The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion (MOCIIP) published a new Governance Regulation for Electronic Commerce in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette to regulate online stores.
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Category: Law Updates
The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new SME Financing Regulation that replaces the SME Financing Regulation of 2022.
The Environment Authority (EA) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette Decision 107/2023 Issuing the Regulation Governing Environmental Permits that provides a new simplified framework for obtaining environmental permits for all commercial activities.
The Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) issued in this week’s Official Gazette Ministerial Decision 36/2023 Amending Some Provisions of the Executive Regulation of the Mining Law. These amendments include provisions on social contribution under a new chapter numbered Fivebis.
Mining licensees are now obligated to contribute 1% of their total annual production for local community development. This amount, calculated and collected by MEM, is passed to the Ministry of Finance within five working days and subsequently allocated every three months to the development budgets of the offices of the governors. It should be noted that in the event that the licence area includes more than one region, the social contribution is disbursed based on the assessment of the governor depending on the need of the region.
The amendments state that social contribution amounts are earmarked for sustainable and local community-based projects, which include supporting youth activities and environmental projects.
The amendments entered into force on 14 August 2023.
You can read the amendments in full in English on the link below:
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion issued a new decision in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette on the combatting of concealed trading.
The decision defines the term “concealed trading” as enabling a person to engage in an activity that the laws of the Sultanate of Oman do not allow him to engage in, whether for his own account or in association with others. Accordingly, the decision identifies the parties involved in concealed trading: The concealer who is the person that enables concealment, and the concealed trader who is the person that benefits from the concealment.
Yesterday, His Majesty promulgated the brand new Labour Law that overhauls the regulation of the labour market in Oman. One of the significant aspects of this reform of employment law is the creation of a new “Joint Dialogue Committee for Production Parties” as part of the wider aspects of collective bargaining and participatory provisions under the new law.
The long-awaited new Omani Labour Law is finally out. The new law makes many substantive changes to the way employment is regulated: From the scope of its application and employee rights, to collective bargaining and employment dispute resolution. The law was issued only a few hours ago, and it will take everyone a bit of time to fully digest the extent of the changes introduced by this law.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning issued in this week’s Official Gazette Ministerial Decision 126/2023 Amending Some Provisions of Ministerial Decision 114/2010 regarding the Controls for Allocating Government Land to Public Majlises.
The Government of Oman has customarily given to communities land plots for public majlises, i.e. town hall like venues that are used by the community on occasions such as weddings or funerals.
According to the original Ministerial Decision 114/2010, the mulkiya of the majlis land was registered in the name of the Ministry of Finance. The new Ministerial Decision 126/2023 makes it so that the mulkiya of the majlis land is now registered in the name governorate.
Furthermore, the new decision allows for 20% of the land to be invested and that the return on the investment is used for the operation and maintenance of the majlis. This decision also permits the community to appoint an agent to be responsible for the affairs of the majlis and its investments.
You can read the decision in full in English on the link below:
The Ministry of Labour issued a new decision in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette on the Wage Protection System that codifies the rules governing the electronic system for monitoring the payment of wages of employees in the private sector.
Under article 53 of the Labour Law, employers have an obligation to pay the wages of their employees by bank transfer into the account of the employee in a locally licensed bank. This has been managed by an electronic system jointly established by MOL and CBO.
In this decision, MOL has codified the legal requirements to use the system. This decision also clarifies the cases where the employer is not required to make the payments of the wages of the employee and the administrative penalties that may be imposed on employers who violate the decision, namely a warning, suspension of preliminary work permits, and an administrative fine of 50 Rial Omani which is doubled if the penalty is repeated.
You can read the decision in full in English on the link below:
On June 20, 2023, His Majesty issued Royal Decree 41/2023, marking the country’s official entry into the General Agreement for Connecting the States of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to the Railway Project.