Peddling is allowed on sidewalks and other public places with a general vendor license, though the city limits the number available to 853 at a time, and the waiting list for new ones is closed. (An exception is made for veterans.) But selling goods from a parked vehicle is prohibited, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs.

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Recycling firms are the obvious exception, but even they deal in a variety of goods whose prices do not always move in lockstep.

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The cultural exception policy, introduced in France in 1993, asserts that cultural goods are to be treated differently from other commercial goods.

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