Cameron Brewer Two Hawke's Bay retailers could be facing prosecution after opening their doors to customers yesterday, disobeying the Easter trading rules.
The Department of Labour would not give the names of the two stores but said they had been visited by inspectors yesterday and could now face a fine.
The department
will consider the prosecution of 38 retailers nationwide after 19 were caught trading on Good Friday and another 19 on Easter Sunday.
``We still have to assess the information the inspectors come back with,'' department communications adviser Colin Patterson said.
``They have to check what was for sale against the list of exemptions in the Act before we decide whether or not to prosecute.''
The two Hawke's Bay stores were the only ones in the region visited by department staff on Easter Sunday, amid criticism of the holiday's trading laws.
The Hastings Farmers Market went ahead yesterday while the Hamilton and Invercargill versions didn't because of department warnings.
Emma Glover, of Food Hawke's Bay, said they had received advice from the department earlier in the year that it was not an offence to go ahead with the weekly market.
Newmarket Business Association chief executive Cameron Brewer has spoken out in favour of changing the Easter trading laws after what he said had been a weekend of ``more confusion and frustration than ever before around Easter trading laws''.
Mr Brewer said ``confusion reigned high'' as Wanaka and Rotorua retailers were banned from trading while Queenstown and Taupo were not.
There was also confusion around licensed premises, cafes, gardening and hardware stores.
``Cafes can open if they have ready-to-eat food, but what is ready-to-eat food? More and more hardware stores, most of which have big gardening departments, are opening and facing $1000 fines, even though gardening shops can legally open on Easter Sunday,'' Mr Brewer said.
He said legislation surrounding Easter trading - the Shop Trading Hours Repeal Act, the Holidays Act and the Sale of Liquor Act - all ``seems to run at cross-purposes''.
``It needs to be updated, given the changing expectations of the public and changing circumstances of places like Wanaka.''
