Amman, April 8 - The Senate approved three draft laws as submitted by the House of Representatives, while returning to the House of Representatives the General Statistics Law and the Civil Aviation Regulation Law after making amendments. The Senate session, chaired by President of the Senate Faisal El-Fayez and attended by Cabinet members, was held today, Tuesday.
The Senate amended the draft General Statistics Law, authorizing non-governmental entities to conduct studies to market their products or services, and to collect and publish statistical information for themselves or for another entity, provided they obtain prior written permission from the Director General of Statistics, in accordance with a special regulation issued for this purpose. This is not subject to conditions set by the Department of Statistics, as stated in the government's draft law and approved by the House of Representatives.
The Senate also recommended that the government clarify the concepts of statistics, data, information, analysis, processing, and information extraction, and establish specific definitions for them when preparing regulations and instructions to better understand the roles assigned to relevant institutions, such as the Department of Statistics, the National Information Center, the Ministry of Digital Economy, and private sector institutions.
The Senate's amendments to the draft law amending the Aviation Law included granting the Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority the right to approve or reject the study and evaluation of land and area uses within airports and surrounding areas that may affect the safety or security of civil aviation operations. The amendments do not require referral to the Council of Ministers, as was proposed by the House of Representatives. The Senate also approved Article 18, which was deleted by the House of Representatives, considering all documents issued by the Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority official documents, whether paper or electronic, including licenses, permits, certificates, accreditations, correspondence, and reports.
The Senate approved the draft law amending the law on restructuring government institutions and departments, as presented by the House of Representatives. The Senate recommended an organizational separation between the higher education and technical education sectors to ensure that higher education does not become overshadowed by the new authority (the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission), resulting from the merger of the Professional Skills Development and Accreditation Commission and the Higher Education Institutions Accreditation Commission. The Senate also recommended adopting the recommendations contained in the document on modernizing the academic system to enhance the role of scientific research in achieving sustainable development and meeting community needs, prepared by the House of Representatives, regarding the transfer of the Scientific Research Fund to the Higher Council for Science and Technology.
It also recommended developing an integrated system to modernize the media sector's structure based on the principles and foundations of the Royal Media Vision of 2003. This system will enhance media freedom and independence, adhere to professionalism, keep pace with technological developments, and engage with society.
The Council approved the Agricultural Risk Mitigation Fund Law, as submitted by the House of Representatives. The law aims to achieve solidarity and cooperation between farmers and fund subscribers to address agricultural risks and mitigate their impact, encourage agricultural investment, and compensate farmers not participating in the fund for damages resulting from exposure to the risk of frost.
The Senate approved a draft law amending the Customs Law, as submitted by the House of Representatives. The law aims to develop the work of the Customs Department and enable it to carry out customs clearance procedures through personnel who exercise the powers of the relevant oversight bodies to implement the prohibitions and restrictions stipulated in relevant legislation within customs centers. It will also conduct subsequent audits in accordance with the methodologies of the World Customs Organization, and allow electronic notification of decisions and documents issued by it.