Moldovan Justice Ministry puts draft law on state controls moratorium into debate

Chisinau, 29 January /MOLDPRES/-The Justice Ministry carried out a draft law on the moratorium on state controls and put it into debate today.

According to the informative note annexed to the draft, the moratorium shall be set on “any type of control performed by state bodies for a six-month term, regulated by any other normative document”. The draft law provides for setting a moratorium “on a state control, regardless if it is planned or unannounced, or whether it is fiscal, financial, customs, assessing products/service quality, public health and observance of labor protection norms”. The document also includes controls at the headquarters, institutions or storage places belonging to entrepreneurs.

However, the draft law does not suspend the inspection if documents. It also does not include controls the National Bank of Moldova or the Court of Accounts may carry out during a criminal process. The draft law does not apply to controls carried out at the request of natural and legal persons, who ask that their authorizations, licenses, certificates and other permissive documents be issued or prolonged. The same refers to requests of consumers submitted to bodies in charge of protecting their rights.

When the six-month term comes to an end, the government may prolong it, if it does not endanger the accumulation of income into the state budget, citizens’ life and health, fulfillment of commitments resulted from international treaties, as well as the public order.

According to the Justice Ministry, the draft law will have a significant impact on the development of the business environment as it will reduce the number of controls on the activity of the economic agents’ activity.

Economics Minister Octavian Calmic today signed an order on setting up a moratorium "on the activity of carrying out state controls by the Agency for Consumers' Protection, State Principal Inspectorate for Technical Supervision of Dangerous Industrial Units and State Energy Inspectorate." During a meeting of the General Police Inspectorate on 28 January, the head of the National Investigation Inspectorate’s Economic Fraud Department was dismissed. Moreover, policemen were warned to not allow unjustified controls or intimidation of economic agents.

(Reporter V. Bercu, Editor M. Jantovan)