On the motion of the Economic Affairs Committee, the second reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Customs Act (84 SE), initiated by the Government, was concluded. The aim of the Bill is to enhance the customs control, to regulate more specifically the establishment of free zones and to simplify the transfer of confiscated cultural valuables. The legal basis for the use of the automatic number identification system for customs is established and the use of X-ray equipment upon examination of goods is regulated. The Tax and Customs Board uses the number identification system for identification of registration numbers and designators of the means of road and rail transport and marine containers on the external border. The Bill also extends the circle of the recipients of confiscated goods and amends the Act such that the Tax and Customs Board may transfer cultural valuables to an agency designated by the Minister of Culture. The Bill was sent to the third reading.

On the motion of the Economic Affairs Committee, the first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Road Transport Act, the State Fees Act and the Traffic Act (137 SE), initiated by the Government, was concluded. The aim of the Bill is to provide the amendments arising from transposition of the Regulations of the European Parliament and of the Council. The amendments concern the specifications of the conditions for access to the occupation of road haulage operator (for example, services which do not require a licence), harmonisation and simplification of the system of licences issued for the organisation of road transport, elimination of the restrictions on access to the market of international road haulage for reward arising from the Act which is currently in force, the conditions for using vehicles used under contract for use in road transport, and punishments for violation of the requirements of the Road Transport Act and EU Regulations provided in the scope of responsibility of the Act. The wording of some provisions of the Road Transport Act is also specified in order to ensure legal clarity and conformity with other Acts and European Union law. The Bill was sent to the second reading.

On the motion of the Legal Affairs Committee, the first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Penal Code and Associated Acts (140 SE), initiated by the Government, was concluded. The Penal Code is amended by adding corresponding new necessary elements of an offence, concerning different aspects of trafficking in human beings: trafficking in human beings with the intention of sexual exploitation, enslaving or removal of an organ. With the amendment of the regulation, Estonian legislation is brought into conformity with the requirements in force in the European Union and other international legislation. On the basis of the new national definition of trafficking in human beings, the Aliens Act and the Obligation to Leave and Prohibition on Entry Act are amended. The Bill was sent to the second reading.

On the motion of the Economic Affairs Committee, the first reading of the Bill on Approval of Annex 8 to the International Convention on the Harmonisation of Frontier Controls of Goods (138 SE), initiated by the Government, was concluded. Annex 8 to the Convention which has been approved facilitates international trade by reducing, harmonising and coordinating procedures and paperwork in connection with the border control of goods, in particular live animals and perishable goods, and improves the operation of border crossing points, as well as technical matters relating to the mutual recognition of international vehicle inspection and weight certificates. The Bill was sent to the second reading.

On the motion of the Economic Affairs Committee, the first reading of the Bill on Ratification of the Council of the European Union Convention on Centralised Customs Clearance, concerning the Allocation of National Collection Costs retained when Traditional Own Resources are made Available to the EU Budget (131 SE), initiated by the Government, was concluded. The Convention to be ratified regulates the sharing of duty collection costs. The sharing of duty collection costs between EU member states concerns receipt of money in the state budget and making of payments to another EU member state from the state budget. When an EU member state collects customs duties, then 75% of it is paid to the European Community and 25% is retained by the state that collected the duty for covering the collection costs. Upon application of the centralised customs clearance, the share intended for covering the collection costs (25%) is shared equally between two member states if the customs declaration is lodged in one member state and the goods are presented in another. The Bill was sent to the second reading.

On the motion of the Legal Affairs Committee, the first reading of the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Compensation for Claims secured by Certificates of the National VEB Fund” (130 SE), initiated by the Government, was concluded. The Draft Resolution provides the dissolution of the Fund and compensation for claims secured by certificates to holders of the certificates out of the money received from the sale of the assets of the Fund and within the framework of a liquidation proceeding carried out on the basis of the Foundations Act. The Draft Resolution repeals the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Accounts of the Estonian Banks Frozen in the Foreign Economy Bank of the USSR” of 20 January 1993 (RT 1993, 4, 61). The Draft Resolution was sent to the second reading.

The Riigikogu Press Service

 

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