Bahrain: Accreditation For Three New Medical Specialties

The Daily Tribune, 25 August 2024: Government Hospitals have earned accreditation for three additional medical specialties from the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, bringing the total number of accredited programmes to 16.

The newly accredited specialties include ophthalmology, emergency medicine, and dermatology.

They join previously accredited areas such as internal medicine, general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, diagnostic radiology, neuroscience, anaesthesia, anatomical pathology, psychiatry, paediatric surgery, urology, orthopaedic surgery, and otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.

This recent accreditation reflects the hospitals’ ongoing effort to enhance healthcare quality in Bahrain and demonstrates their emphasis on medical training as a key element in developing skilled professionals.

The hospitals aim to offer a high-quality educational environment, providing trainees with the expertise needed for safe professional practice.

They work to meet both institutional and programme standards, fully leveraging available resources for specialised medical training, under the supervision of bodies such as the Arab Board of Health Specialisations and the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties.

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Bahrain: Housing Policy Changes

Bahrain Daily Tribune, 20 August 2024: A number of new changes to housing policy in Bahrain have been introduced including the lifting of wives using inherited property for benefits.

In addition, there will be a new streamlined property allocation process and a shift in income assessments to the nomination stage rather than the allocation stage as was previously the case. The Cabinet has approved the revised housing regulations. As result of a new rule children over 21 will not be considered if the applicant is a widow or divorcee with minor children. The amendments have been made to Bahrain Decision No. 909/2015.

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Bahrain: Labour Market Regulatory Authority Conducts Extensive Inspections

The Daily Tribune, 6 August 2024: The Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) in Bahrain has intensified its efforts to combat illegal and undocumented workers, as well as other labour market violations.

Between 21 July and 3 August 2024, the LMRA has conducted 1,411 inspection campaigns and visits across various governorates of the Kingdom.

These inspections led to the apprehension of 100 illegal and undocumented workers, while 350 violators were deported during the same period.

The inspections have revealed numerous violations related to the LMRA Law, the Residency Law of Bahrain, and other relevant regulations.

The LMRA has conducted 1,378 inspection visits to commercial establishments across all governorates, along with 33 joint inspection campaigns.

These campaigns were carried out in collaboration with various government entities, including the Interior Ministry, security directorates, the General Directorate for Execution of Judgments, the Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, the Electricity and Water Authority, the Health Ministry, and the Industry and Commerce Ministry.

The joint efforts aimed to ensure comprehensive inspections and effective enforcement of labour regulations.

The campaigns were distributed as follows: 23 in the Capital Governorate, three in Muharraq Governorate, five in the Northern Governorate, and two in the Southern Governorate.

Legal action has been taken against the identified violations, as stated by the LMRA.

The authority emphasised its ongoing coordination with government entities to intensify inspection campaigns across the Kingdom.

This initiative aims to combat practices that negatively impact the labour market’s stability, competitiveness, or harm the economic and social security of Bahrain.

The LMRA has reiterated its call for community members to support government efforts in tackling illegal practices in the labour market and irregular employment, protecting the community as a whole.

Individuals are encouraged to report any complaints related to labour market violations and irregular employment by filling out the designated electronic reporting form on the LMRA’s official website (www.lmra.gov.bh), using the National Suggestions and Complaints System (Tawasul), or contacting the LMRA’s call center at 17506055.

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Bahrain: Embraces ‘Open Banking’ Service Requirements

The Daily Tribune, 19 July 2024: Starting 1 September 2024, all licensed financial and banking institutions must comply to “open banking” regulations, as announced by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).

These regulations include obtaining customer consent and authentication, licensee disclosures, and reporting on the performance of application programming interfaces (APIs) by service providers.

A recent circular issued by Governor of the CBB, has outlined these requirements, obligating banks to provide information to payment service providers regarding legal entities after securing their consent.

The circular has also introduced amendments to extend open banking services to legal entities such as institutions and companies.

The amendments affect the General Requirements Module in the CBB’s Guidebook, Volumes 1 and 2, as well as the Open Banking Module in Volume 5, incorporating legal entities within the scope of open banking services.

Customer account data requirements The circular specified that information and payment service providers must detail customer account data requirements for any use cases related to account information.

It has also introduced changes to the Reporting Requirements Module and the Public Disclosure Requirements Module within Volumes 1 and 2, concerning the disclosure of API performance by account service providers.

Guidance on business models for information and payment service providers will be included in the open banking module of the CBB’s Guidebook, Volume 5.

‘Integrated cash flow’ The circular also stipulated that Licensed banks must collaborate with Benefit Company to implement the “integrated cash flow” model for obtaining initial customer consent and authentication during the onboarding process.

Information and payment service providers are to agree with banks on standard API specifications and service standards, aligned with security guidelines under Bahrain’s Open Banking framework.

These amendments follow consultations initiated by the CBB in March and October 2023, with an action plan from all licensed financial and banking institutions due by 30 June 2023.

Open banking is anticipated to stimulate Bahraini financial technology companies to develop new financial products and services, such as budgeting applications, personal loan offers, and investment platforms, leveraging open banking data.

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Bahrain: Strengthens Consumer Protection with Commercial Sector Agreements

The Daily Tribune, 5 July 2024: The Consumer Protection Directorate at the Industry and Commerce Ministry has signed three service level agreements between the ministry and the commercial sector to address consumer complaints from citizens and residents in Bahrain.

The Assistant Undersecretary for Domestic and Foreign Trade has emphasised that the new agreements align with the directorate’s strategy, following last year’s successful MoU’s with a hypermarket chain, a food delivery service, and a retail conglomerate.

This year, the agreements have expanded to include an online grocery delivery service, an internet services provider, and a cleaning services company.

The Assistant Undersecretary has highlighted the directorate’s commitment to improving the quality and efficiency of services by harnessing modern technology and using partnerships with the commercial sector.

The agreement also includes terms and conditions under which the two signatory parties will provide services to consumers, by setting the foundations and framework for providing high-quality services, following the Bahrain Law No. 35/2012 on Consumer Protection.

They have emphasised that this step aims to establish a collaborative agreement between the government and commercial sectors.

The goal is to provide exceptional services to consumers by promptly addressing complaints within the agreed timeframe, clearly defining responsibilities and obligations for both parties, and promoting mutual trust and shared objectives.

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Bahrain: Signs Patent Prosecution Highway Agreement With US

The Bahrain Industry and Commerce Ministry has signed a cooperation agreement with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, to apply the fast-track system for technical examination of patents (PPH).

The minister has emphasised that this agreement will further enhance the Kingdom’s patents and intellectual property sector.

He has highlighted Bahrain’s position in preserving and protecting all types of intellectual property and patent rights, which contributes to increasing the flow of investments.

The agreement comes as part of the plan to develop the regulatory and procedural framework related to the registration of intellectual property and patents in cooperation with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The agreement will allow accelerating technical examination procedures of patent applications.

It will also improve cooperation with the US Patent Office and facilitate the exchange of the latest findings on patent applications filed with the Bahrain Patent Office.

Additionally, the agreement will promote the exchange of expertise in managing patent offices and procedures for examination and grants.

It aims to raise the quality of the reports of the Bahraini National Office and prevent conflicts in technical results with major international patent offices.

This also includes increasing revenues related to filing patent applications and examining them technically.

The fast-track system supports applicants approved by international patent offices, including the US Patent Office.

It will accelerate the procedures for granting patents in the Kingdom.

This will be based on the examination reports issued by the five major international government offices proposed for bilateral contracting through this agreement.

The system also aims to provide an attractive environment for regional and international investments, in addition to enabling the examination of patent applications filed with the Bahrain Patent Office, especially in cases where a specialised patent examiner is not available.

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