50, 30.12.2006, Art. 380

Law of Georgia of 29 December 2006 No. 4302 – LHG I, No. 51, 31.12.2006, Art. 411

Law of Georgia of 24 September 2009 No. 1697 – LHG I, No. 29, 12.10.2009, Art. 180

Law of Georgia of 21 July 2010 No. 3539 – LHG I, No. 47, 05.08.2010, Art. 306

Law of Georgia No. 3595 of 17 September 2010 – LHG I, No. 54, 12.10.2010, Art. 347

Law of Georgia No. 4415 of 11 March 2011 – website, 17.03.2011

Law of Georgia No. 6550 of 22 June 2012 – website, 29.06.2012

Law of Georgia No. 489 of 25 March 2013 – website, 05.04.2013

Law of Georgia No. 4086 of 22 July 2015 – website, 31.07.2015

Law of Georgia No. 489 of 22 March 2017 – website, 27.03.2017

Law of Georgia No. 6894 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.07.2020

Law of Georgia No. 551 of 13 May 2025 – website, 14.05.2025

Law of Georgia No. 678 of 12 June 2025 – website, 16.06.2025

Article 3🔗

1. Entrepreneurial activity may be controlled only by the controlling body. Where the relevant ground exists, another state body may apply to the controlling body or to a court with a proposal to inspect the entrepreneur's entrepreneurial activity.

2. The controlling body shall be entitled to control entrepreneurial activity (including entering an enterprise, requesting documents, suspending the enterprise's activity, sealing property belonging to the entrepreneur, inspecting the enterprise, checking the quality of products produced by the entrepreneur) only on the basis of a judge's order.

2¹. In the case provided for by subparagraphs „i3“ or „i4“ of paragraph 1 of Article 5 of this Law, after the controlling body has started controlling entrepreneurial activity in accordance with this Law, the controlling body shall be obliged to apply to a court requesting the issuance of a judge's order on the control of entrepreneurial activity, indicating the relevant ground. The rule for the consideration and resolution of the relevant matter by a judge is determined in accordance with Chapter VII¹ of the Administrative Procedure Code of Georgia.

3. A judge shall issue an order on the inspection of the entrepreneur's activity only if the controlling body submits to him/her relevant information with a reasoned and substantiated suspicion of a violation by the entrepreneur of the requirements of the legislation.

4. If a judge does not issue an order on the inspection of the entrepreneur's activity, the inspection of the entrepreneur shall not be carried out. If the inspection of the entrepreneur has already begun, upon the judge's refusal to issue an order on the inspection it shall be terminated immediately and the amount paid or other property or document transferred to the controlling body, as well as to the benefit of the state or municipal budget, shall be returned to the entrepreneur unconditionally. And if this is impossible, the entrepreneur shall be given appropriate and full compensation. The entrepreneur shall have the right to demand and receive compensation for the damage caused by an unlawful inspection.

5. Evidence obtained as a result of an inspection carried out in violation of the law shall have no legal force.

6. The controlling body shall be entitled to inspect the entrepreneur only in relation to the matter on which a judge's order exists.

7. The rule for the consideration and resolution of the matter determined by this Article by a judge is determined by the Administrative Procedure Code of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 4 May 2010 No. 3052 – LHG I, No. 26, 20.05.2010, Art. 180

Law of Georgia of 15 July 2020 No. 6894 – website, 28.07.2020

Law of Georgia of 3 July 2023 No. 3460 – website, 25.07.2023

Article 4🔗

1. If an entrepreneur has been inspected by an authorised controlling body, it shall be inadmissible for him/her to be inspected in relation to the same matter of activity by another controlling body (except for the cases provided for by the second sentence of paragraph 2 of Article 5 of this Law), or by another structural unit of the same controlling body.

2. The controlling body shall be obliged, before carrying out control, to hand over to the entrepreneur a written list of his/her rights and obligations.

Article 5🔗

1. The requirements of paragraph 2 of Article 3 of this Law shall not apply to:

a) tax control measures carried out by the tax authorities under Article 255 of the Tax Code of Georgia in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia;

b) the activities of the National Bank of Georgia provided for by law;

c) the activities of the State Audit Office provided for by the legislation of Georgia;

d) (removed);

e) (removed);

e¹) the activities related to the exercise of state control by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and the institutions within its system;

e²) (removed – 25 March 2013, No. 489);

f) the activities provided for by the legislation of Georgia carried out by the national regulatory body;

g) (removed);

g¹) the activities provided for by the legislation of Georgia of the Legal Entities of Public Law within the system of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia – the Technical and Construction Supervision Agency and the Market Supervision Agency;

h) the measures carried out by the Legal Entities of Public Law within the system of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia – the Civil Aviation Agency and the Maritime Transport Agency, in accordance with the legislation of Georgia, for the purpose of supervising compliance with the technical regulations in force in the fields of aviation and maritime transport;

h¹) the activities provided for by the legislation of Georgia and related to the exercise of control by the Legal Entity of Public Law within the system of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia – the Railway Transport Agency;

h²) the activities provided for by the legislation of Georgia and related to the exercise of control by the Legal Entity of Public Law within the system of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia – the Maritime Transport Agency in the field of inland water transport;

h³) the activities provided for by the Law of Georgia “On Road Transport” and related to the exercise of control by the Legal Entity of Public Law within the system of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia – the Land Transport Agency, as well as the measures carried out in accordance with the legislation of Georgia for the purpose of supervising compliance with the technical regulations in force in the field of road transport;

i) the inspection of compliance with the technical regulation for medical activities involving high risk, if it is carried out three times during a calendar year through selective control;

i¹) the activities provided for by the legislation of Georgia carried out in the field of supervision of educational activities;

i²) on the activity of the controlling body, which is related to state supervision over the reference price of a pharmaceutical product under the Law of Georgia “On Medicines and Pharmaceutical Activity” and which is carried out within the competence conferred by the Law of Georgia “On Medicines and Pharmaceutical Activity”;

i³) on the control of medical activity by the Legal Entity of Public Law of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia – the Agency for Regulation of Medical and Pharmaceutical Activity, in accordance with paragraph 2¹ of Article 3 of this Law, in relation to the quality of medical services, on the following grounds:

i3.a) a written complaint of the patient or his/her representative;

i3.b) death of a pregnant woman, a woman who has recently given birth, and/or a newborn or a child;

i3.c) an application of an administrative body;

i3.d) a serious complication of the patient's health condition or his/her unexpected death, which became known through the mass media;

i⁴) on the control of pharmaceutical activity by the Legal Entity of Public Law of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia – the Agency for Regulation of Medical and Pharmaceutical Activity, in accordance with paragraph 2¹ of Article 3 of this Law, in relation to a pharmaceutical enterprise and wholesale sale, on the following grounds:

i4.a) a written complaint of the consumer or his/her representative in relation to the quality of a pharmaceutical product;

i4.b) an application of an administrative body;

i4.c) disseminated public information according to which:

i4.c.a) a threat is created to human life and/or health;

i4.c.b) there is a circumstance that may be related to the destruction of evidence;

j) on the activity provided for by the legislation of Georgia of the Legal Entity of Public Law within the area of governance of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia – the National Food Agency;

k) on the activity provided for by law of the Legal Entity of Public Law – the State Insurance Supervision Service of Georgia;

l) on the activity provided for by the legislation of Georgia carried out by the state sub-agency within the area of governance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia – the Emergency Management Service, in the field of state fire supervision and supervision of objects of vital importance;

m) when aesthetic and cosmetic procedures are performed in institutions of public importance by a person with the relevant authority of a municipal body:

m.a) on the inspection of compliance with the sanitary norms for the prevention and control of infections during the performance of aesthetic and cosmetic procedures in institutions of public importance under the technical regulation, if the inspection is carried out by selective control once during a calendar year;

m.b) verification of compliance with the conditions related to registration in the register of economic activities, if the verification is carried out by selective control once during a calendar year;

n) the activity of the Legal Entity of Public Law – the Labour Inspection Service – subordinated to the state control of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia, provided for by the Organic Law of Georgia "On Labour Safety", the Organic Law of Georgia "Labour Code of Georgia" and the Law of Georgia "On Labour Inspection", except for the case provided for by subparagraph "b" of paragraph 2 of Article 16 of the Law of Georgia "On Labour Inspection";

o) the inspection carried out by the State Audit Office provided for by the Law of Georgia "On Personal Data Protection".

2. All controlling bodies shall be prohibited from requiring an entrepreneur to submit information that exceeds the scope of their authority. The State Audit Office, when inspecting other state bodies of financial-economic control, is entitled to require the relevant body to submit documents and information reflecting settlements with the budget for the purpose of their desk inspection.

3. In the cases provided for by subparagraphs "c"–"f" of paragraph 1 of this Article, control of the entrepreneurial activity of an individual legal entity may be carried out only on the basis of an administrative act of the relevant body.

4. The operation of this Law shall not extend to actions provided for by the Law of Georgia "On Operative-Investigative Activity" and the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia. The controlling body that carries out control of entrepreneurial activity at the request of a body carrying out operative-investigative activity shall obtain the right of inspection by a judge's order. The body carrying out investigative and operative-investigative activity shall apply to the court with a motion for inspection, which shall submit to the judge the relevant information on violations of legislation by the entrepreneur. The judge shall consider the matter single-handedly, at a closed court hearing, without the participation of the parties. The requirements of paragraph 1 of Article 4 of this Law shall not apply to the inspection to be carried out.

Law of Georgia of 23 July 2003 No. 2565 - LHG I, No. 24, 20.08.2003, Art. 183

Law of Georgia of 26 August 2003 No. 3115 - LHG I, No. 29, 18.09.2003, Art. 230

Law of Georgia of 24 February 2004 No. 3373 - LHG I, No. 7, 16.03.2004, Art. 33

Law of Georgia of 22 March 2005 No. 1125 - LHG I, No. 13, 12.04.2005, Art. 86

Law of Georgia of 6 June 2006 No. 3188 - LHG I, No. 21, 15.06.2006, Art. 178

Law of Georgia of 29 December 2006 No. 4302 - LHG I, No. 51, 31.12.2006, Art. 411

Law of Georgia of 29 December 2006 No. 4275 - LHG I, No. 51, 31.12.2006, Art. 434

Law of Georgia of 11 July 2007 No. 5264 - LHG I, No. 30, 30.07.2007, Art. 335

Law of Georgia of 10 October 2008 No. 341 - LHG I, No. 25, 23 October 2008, Art. 165

Law of Georgia of 24 September 2009 No. 1689 - LHG I, No. 29, 12 October 2009, Art. 172

Law of Georgia of 4 May 2010 No. 3052 - LHG I, No. 26, 20 May 2010, Art. 180

Law of Georgia of 21 July 2010 No. 3555 - LHG I, No. 46, 4 August 2010, Art. 281

Law of Georgia of 17 September 2010 No. 3595 - LHG I, No. 54, 12 October 2010, Art. 347

Law of Georgia of 17 December 2010 No. 4145 - LHG I, No. 76, 29 December 2010, Art. 517

Law of Georgia of 22 February 2011 No. 4219 – website, 10 March 2011

Law of Georgia of 11 March 2011 No. 4415 – website, 17 March 2011

Law of Georgia of 5 May 2011 No. 4657 - website, 13 May 2011

Law of Georgia of 8 May 2012 No. 6170 - website, 25 May 2012

Law of Georgia of 22 June 2012 No. 6550 - website, 29 June 2012

Law of Georgia of 25 March 2013 No. 489 – website, 5 April 2013

Law of Georgia of 4 October 2013 No. 1468 - website, 16 October 2013

Law of Georgia of 20 November 2013 No. 1596 - website, 3 December 2013

Law of Georgia of 29 May 2014 No. 2470 - website, 12 June 2014

Law of Georgia of 8 June 2016 No. 5364 - website, 17 June 2016

Law of Georgia of 24 June 2016 No. 5572 - website, 13 July 2016

Law of Georgia of 7 December 2017 No. 1712 – website, 14 December 2017

Law of Georgia of 7 March 2018 No. 2052 - website, 21 March 2018

Law of Georgia of 27 June 2018 No. 2618 – website, 6 July 2018

Law of Georgia of 5 July 2018 No. 3096 – website, 11 July 2018

Law of Georgia of 21 July 2018 No. 3299 – website, 9 August 2018

Law of Georgia of 22 December 2018 No. 4092 – website, 28 December 2018

Law of Georgia of 27 December 2018 No. 4262 – website, 29 December 2018

Law of Georgia of 19 February 2019 No. 4286 – website, 4 March 2019

Law of Georgia of 8 May 2019 No. 4601 - website, 8 May 2019

Law of Georgia of 20 December 2019 No. 5692 – website, 26 December 2019

Law of Georgia of 29 September 2020 No. 7186 – website, 5 October 2020

Law of Georgia of 16 December 2021 No. 1151 – website, 27 December 2021

Law of Georgia of 30 December 2021 No. 1337 – website, 13 January 2022

Law of Georgia of 1 December 2022 No. 2274 – website, 13 December 2022

Law of Georgia of 31 May 2023 No. 3002 – website, 13 June 2023

Law of Georgia of 28 June 2023 No. 3313 – website, 18 July 2023

Law of Georgia of 3 July 2023 No. 3460 – website, 25 July 2023

Law of Georgia of 30 November 2023 No. 3798 – website, 20 December 2023

Law of Georgia of 13 May 2025 No. 562 - website, 16 May 2025

Law of Georgia of 17 December 2025 No. 1309 - website, 23 December 2025

Article 6🔗

The controlling body shall be obliged, by 25 January of each year, to submit to the President of Georgia, the Government of Georgia and the Parliament of Georgia a report on the orders issued during the past year, on the number of motions submitted to court, of the orders issued by the court, and on the results of the inspections carried out on the basis of the judge's orders.

Law of Georgia of 20 September 2013 No. 1234 – website, 08.10.2013.

Article 7 (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 19 December 2008 No. 799 - LHG I, No. 40, 29.12.2008, Art. 261

Article 8 (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 19 December 2008 No. 799 - LHG I, No. 40, 29.12.2008, Art. 261

Article 9🔗

1. (removed).

2. The Committees on Legal Issues, Legality and Administrative Reforms, and Sectoral Economy and Economic Policy of the Parliament of Georgia shall be instructed, within 3 months from the entry into force of this Law, together with the relevant bodies of the executive authority, to prepare a draft law on the delimitation of the powers of the controlling bodies and the procedure for exercising control.

3. The Ministry of Finance of Georgia shall, within 3 months, ensure the transmission of the text of this Law to those legal entities that are registered as taxpayers with the tax authorities.

4. The Committee on Legal Issues, Legality and Administrative Reforms of the Parliament of Georgia shall be instructed, together with the relevant institutions of the executive authority, to prepare, within 3 months, proposals for bringing the legislation of Georgia in force into compliance with this Law.

5. Paragraph 3 of Article 2 and subparagraph „g“ of paragraph 1 of Article 5 of this Law shall enter into force from 1 January 2006.

Law of Georgia of 10 May 2002 No. 1399 - LHG I, No. 10, 13.05.2002, Art. 44

Law of Georgia of 29 December 2004 No. 843 - LHG I, No. 42, 30.12.2004, Art. 220

Law of Georgia of 19 December 2008 No. 799 - LHG I, No. 40, 29.12.2008, Art. 261

Article 10🔗

This Law shall enter into force on the 15th day after publication.

President of Georgia

Eduard Shevardnadze.

Tbilisi,

8 June 2001.

No. 921–IIs