Amendments set to regulation of commercial agency

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KUWAIT CITY, Jan 15: MP Ouda Al- Ruwaie presented a number of amendments to the law on regulation of commercial agencies demanding the agent of a commercial agency to request his or her registration in the commercial agencies’ register on the prescribed form within three months from the date of receiving the agency.

According to the bill, Ministry of Commerce and Industry must decide on the request for registration of a commercial agency within thirty days from the date of its submission, and it must announce the accepted request in the official gazette.

The bill states that the agent or distributor is committed to the permanent and sufficient provision of goods, products or services offered by his agency at prices that commensurate with that of similar products and services.

This also applies in the case of spare parts for goods that require them as long as they are available in the country of production. They must be provided to the required centers of maintenance and repairs of these goods at costs that commensurate with that of other similar products, as well as grant all guarantees provided by the producers, taking into account the country’s standard specifications.

Anyone who has stated in correspondences or publications relating to the work of his commercial agency or published through any means of media that he is an agent of a company that sell products, materials, goods or services without actually being an agent registered in the commercial agencies’ register will have to pay a fine ranging between KD 5,000 and KD 10,000. In case of repeated violations in this regard, they will have to pay a fine ranging between KD 10,000 and KD 20,000.

The shop can be closed down or the license can be cancelled and the shop can be closed permanently with a visible board placed on the door of the shop which would mention the order for closing the shop if the offense occurred for a period not exceeding three months.

The bill states that those who submit to the competent authority or any other official bodies information or data, under the knowledge that it is incorrect, for registration of the agency in the commercial agencies’ register, or delete them, or modify their own data will be punished by the same penalty specified in Article 15, and the court shall order the rectification of this data in accordance with the conditions and time.

Any person who contravenes the provisions of items (1) and (2) of Article 10 of this law will be ordered to pay a fine ranging between KD 1,000 and KD 2,000, without prejudice to any harsher penalty prescribed by any other law, with commitment to compensation in accordance with the rules of civil liability when necessary. Any person who contravenes the provisions of Article 14 of the law has to pay a fine between KD 500 and KD 5,000.

Meanwhile, Head of Parliament’s Interior and Defense Committee MP Sultan Al-Ghusaim disclosed that the committee will hold a meeting on Sunday to discuss the naturalization issue. He indicated that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Mohammed Al-Khalid and Head of the Central System for Remedying Status of Illegal Residents (CSRSIR) Saleh Al-Fadhala will be present to discuss the mechanism for implementing the final report completed by CSRSIR and other files relating to naturalization.

Al-Ghusaim said they want the meeting to be held in the presence of the Interior Minister in order to get a lasting solution to the naturalization file which has remained unsolved for decades. He stressed that there are people who deserve naturalization such as children of Kuwaiti divorced women and widows, those with files at the higher committee since 1962, and the eligible military personnel who participated in the Arab wars and Kuwait liberation war.

He affirmed that the meeting will be comprehensive, the viewpoints of the government will be discussed, and the bills presented by MPs in this regard will be put forward during this meeting. Al-Ghusaim reiterated that the meeting will be attended by the Interior Minister, who is known for his transparency, clarity, ability to settle all outstanding issues and his commitment to give each person his or her right.

He stressed the need for CSRSIR to announce a roadmap solution based on the final report it announced, expressing his surprise over the suspension of the naturalization mechanism since 2007, despite the fact that there are categories of people who deserve to be honored with the Kuwaiti nationality. He urged the authorities to grant citizenship to the eligible people “especially since we have been hearing from time to time about the readiness of the naturalization file”. Al-Ghusaim expressed optimism over the outcome of the meeting, stressing the need for mutual commitment from the government and the Parliament to address this file.

By Abubakar A. Ibrahim Arab Times Staff

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