Category: Law Updates

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning issued the Regulation for Providing Some of Its Services through Engineering Offices to allow these offices to provide planning and survey services to the public on behalf of the ministry.

Under this regulation, MHUP services relating to detailed cadastral survey of land plots; modification of approved land plots; placement and delivery of markers for approved land plots; merging, splitting, and dividing approved land plots; and issuing a certificate of completion of the implementation of service routes may be provided by engineering offices and engineering consultancy offices, provided that they obtain a certificate from MHUP to provide these services.

The regulation specifies the procedures and requirements for obtaining the certificate, the rights of service applicants, the consequences of committing violations by the engineering offices, and the mechanism for sharing the fees between MHUP and the engineering offices.

This regulation entered into force on 20 March 2023.

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

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning issued Ministerial Decision 38/2023, which amends schedule 12 of the Regulation of Values, Fees, and Prices Collected by the Ministry of Housing. This amendment adds a new item to schedule 12 for applying through the electronic system to obtain a permit for the promotion of international real estate within Oman. The fee for issuing this permit amounts to 500 Rial Omani.

The amendment came into force on 13 March 2023.

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

The Consumer Protection Authority has issued an amendment to the Executive Regulation of the Consumer Protection Law. The amendment gives authority to the ministries to propose to the Council of Ministers amendments to the Consumer Protection Regulation, and if these amendments are approved by the Council of Ministers then the CPA has a legal obligation to issue these amendments.

Prior to this amendment the Council of Ministry had the authority to propose amendments, this new amendment makes it clear that all relevant entities can propose amendments to the Council of Ministers in this regard.

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

The Ministry of Transport, Communication, and Information Technology has issued amendments to the Executive Regulation of the Law of Carriage by Land. The amendments place special emphasis on installation of tracking systems on licensees for transporting goods. This obligation extends to vehicles not registered in Oman, when they enter or transit through its lands.

The regulation sets out an administrative penalty if the tracking systems are tampered with or re-installed by unauthorised entities amounting to a fine of 400 (four hundred) Rial Omani for the first time, which is doubled in the event of repetition, and will lead to cancellation of the licence when repeated for the third time.

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

The Civil Aviation Authority has issued a new Executive Regulation of the Civil Aviation Law. This regulation is issued pursuant to the new Civil Aviation Law of 2019 and replaces the executive regulation of 2007.

The regulation addresses all stakeholders in the aviation sector including airports, manufacturers, carriers, and passengers. The regulation covers a variety of topics ranging from the requirement for forming a national airspace planning committee, the approval process for establishing airports, the regulation of aerodrome obstacles, the requirements relating to the operation and airworthiness of aircraft, the duties and authorities of the captain of the aircraft, licensing of carriers, exemption from civil aviation fees, and procedures for investigating aviation accidents in line with the Chicago Convention.

The regulation also covers wider topics relating to aviation such as meteorology and the CAA’s obligation to publish a regulation on passenger rights.

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

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion issued earlier this month a regulation to govern the licensing of the national product brand that requires obtaining a licence before using the brand.

According to article 3, the brand can only be used in regard to products that achieve a minimum percentage of 20% local content. Article 8 also specifies the formula for calculating the percentage of local content by taking into account the ex-works price of the product and the value of the non-originating materials.

The licence is issued for a renewable period of 3 years. The penalties for violating the regulation include imposing a fine not exceeding 500 Rial Omani, suspending the licence for a period not exceeding 1 year, and revoking it.

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

The National Centre for Statistics and Information recently issued a new Executive Regulation of the Statistics and Information Law. The Statistics and Information Law was issued in 2019 replacing the Statistics Law of 2001, and this new regulation replaces the old Statistics Law Regulation of 2004.

The Ministry of Labour recently issued a new System for Job Performance Measurement that applies to civil servants. This system requires all civil servants to set objectives and key results to be achieved during a specific period of time that are tied to the strategic goals of the entity and as agreed with their respective line managers. The system identifies five grades for the evaluation of civil servants, and stipulates that the names of those achieving the highest scores are published within the government entity in question.

The Ministry of Labour has been trialling this system under a programme named “Ejada” since the beginning of 2022. The issuance of this system marks its graduation from being a trial and its official adoption as a requirement on all civil government units.

The Ministry of Interior published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette Ministerial Decision 16/2023 Issuing the Financial System for the Expenses, Disbursements, and Tenders of the Elections of the Members of Majlis Al-Shura and the Municipal Councils. This new system provides an alternative procurement process to that stipulated by the Tender Law and gives the Ministry of Interior new powers including the power to directly award contracts relating to works, services, and supplies for the elections up to the value of 245,000 Rial Omani without going through a tender.

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion (MOCIIP) recently issued a regulation to determine the “beneficial owner” of companies operating in Oman. This regulation is applicable to all types of companies except for public joint stock companies, which are instead regulated by the Capital Market Authority. The companies in question have until the end of this month to satisfy the provisions of this regulation. So what does this regulation mean for your business?