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News developments
Peninsula, 31 May 2022: Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality has launched the 2nd edition of its advertisement guide, which bans advertisements in certain locations and revises the rules and regulations governing advertisements more generally.
Under the new rules, an advertisement cannot be placed without first obtaining a licence from the respective municipality and paying charges and a security deposit.
The 89-page second edition of “Guide for Planning and Regulatory Requirements and Procedures for Advertising and Publicity Means in Qatar” states which types of advertising fall under its remit. These are any fixed, portable, traditional, e-signboards, whether they are temporary or permanent, which are used for an advertisement. It excludes advertisements in newspapers, magazines, journals, websites, radio, TV, and in cinemas.
The guide bans advertisements in any form including placing, sticking, hanging or by constructing at places of worship, establishments and buildings which are of an archaeological or historical nature and their surrounding walls, plus on trees and plant containers, and traffic signboards and signals.
There must be a balance between Arabic and English texts, and accuracy of translation is also required.
According to Civil Defence, advertisements should not block ventilation equipment in a building or the surrounding buildings, rescue routes, and emergency exits and entrances.
The General Directorate of Traffic requires that advertisements should not be placed so that they hinder traffic flow in any way for different means of transportation or on pedestrian passages or use radiant lights which affect vision.
Designs of advertisements should also not be similar to the traffic signals and signs in terms of size, colour and shape. The Public Works Authority also requires that advertising boards set up on roadsides follow the design plan for the street.
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News developments
The Peninsula, 25 May 2022: Qatar’s Cabinet has approved a draft Decision which would ban the use of single-use plastic bags in the country.
Under the Decision, institutions, companies and shopping centres would be banned from using single-use plastic bags in packaging, presenting, circulating, carrying or transporting products and all kinds of merchandise.
It was proposed by the Municipality Ministry.
Single-use plastic bags would also be replaced with multi-use plastic bags, biodegradable plastic bags, paper or woven bags and other biodegradable materials.
The Cabinet also approved a draft agreement on cancelling visa requirements for holders of diplomatic, special and official passports between Qatar and Bangladesh. Also reported in Al-Sharq on 25 May 2022. For full story, click here.
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News developments
Gulf Times, 25 May 2022: Qatar’s Labour Ministry has announced the dates of the midday work ban in the country.
Work in open outdoor and shaded places not equipped with appropriate ventilation stands will be banned between 10am and 3.30pm from 1 June to 15 September 2022.
Workers can return to work in the open outdoor workplaces after 3.30pm during this period.
The Ministry has started implementing awareness campaigns on the dangers of heat stress during working hours.
They have done so ahead of the enforcement of Qatar Ministerial Decision No. 17/2021 on the necessary precautions to protect workers from heat stress during summer.
Under the Decision, companies and institutions who have work sites under direct sunlight have to set a schedule specifying daily working hours in line with the Decision and place the schedule in a place which all workers can easily view.
Employers must assess the risks at work sites and conduct the necessary medical examinations for workers to ensure their health and be careful during this period.
They should also comply with the decision on necessary precautions to protect workers from the risk of heat stress.
Work sites which violate the Decision will be closed.
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News developments
Gulf Times, 19 May 2022: Qatar’s Government Communication Office has issued a compulsory health insurance clarification.
They have said the system covers non-Qatari workers in the public and private sectors.
This includes manual workers, craftsmen, domestic workers and visitors.
They issued the clarification following the approval of a draft Decision by the Cabinet on healthcare services regulation in the country.
The draft includes provisions related to the rights and obligations of healthcare services beneficiaries, insurance company and healthcare service provider obligations and supervision and control of healthcare services.
They added citizens will receive free-of-charge healthcare services at Government health facilities and health insurance will be mandatory to ensure the provision of basic healthcare services to expatriates and visitors.
They went on to say basic healthcare services include preventive, curative and rehabilitative services, as well as other services set out in the Implementing Regulations.
They said employers and recruiters will pay the premium to cover the basic services of their employees or recruits. In addition to basic services, employers and recruiters may also request additional services subject to additional costs.
Basic healthcare services for visitors include emergency and accident treatment services.
Under the regime, they said insurance companies must provide employers or recruiters with health insurance cards or an equivalent as well as offer hospitals and clinics tailored to them.
Former employees have to be removed from the insurance policy and employers and recruiters must follow the relevant procedures to notify the insurance company after the termination of the employment or recruitment contract.
If an employee or recruit fails to transfer their sponsorship under a new employer on the termination of their contract, the insurance coverage may be extended until the policy or the legally permitted period of residence expires, whichever comes first.
The obligations of employers and recruiters towards their employees and recruits begins from the date of their entry into the country or from the date of a worker’s sponsorship transfer under a new employer or recruiter.
These include contracting with one of the registered insurance companies to cover all employees and recruits and annually renewing the contract within the prescribed deadlines.
It also includes providing healthcare services to all workers and recruits during the period before residence is granted or transferred.
In addition, it includes providing the contracted insurance company with all the necessary information to register all beneficiaries. Also reported in Al-Sharq on 18 May 2022. For full story, click here and here.
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News developments
LexisNexis Middle East, in collaboration with D&C Legal Services, hosted three insightful webinars exploring trending legal topics within the Middle East and GCC.
The first webinar on ‘Growing and Protecting Your Brand in the Middle East and GCC’ took place on 28 September 2021 and provided attendees guidance on growing their brand and protecting it from improper use. Our expert speaker, Aurore Deeb, Senior Associate at D&C Legal Services, considered topics such as opposition, the registration process of trademarks, legal actions for infringement, unfair competition, and more.
The second webinar on ‘Intellectual Property, Social Media, and Google Ads’ took place on 19 December 2021. Our expert speaker, Rana Moustafa, Associate at D&C Legal Services, provided insights into the interconnection between social media and intellectual property. Topics such as digital policies on social media platforms, Google Ads, keywords advertising, were discussed.
The final webinar on ‘Global Legal Protection of Geographical Indications (GI)’ took place on 7 March 2022. During this webinar, GI and its international legal protection was discussed. Our expert speaker, Nasser Messaike, Associate at D&C Legal Services, explored GI in its entirety, including its security, enforcement, and more.
LexisNexis Middle East thanks D&C Legal Services for their constant support and partnership, making these webinars a success from the start.
Thank you for joining us while we continue to host these informative training and events. Visit www.lexis.ae/training-events/ to keep an eye out for future courses which are of interest to you.
News developments
Al-Sharq, 20 April 2022: Qatar’s Cabinet has approved a draft Decision to amend the Implementing Regulations to the Civil Human Resources Law.
The amendments include increasing the value of marriage advances from 100,000 to 300,000 Riyals for all Qatari employees.
The aim is to encourage young Qataris to marry and help them do so.
They also approved a draft Ministerial Decision to define the entry and exit ports to the country.
Finally, they approved a draft agreement on mutual administrative assistance for the optimal implementation of the Customs Law and the suppression, investigation and control of customs crimes between Qatar and Azerbaijan. For full story, click here.
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News developments
The Peninsula, 13 April 2022: Qatar’s Cabinet has approved draft laws regulating the licensing of the use of a national product mark and its Implementing Regulations.
The draft law is consistent with the strategy of supporting national products, distinguishing them from other products and giving them priority in Government procurement.
They also approved a draft Ministerial Decision on entry visas for hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Also reported in Lusail on 13 April 2022. For full story, click here.
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News developments
The Peninsula, 25 March 2022: Qatar’s Commerce and Industry Ministry has announced it has launched the Qatar Business Map portal.
It is available on the Ministry’s website.
It has been launched in line with Qatar Law No. 1/2020 (the Unified Economic Register Law).
It aims to support the transparency of economic and financial transactions by compiling basic information, data and documents for economic establishments, legal arrangements and non-profit organisations and freelancers.
It also aims to make them available to the public and stakeholders in line with Financial Action Task Force requirements.
The portal provides a comprehensive database for users, allowing them to view the investment advantages of Qatar’s various regions through a search service for commercial establishments per region and for various commercial activities.
A QR code will be included on the documents issued via the Ministry’s Single Window platform in order to assist the relevant authorities in viewing the commercial registration data and verifying their validity and accuracy. It is a database for entrepreneurs and investors to facilitate their access to target customers. It aims to help users select the ideal location to establish a business and choose a lucrative business activity. It also helps identify the location of potential competitors.
It helps find residential areas for entrepreneurs and investors to establish their commercial activities as well as analysing the location to understand the target customer base and measure the feasibility of the commercial project in a specific area.
It is aimed at assisting the relevant authorities by reducing the levels of misleading data submitted to the relevant authorities by some companies. This will help ensure the validity and accuracy of commercial registration data and release commercial companies from having to use the company’s seal to stamp the requests submitted to the relevant entities to obtain their services.
It also aims to help them by exempting the relevant companies from obtaining the seal and manual signature of the relevant administrative units at the Commerce and Industry Ministry to ensure accuracy and validity of data of the commercial registers where they refer back to the relevant authorities and enable the relevant authorities to confirm the accuracy of documents by scanning the QR code on the official documents issued by the Ministry.
It also provides statistics on the number of commercial licenses registered in each municipality, new and signed-off commercial licenses and the latest commercial establishments registered in Qatar.
It can be accessed via https://businessmap.moci.gov.qa. Also reported in Al-Sharq on 24 March 2022. For full story, click here.
To view more news items and other content we have available, visit lexis.ae/demo to book a demo and start your free trial of Lexis® Middle East.
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