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Archive -Seychelles

Cabinet considers several legal and policy memoranda |25 May 2018

The Cabinet of ministers has considered a number of legal and policy memoranda during their scheduled meeting on Wednesday chaired by President Danny Faure at State House.

These included approved amendments to the Seychelles Maritime Safety Agency Bill and in consequence the Seychelles Merchant Shipping Act, 1995 (Cap 127A) which are aimed at improving the management of maritime affairs of the country.

The debriefing of the cabinet meeting to the press was chaired by Mohammed Afif, secretary of state for cabinet affairs assisted by Johnny Bastienne, deputy cabinet secretary for legal and institutional affairs.

Mr Afif said the Seychelles Maritime Safety Amendment Bill, which will be tabled before the National Assembly, will have the ability to perform certain actions which formerly fell under the Seychelles Ports Authority or the Department of Port and Marine.

Elaborating on this amendment, Mr Bastienne said actually it is the Seychelles Maritime Safety Administration (SMSA) that administers the Merchant Shipping Act which is the law governing maritime transportation. It also exercises control on hire craft by regulating boats and also in charge of beach control.

“SMSA is the focal point of activities related to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). IMO had suggested a legal framework for SMSA through its audit recommendations and it is for this reason the government has decided to change the administration to become an Authority. This will enable it to have more power to regulate all that has to do with maritime activities,” said Mr Bastienne.

Another amendment was to the Civil Status Act 1991 in order to align the provisions of the act with the development in the fields.

As to the Companies Special License Amendment Bill, in line with new policies relating to the the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) which tackles tax avoidance by ensuring the implementation of the measures agreed through the BEPS Project and which targets multinational enterprises' aggressive tax planning practices.

The amendment is aimed at allowing the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to allow offshore companies to operate both overseas and locally.

Again in relation to the FSA, cabinet approved that it also regulates the Seychelles Gambling Act, which was a stand-alone act.

With regards to the approved procedural guidelines for border measures to deal with infringement and counterfeit goods coming into the country, this implies that the trade department will deal with importers who bring in counterfeit, pirated or merchandised labels that are not original brands into the country.

“The reason the trade department will have this responsibility is because most of the goods have a trademark. For example labels like Louis Vuitto and Johnnie Walker are brought in under a fake brand. In future, when such merchandise reach our borders, it is the department of trade that will inform them that these are fake goods,” explained Mr Bastienne.

Other amendments endorsed by cabinet were strategies to be implemented by the Employment Department to improve the participation of private employment agencies in provision of employment services. Cabinet also approved the poverty definition and indicators to be used to measure poverty in the country.

“It is worth noting here in Seychelles that poverty is not about lack of money but that of living happy. Here in Seychelles, the department for poverty alleviation has come up with five dimensional concepts to determine poverty. They are living standard, health, education, nutrition and revenue that generates into a family,” said Mr Afif.

 

 

 

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