The Cabinet has endorsed a draft decision by HE the Minister of Municipality and Environment, which prohibits the export of fish by sea throughout the year.
At its regular weekly session yesterday, the Cabinet also approved a draft law on the registration of vessels, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
The draft decision regulating the export of fish stipulates that “fish of all kinds cannot be exported by sea throughout the year, and surplus from the local market - covering specified types - may be exported by land in line with the terms and conditions put in place by the fisheries department”, QNA reported.
In co-ordination with the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, the department is responsible for specifying the amount that can be exported. Also, sharks or any part of them (fins) cannot be exported or re-exported.
After the meeting presided over by HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani at Emiri Diwan yesterday, HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud said the Cabinet approved a draft law on the registration of vessels and their safety conditions.
The bill was prepared in order to replace Law No 18 of 1980 on the registration of vessels and safety conditions as part of updating legislation to cope with developments in the field of maritime transport.
The draft law includes provisions related to the registration of vessels with a load capacity of more than 200 tonnes at the Ministry of Transport and Communications’ maritime department, the procedures of submitting the registration request, required data and documents for registration and duration of mandatory certification that must be on board the ship all the time.
No foreign vessel is allowed to sail from any port in Qatar or cross its territorial waters unless it meets the safety requirements in accordance with provisions of international conventions. The relevant maritime department is entitled, at any time, to monitor and search Qatari and foreign vessels that cross or dock in Qatari territorial waters or state ports.
Meanwhile, the session approved a Cabinet draft decision, amending some provisions of Decision No 17 of 2011 on naming the chairman and members of the tax appeal committee, organisation of its work and determining its rewards.
The committee, established at the Ministry of Finance under the presidency of one of the judges at the Court of Appeals and the membership of representatives from entities concerned, is to decide on appeals submitted by taxpayers.
Additionally, the Cabinet ratified a proposal by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to amend some provisions of two statutes of the human resources department for employees of independent schools and affairs of independent schools’ licence holders.
It also ratified draft agreements on economic, commercial and technical co-operation, and promotion and protection of mutual investments, between the governments of Qatar and Cameroon, as well as a draft agreement on co-operation and news exchange between QNA and Romanian news agency Agerpres.
Finally, the Cabinet reviewed a letter by HE the Minister of Culture and Sports regarding the Cabinet’s draft decision to form a co-ordination committee for hosting international and regional sporting events, and took the necessary decision.

Civic ministry proposal  gets Cabinet nod
The Cabinet yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment to amend some provisions of Law No 8 of 1990 on the regulation of human food monitoring. According to the amendment, a decision to shut down a shop that violates the law will be published in two domestic newspapers at the expense of the violator as well as on the website of the entity that issues it.