Kuwait: Auditing Activities Facilitation Circular Issued

Alrai, 10 February 2024: The Undersecretary of Kuwait’s Audit Bureau has issued an auditing activities facilitation Circular.

The Circular has been sent to entities subject to supervision by the Bureau.

It aims to promote cooperation and facilitate the Audit Bureau’s mission.

It also aims to organise the Bureau’s relationship with these entities to help them achieve their objectives in line with the Audit Bureau Law.

The Circular states: “The entities subject to the Bureau’s oversight must fully cooperate with its auditors, facilitate direct communication with the heads of accounts, their directors, and auditors, or whoever acts in their place, respond to their correspondence and inquiries, and submit all documents and records, or any other papers that are necessary to carry out their specific duties according to the law, in the most complete and expeditious manner possible, and facilitating the tasks of the audit team regarding field visits to the entity’s sites.”

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Kuwait: Part-Time Work Permits for Expatriates Launched

Arabian Business, 1 February 2024: Kuwait’s Public Authority for Manpower has announced it has launched a part-time work permit for expatriates.

The permit has been launched to help employers use expatriates already working in the country without having to carry out additional recruitment.

The permits will be issued via the Authority’s Sahel application.

The fees for the new work permit will be five Dinars for one month, 10 Dinars for three months, 20 Dinars for six months and 30 Dinars for a year.

Kuwaiti citizens will not have to pay these fees and can carry out unlimited part-time work. The expatriate applying for a part-time work permit will be able to work for a maximum of four hours a day.

Permission must also be given by the individual’s primary employer. The rules do not apply to employees in the contracting sector.

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Kuwait: Government Submits Action Programme

Kuwait Times, 6 February 2024: The Speaker of Kuwait’s National Assembly has announced the government has submitted its action programme.

The government have warned that economic and financial reforms must not be delayed any longer. If they are the cost of the reforms will be too expensive and relevant procedures will be extremely difficult to complete.

The government has expressed its intention to review charges for various public services that are not controlled by a 30-year-old law banning the government from raising charges on some public services without the prior approval of the Assembly.

In addition, the government has expressed its ambition to enable the private sector to play a bigger economic role. It will do this by offering more investment opportunities to the sector to help it create job opportunities for citizens.

Under the programme, the government has a 100-day action plan.

This plan includes measures being taken to control price rises, reprice various government services that have a limited impact on citizens, prepare a draft corporate income tax law and study the disbursement of public subsidies.

It proposes 22 different pieces of legislation as well that should be approved by the Assembly during the current term that ends in July.

These include a law establishing the northern economic zone and a law amending the wage scheme in the public sector. It also includes a selective tax law, a law amending the Residency Law for expatriates and a law establishing an independent electricity and water authority.

In addition, it includes a law regulating the information sector.

Elsewhere, the National Assembly has voted to approve a government request to delay the debating of two draft laws calling for the citizens’ cost of living allowance to be increased and interest-free loans to be provided to retired Kuwaitis.

The government said it had requested the delay to ensure they could be reviewed more carefully.

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Kuwait: Radiation Protection Decisions Approved

Kuwait Times, 23 January 2024: Kuwait’s Health Minister has approved three Ministerial Decisions on the use of ionising radiation and preventing associated risks.

The first Decision includes the adoption of the regulation on the security of radioactive and nuclear sources. It clarifies the basic parameters for maintaining the safe and peaceful use of all radiation sources in the country and how to preserve them.

For the first time it includes new regulatory issues, by ensuring the security of nuclear materials through the detection-delay mechanism. This addresses and manages security to prevent the possibility of unauthorised withdrawal of nuclear and radioactive materials.

The second Decision specifies the procedures and documents required to apply for a licence for entities dealing with ionising or non-ionising radiation sources.

It is aimed at simplifying the procedures and reducing the process of obtaining the licence for the location and use of ionising or non-ionising radiation.

The third Decision includes exposure limits and radiation safety standards to deal with non-ionising radiation sources.

It will enable Kuwait to enter the field of communication networks to ensure the safety of workers, the general public and the environment from the risks of exposure to electromagnetic fields arising from non-ionising rays of various spectra.

They were approved following recommendations from the radiation prevention committee and proposals from the radiation prevention department of the public health sector.

They have been approved to update the legislative framework for radiation protection and maintain the safe and peaceful use of all radiation sources in the country.

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Kuwait: Strict Measures Imposed to Prevent Drugs Manipulation

Alqabas, 20 January 2024: Sources have announced strict new controls have been approved by the Health Minister to control treatment with narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

They have also been approved to prevent narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances being exploited for abuse and addiction.

The measures are aimed at preventing the trade in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances following reports about the exploitation of these types of medicines by turning them from substances for medicinal purposes to profit making sources.

The Health Minister’s recent decision to stop the circulation of narcotic drugs outside the government medical sector followed revelations by inspection committees of 2.5 million narcotic pills in the possession of the private medical sector.

This compared to under a million narcotic pills and psychotropic substances in the public medical sector.

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Kuwait: Automatic Prescription Directives Issued

Kuwait Times, 14 January 2024: Kuwait’s Health Minister has issued automatic prescription directives.

Under the directives, prescription data for prescribed medicines dispensed by private sector pharmacies will be linked.

An electronic system for the Health Ministry will be established between the Assistant Undersecretary for Drug and Food Control Affairs and the Assistant Undersecretary for Digital Health Affairs.

The system will help link all prescription data for prescribed medicines and preparations dispensed by private sector pharmacies.

The medicines inspection department will be responsible for monitoring and ensuring the regularity of prescription registrations for medicines by private sector pharmacies in the electronic system.

All private sector pharmacies licensed to trade in prescribed medicine and regulate their circulation must register with the system in line with the specified conditions and procedures.

They must also create a dedicated account for each private pharmacy in the electronic system. The pharmacy licence holder and the pharmacist in charge of the pharmacy will be jointly responsible for all prescription data uploaded to the pharmacy’s account.

The pharmacist in charge must ensure that prescription data for prescribed medicines and preparations meet all the necessary conditions outlined in the prescriptions for these substances and the procedures for their circulation, in line with Ministerial Decisions, before dispensing to the patient.

They must also register and upload each prescription of the substances and preparations dispensed in the pharmacy to the electronic system.

In addition, they must verify that prescriptions received by the pharmacy are issued by doctors registered in the Ministry’s electronic system. No prescriptions may be dispensed unless they meet the required conditions.

They must download the prescription onto the electronic system after dispensing to ensure clarity as well.

A photocopy in PDF format should be created. This should contain the pharmacist’s seal and the pharmacy’s seal and be stored with the original copy in the pharmacy.

The data should match the records in the pharmacy’s register of prescribed medicines and preparations.

This process must be completed on the same date as the dispensing of the prescription.

The pharmacy licence holder and the pharmacist responsible for dispensing the prescription must be legally accountable for all prescription data uploaded to the pharmacy’s account in the electronic system.

Licences, permits and approvals for these pharmacies will not be issued or renewed in the event of non-compliance with the directives.

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Kuwait: Draft Law Amending Criminal Procedures and Trials Law Rejected

Alqabas, 2 January 2024: The Kuwaiti government has rejected a draft law amending the Criminal Procedures and Trials Law.

The government stated that the periods included in the rehabilitation proposal are not intended to achieve its desired goal. This would undermine the interest of society in enabling criminals whose crime has been verified, pursuant to a final judicial ruling, to evade its effects immediately after the punishment is implemented or after a few months have passed.

It has also rejected a draft law amending Kuwait Law No. 8/2010 on the rights of persons with disabilities.

The government stated that the proposed law contains many observations, which may lead to a negative result that harms the rights of persons with disabilities.

It also risks the government not being able to honour its commitments.

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