Author: Abdulrahman Al-Farsi

The Ministry of Labour published in this week’s Official Gazette Decision 450/2024, repealing Decision 90/2013 and issuing a new framework for dealing with private sector establishments that violate the Labour Law. The decision of 2013 provided a very simple set of provisions for dealing with violations, whereas the new decision provides a more comprehensive framework.

The new decision clarifies the process for policing violations and stipulates that reports can only be issued by employees with judicial enforcement status. It also clarifies that employees must have an identity card stating their identity, which they are required to disclose if asked.

The main provision of the 2013 and 2024 decisions is the MOL’s power to suspend the services of companies that violate Labour Law. The 2024 decision changes these services by removing old provisions and adding new ones, and they include services such as issuing work permits to non-Omanis and transferring the services of the violating workers.

You can read the full decision in English on the link below:

The Environment Authority published in this week’s Official Gazzete Decision 150/2024 Issuing the Regulation Governing the Possession of Domesticated Wild Animals.

The Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance for Education published in this week’s Official Gazette Decision 2/2024 regarding the process of filing a grievance against the national qualification framework’s result.

When the higher education institutions are not satisfied with the OAAA’s accreditation result, they now have the right to file a grievance against the result under Decision 2/2024 within 60 days from the date of sending the result; however, they must do so after they have paid a non-refundable fee of 1,500 Rial Omani for each grievance. 

You can learn more about the grievance process to the OAAA by reading the full text of Decision 2/2024 on the link below:

The Ministry of Social Development published in this week’s Official Gazette Decision 217/2024 issuing the Governance Regulation for the Work of Social Development Committees and Volunteer Teams, repealing the Governance Regulation for the Work of Social Development Committees of 2016.

The new regulation introduces the legal framework for establishing volunteer teams in the community. Each wilayat is permitted to have one volunteer team, with an additional one if the public interest requires it.

The regulation sets the rules for establishing, managing and financing volunteer teams.

The new regulation enters into force tomorrow. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

In this week’s issue of the Official Gazette, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Water Resources published Ministerial Decision 137/2024 Amending Some Provisions of the Executive Regulation of the Agricultural Quarantine Law.

The amendment introduces a brand new article 9bis that imposes new potential requirements prior to issuing an agricultural licence by giving the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Water Resources the power to verify, before issuing the licence and at the cost of the importer, the agricultural practices, phytosanitary management systems, and risk analysis applied in farms, nurseries, or production sites, and evaluate them in the country of export or the country of origin.

The new amendment enters into force tomorrow. You can read it in full in English on the link below: