The Cabinet has approved a draft law that lays down regulations for dealing in subsidised commodities.
The bill defines such commodities as food supply and fodder that are subsidised by the State, and no natural or legal person is allowed to deal in these goods without being granted a permit from the authorised department, the official Qatar News Agency reported.
Further, the bill specifies conditions for those who can be licensed to deal in the commodities and devises a mechanism for submitting requests for a permit and its duration.
A Cabinet decision will specify subsidised commodities, their maximum prices and beneficiaries of the subsidy. HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce will specify, via a decision, regulations for licensing the sale of these commodities, with or without the subsidy, to non-beneficiary segments and setting a maximum price for them.
Holders of permits to deal in subsidised commodities are prohibited from selling them or putting them for sale at a price that exceeds the maximum one; selling them at a lower weight than that specified by the relevant department; replacing them with commodities of a lower quality to sell them and make profit from the difference in price; mixing them or changing their composition and possessing them in that condition with the intent of trading in them; refusing to sell them or selling them at quantities that exceed the specified limits; hiding them or shutting the store for the purpose of not selling them; imposing a threshold on the purchase of subsidised commodities, associating their sale to that of another commodity, or conditioning their sale to an illegal requirement; selling or storing them outside the licensed place; selling them to non-beneficiary segments unless licensed to do that; and exporting them abroad.
After the weekly Cabinet meeting chaired by HE the Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani yesterday, HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud said the Cabinet took the necessary measures to issue a draft law amending some provisions of the military service law, which was issued as Law No 31 of 2006, after the Cabinet reviewed the Advisory Council’s recommendations on the bill.
The draft law specifies cases in which military personnel can be given special leave.
In addition, the Cabinet endorsed a draft air services agreement between the governments of Qatar and Uganda.
It also reviewed a draft law on State Audit Bureau and took the necessary measures in that regard, and reviewed and took the necessary measures regarding a memo by HE the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs in relation to the outcome of the 43rd session of the Arab Labour Conference and the 51st co-ordination meeting of the GCC labour ministers’ council on the sidelines of the conference (Cairo, April 2016).