Author: Amjad Al-Yahya'ei

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology (MTCIT) issued a new Ship and Port Facility Security Regulation, which repealed the Ship and Port Facility Security Regulation of 2016.

Both regulations are based on the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code), which Oman ratified by Royal Decree 63/2004. The new regulation comprehensively updates the governance of ship and port facility security. For example, it incorporates a new structure for port facility security verification, introduces new obligations for different stakeholders, establishes a new framework to license private companies to carry out certain tasks related to ship and port facility security including ship security verification, and imposes administrative fines that the MTCIT can impose if the regulation is not complied with.

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

The Ministry of Labour (MOL) issued in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new decision regarding the Wage Protection System that repeals a previous decision from 2023 regarding the same topic.

The Wage Protection System is a framework created by the MOL that makes it a legal requirement for all employers in Oman to transfer the salaries of their workers using a specific electronic system through banks and other financial institutions licensed by the Central Bank of Oman. The objective of this system is to ensure that the salaries of workers are paid on time and that there is an electronic record of the transfer of the salaries.

Key changes in the new system include reducing the timeframe for transferring the wages of workers from 7 days to 3 days and introducing new grounds for the exemption from using the wage protection system such as situations where a worker is suspended from work for a reason not attributable to the employer for a period exceeding 30 days.

The new Wage Protection System has already entered into force. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

The Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a decision to establish Oman Net Zero Centre as a department in the MEM.

The Oman Net Zero Centre will not be an independent government entity, but a department in the MEM at the level of a directorate general. The decision details the mandates of Oman Net Zero Centre which include preparing and updating the national plan for transition to net zero, providing support and advice to relevant entities and institutions with the aim of achieving net zero targets, preparing the national plan to enhance energy consumption efficiency, approving and registration application for trading in carbon credits, among other functions.

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

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Water Resources published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette an amendment to some provisions of the Executive Regulation of the Law on the Management of Pastures and Livestock giving the MAFWR the power to impose a new set of administrative penalties.

While the actual Law on the Management of Pastures and Livestock included criminal fines for those who violate the law, the original Executive Regulation of the Law on the Management of Pastures and Livestock of 2005 did not grant the ministry the power to issue smaller administrative fines to hold those who commit small offences accountable for their violations. The new amendment changes this by giving this power to the MAFWR by allowing it to impose administrative penalties, such as issuing a warning, ordering the removal of the violation, or cancelling the licence if a licensee violates any of the provisions of the regulation. The new amendment also gives the ministry the power to impose a fine not exceeding 2,000 Rial Omani for each violation with the opportunity to double this fine if the violation is repeated.

You can read this regulation in full in English on the link below: