Cabinet okays draft law on permanent residency card

DOHA: The Cabinet which met yesterday with Prime Minister  and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani in the chair took necessary measures to issue draft law on permanent residency card, after reviewing the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the topic.

At the beginning of the meeting the cabinet expressed its solidarity with the Sultanate of Oman and Republic of Yemen, after facing Cyclone Mekunu which resulted in heavy losses.

The Cabinet said the State of Qatar supports both countries with all its potential in dealing with the consequences of this disaster and prays to Allah Almighty to protect them from any harm. After the meeting, Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, H E  Dr Hassan bin Lahdan Al Hassan Al Mohannadi stated the following:

The Cabinet took necessary measures to issue draft law on permanent residency card, after reviewing the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the topic. Under the provisions of the draft law, a committee shall be established within the Ministry of Interior to consider requests of granting permanent residency ID to a limited number, in accordance with the provisions of the draft law.

The committee then submits its recommendations to the Minister of Interior to issue the appropriate decision on the mentioned requests.

The permanent residency ID holder may obtain treatment and education in government institutions and other privileges, in accordance with the terms and conditions set by the Cabinet.

The Cabinet approved a draft law on supporting the competitiveness of national products and combating harmful practices in international trade and to refer it to the Advisory Council. The draft law defined harmful practices in international trade as dumping practices, ad hoc supports and increases in imports.

It defined dumping as exporting to the State a product whose export price below the normal value of a similar product in the exporting country in the normal course of trade.

The draft law provides that the provisions of this law shall apply in a manner not inconsistent with the provisions of the World Tarde Organization (WTO) agreements.

Under the provisions of the draft, a committee called the “committee for the support of competitiveness of national products and combating harmful practices in international trade” shall be established in the Ministry of Economy and Commerce. Its membership includes members with expertise in the area of WTO agreements along representatives of concerned ministries and bodies.

The committee’s mandate is to examine complaints and violations of the provisions of this law, to conduct investigations into complaints, to prepare a report on the results of the investigation of complaints and to propose interim and final measures necessary to protect national products.

By a decision of the Minister of Economy and Commerce, upon the recommendation of the Committee, the minister may take the following measures as he may consider necessary, in a manner not inconsistent with the agreements issued by the organization:

1- Anti-dumping measures and temporary compensatory measures;

2- Provisional preventive measures;

3- Anti-dumping measures and final compensatory measures in the form of charges or price undertakings not exceeding the margin of dumping or the amount of the definitively specified subsidy;

4- Final preventive measures against the increase in imports in the form of quantitative, fee or other restrictions.

Upon the proposal of the Minister and the committee’s recommendation, the cabinet may take any measures it deems necessary to protect the national product.

The Cabinet also approved a draft law amending certain provisions of Law No. 1 of 2016 on the organization of sports clubs and to refer it to the Advisory Council.

The draft law is prepared in line with ongoing developments and updates in international regulations and standards related to the independence of sport.

The amendment aims to enhance the independence of the general assemblies of the sports clubs in terms of their competencies, tasks and powers, and to find a clear and effective legal mechanism to attract Qatari cadres qualified to work in sports clubs, to promote the participation of athletes from different universities, institutes and schools in tournaments and international competitions, and to encourage the private sector to invest in the sports sector and advance sports activities and services in the country.

The Cabinet also approved the holding of the third session of the joint Qatari-Tajik committee on economic, commercial and technical cooperation in the Republic of Tajikistan from August 27 to 29, 2018.

It also gave approval for a draft agreement for cooperation in the field of agriculture, livestock and fisheries between the governments of the State of Qatar and the State of Palestine; a draft governmental agreement for cooperation in the field of electric power generation between the governments of the State of Qatar and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; a draft memorandum of understanding between the National Committee of International Humanitarian Law of the Ministry of Justice of Qatar and the regional mission of International Committee of the Red Cross to the Gulf Cooperation Council; a ‘model’ for draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of tourism and business activities between the government of the State of Qatar and the governments of other countries.

The Cabinet reviewed the message of the Minister of Justice about the final report on the study of the phenomenon of bounced checks, and the Ministry of Justice’s views in this regard; and it took appropriate decisions.