Cabinet approves slew of decisions

AMMAN — The Cabinet, during a session chaired by Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh, on Sunday approved the 2022 draft law of the Jordanian Medical Council, before referring it to the Lower House, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The new draft law aims to keep pace with scientific developments, which require reconsidering the council’s tasks and expand the recognition of medical specialties that were not previously approved.

The Cabinet also approved the mandating reasons for a draft law amending the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Law for the year 2022.

The amendments include forbidding foreign companies to register with the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), unless after registering with the Companies Control Department, and ensuring ASEZA’s tax system complies with EU standards and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) set of tax codes.

The amendments also aim to remove any additional requirements for Jordanian companies and establishments or any gap in tax between Jordanian and non-Jordanian companies.

The Cabinet agreed to allow the export of perishable cardboard and paper items without imposing export duties on them, within the specified customs clauses, provided that the decision is applied from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

According to the ministers’ decision, the work of the Tax Settlement and Reconciliation Committee would be extended to continue examining and settling pending cases between taxpayers and the Income and Sales Tax Department until the end of the current year.

The Cabinet approved the trade minister’s proposal to assign the Independent Election Commission the task of managing and supervising the elections of the boards of directors of chambers of commerce and chambers of industry, and the elections of representatives of the commercial and industrial sectors.