Category: Law Updates

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Law Updates

MEM Issues Decision Establishing Oman Net Zero Centre

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:

Ministerial Decision 35/2024 Establishing the Oman Net Zero CENTRE
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Law Updates

MOCIIP New Quality Mark Regulation

Yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion published Ministerial Decision 718/2024 Issuing the Quality Mark Regulation that repeals the old Omani Quality Mark Regulation of 2011. The new regulation governs the controls for obtaining an Omani quality mark licence, sets the obligations of the licensee, and determines the quality monitoring and follow-up processes, fees, and administrative penalties.

A key change in the new regulation is that it no longer requires the application for the Omani quality mark to be an Omani entity. Furthermore, the scope to which the quality mark can be obtained has been expanded from applying only to goods to applying to services and processes as well. There is also a new provision in the regulation that gives the ministry the authority to make a requirement for certain establishments to obtain a quality mark as a pre-requisite for offering certain goods.

It is also worth noting that the new regulation also provides additional details regarding the required information for the application, and creates a two-step process for obtaining the licence involving a preliminary approval followed by a final approval that is issued after inspecting the quality management system of the applicant.

The new regulation also adopts technology by mandating that a QR code is included along with the quality mark logo and requiring that the ministry publishes the details of all products licensed through a dedicated government platform.

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

the quality mark regulation
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Law Updates

MAFWR Amends Management of Pastures and Livestock Regulation

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:

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Water Resources: Ministerial Decision 253/2024 Amending Some Provisions of the Executive Regulation of the Law on the Management of Pastures and Livestock

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Law Updates

New System for Signing Omani Government Contracts

A royal decree was issued last week promulgating a new System of Signing Contracts and Financial Commitments of the State that repeals Royal Decree 48/76 regarding the Signing of Foreign and Domestic Financial Transactions and sets new formalities for signing government contracts.

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Law Updates

New Omani Media Law Issued

His Majesty issued earlier this week a royal decree promulgating a new Media Law that overhauls the legal framework for the dissemination of media through all mediums including newspapers, radio and TV channels, cinemas, and physical artwork and medium, setting unified rules for all forms of media irrespective of the platform.

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Law Updates

MOSD’s New Elderly Day Care Centres Regulation

The Ministry of Social Development published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new Governance Regulation for Elderly Day Care Centres which provides the legal framework for establishing and operating a day care centre for the elderly.

According to the new regulation, a person wishing to establish a day care centre for the elderly must obtain a licence from the MOSD. Applicants for this licence can be natural persons, companies, or civil associations. Applicants are required to provide a bank guarantee of 3,000 Rial Omani when submitting their applications except for civil associations.

The regulation sets the obligations of the licensee to include preparing internal regulations of the day care centre and appointing a Omani person as the manager of the centre.

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

Ministry of Social Development: Ministerial Decision 344/2024 Issuing the Governance Regulation for Day Care Centres for the Elderly
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Law Updates

New Data Sharing Requirements Under the National Records Law

His Majesty issued yesterday a new law called the National Records Law that requires all government entities, government-owned companies, and certain private companies to directly integrate with Royal Oman Police to store the data that ROP deems required to maintain a newly created national records database. If an entity is not able to directly integrate with ROP to electronically provide the data that ROP requests, the entity is required to provide the data to ROP using traditional means. In both cases, it is not permitted to require ROP to pay any fees for the cost of integration or transfer of the requested data.

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Law Updates

The New Law Regulating Wildlife Trade

Earlier this month, the new Law Regulating Wildlife Trade was promulgated by His Majesty. This is a brand new law that complements other laws for protecting wildlife, such as the Nature Reserves and Wildlife Conservation Law of 2003 and the Nature Reserves and Wildlife Conservation Law of 2003.

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Law Updates

MOL Introduces System for Complaints and Grievances

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Labour issued in the Official Gazette Ministerial Decision 617/2024 regarding the System of Complaints and Grievances, which is a brand new system under the Labour Law in Oman that applies to any company in Oman that has 50 employees or more. The system requires the company to have a system in place for allowing employees to challenge any decision made against them by submitting a complaint to their line manager, who must respond to this complaint within 2 working days. If the employee does not receive a response from his line manager, or if the response he receives is a rejection of this complaint, the employee has the right to submit a complaint to the actual employer, who must respond to this complaint within 5 working days.

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Law Updates

EA Issues Amendment to Environmental Permits Regulation

The Environment Authority (EA) issued in this week’s Official Gazette Decision 187/2024 Amending Some Provisions of the Regulation Governing Environmental Permits, which amends articles 12 and 21 of the regulation. 

Article 12 of the regulation sets out that a financial guarantee must be provided to the authority when applying for an environmental permit for specific projects. As per the amendment, a financial guarantee of 250,000 Rial Omani must now be provided for oil and gas production projects per site.

Article 21 of the regulation sets out certain obligations of the project owner. As per the amendment, project owners are now required to submit an environmental audit study for specific projects. These projects include oil refineries, heavy industries, and oil and gas production, among others.

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

Environment Authority: Decision 187/2024 Amending Some Provisions of the Regulation Governing Environmental Permits

You can also read the consolidated version of the Regulation Governing Environmental Permits on the link below:

the Regulation Governing Environmental Permits (CONSOLIDATED)