The Riigikogu passed with 82 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to § 3 and § 10 of the Motor Third Party Liability Insurance Act (255 SE), initiated by the Estonian Centre Party Faction, which guarantees insurance cover for persons on passenger ferries engaged in domestic regular service. The amendment provides that rolling onto and rolling off a passenger ferry engaged in domestic regular service which has berthed in a port is deemed to be road traffic. 

The Riigikogu concluded the second reading of three Bills: 

The Bill on Amendments to the Fertilizers Act, the Plant Protection Act and the State Fees Act (310 SE), initiated by the Government, eliminates several terminological inaccuracies, amends the Act according to the European Union law, regulates the field and, among other things, enhances the supervision exercised over the handling of fertilizers. The situation will be simplified for handlers of fertilizers with the “EEC fertilizer” marking as registration for a fee will be replaced by the single notification obligation free of charge which will reduce the administrative burden of undertakings. As of now, a relevant document (certificate of quality of the fertilizer) concerning the composition of the fertilizer, issued by the producer, may be the document attesting the conformity of the composition of a fertilizer, besides the test protocol issued by an accredited laboratory. 

The Bill on Amendments to the Water Act (287 SE), initiated by the Government, is motivated by transposition of the directive on ship-source pollution and on the introduction of penalties for infringements and, on the other hand, the conflict of the Water Act and the Government Regulation No 269 of 31 July 2001 “Procedure for discharging effluent into water bodies or soil” and the lack of necessary regulations which has become apparent in practice. In addition, the criteria for the procedure for designation of water bodies for public use are specified. 

The Bill on Amendments to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act, the Tobacco Act and Associated Acts (294 SE), initiated by the Government, transposes the provisions of directives to amend the exemption limits of excise goods which a traveller is allowed to import; excise duty is levied on oil shale used for the production of heat as of 2011; tax collection is enhanced by setting additional requirements for excise duty payer, e.g. the obligation to submit the descriptions of the measurings carried out upon storage and procedure rules to the tax authority; the right to impose penalty payment in order to ensure compliance with the requirements of the excise duty Act is granted to the tax authority; denaturing of alcohol with denaturing agents used in any EU Member State is allowed; the administrative burden of undertakings is reduced. 

The Riigikogu concluded the first reading of seven Bills: 

the Bill on Amendments to the State Budget of the Year 2008 Act (372 SE), initiated by the Government; 

the Financial Management of Local Government Bill (366 SE), initiated by the Government. The Estonian Centre Party Faction and the Estonian People’s Union Faction moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. The motion was not supported. The result of voting: 21 votes in favour, 48 against. 

the Bill on Amendments to the Population and Housing Census Act (354 SE), initiated by the Government; 

the Bill on Amendments to the Gender Equality Act, the Public Service Act and the Republic of Estonia Employment Contracts Act (317 SE), initiated by the Government; 

the Bill on Ratification of Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (355 SE), initiated by the Government; 

the Bill on Amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure and Other Acts (286 SE), initiated by the Government; 

the Bill on Amendments to the Police Service Act (351 SE), initiated by the Government. 

At Question Time, Minister Urve Palo answered the question about citizenship, submitted by Vilja Savisaar. The Minister of Justice Rein Lang answered the question about international agreements, submitted by Kadri Simson, and the question about closing of Kaagvere specialised school, submitted by Maret Merisaar. The Minister of Agriculture Helir-Valdor Seeder answered the question about the promotion of domestic food production, submitted by Mart Jüssi, and the question about the situation in agriculture, submitted by Arvo Sarapuu. 

The Riigikogu Press Service