CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
ARTICLE 110- Should the guilds located in cities
move out to the industrial towns, they shall, in addition to taking advantage
of special facilities including term payment for the land sold to them in the
industrial town, enjoy financial facilities and support, the type and extent of
which will be determined by government.
Note: In order to reorganize and legalize the business units which have been established in the country prior to 1378 (1999), operating without official permit, but possessing deed of ownership, lease contract, purchase contract, or contract agreement to transfer the property or the interests of the property to other real or legal entities, institutions and organizations, Ministry of Commerce is authorize to issue temporary business permits to these units through the country’s professional guilds and upon receipt of the certificate of payment of the annual municipal charges and a certificate of tax clearance.
The temporary business permit will be valid for three
years from the date of issue, and the professional guilds are charged with
taking measures to change the temporary permit into permanent license.
The manner of issuing temporary permits and the
conditions for changing of the same to permanent license and other necessary
considerations shall be determined in a by-law to be prepared and proposed by
the Ministry of Commerce to the Cabinet for approval.
ARTICLE 111- In order to activate
the Bank San’at Va Ma’dan with the objective of mobilizing financial resources for the industry and mining
sector, to promote and guide the non-public sector to invest in industry and
mining, develop entrepreneurship, and to contribute to transfer of technology;
the following actions must be taken:
A- Within the first two years of the Plan, the Bank
San’at Va Ma’dan shall divest the entire stocks of the companies under its
control to the local cooperative and private sector.
B- Within the mandate of the said bank and in the
process of its internal reorganization, a new development credit line will be
created in order to support small
industries .
C- Bank San’at Va Ma’dan is authorized to set up
special deposit funds for certain fields or projects and utilize facilities of
the domestic and foreign financial markets in line with the objectives
indicated in its articles of association and emphasized in this Law.
D- During the period of the Third Plan, a portion of
the resources of the Bank San’at Va Ma’dan shall be provided through the industry and mining chapters of the
annual budget or through the inter-bank facilities in order to enable the bank
to spend the same toward achievement of the said objectives or other targets as
determined by government.
ARTICLE 112- In order to safeguard
the national interest and secure the basic military and non-military electronic
needs domestically, government is required to strengthen and reorganize during
the Plan period, the existing electronic industries (electronics,
telecommunications, automation and optics) in different sectors through
consolidated and coordinated policy-making mechanism and investments.
The by-law of this Article shall be prepared by the Ministries
of Industry, Defense and Logistice of Armed Forces, “Post-Telegraph and Telephone,” and will be approved by the
Cabinet.
ARTICLE 113- In order to achieve an
export take-off during the
country’s Third Economic, Social and Cultural Development Plan period:
A- the customs duties and trade tariff of the raw material,
intermediate and imported goods
used in production of exportable goods shall be refunded upon export of the
products on the basis of a by-law that will be prepared on the recommendation
of the Ministry of Commerce and will be approved by the Cabinet.
B- the exported goods and services shall not be
subject to any tax or charge.
C- export of goods and services shall be exempted from
any permit except the mandatory standards and the usual certificate in the
international trade (as the buyer may require).
D- all the incentives and privileges that exist for
export of goods shall also be applicable to export of services.
E- the non-governmental funds established for export
development will be supported by
government.
F- in order to support export of non-oil goods,
technical and engineering services, from the year 1379 (21 march 2000) on, a
portion of the local and foreign exchange resources out of the surplus income
of the oil export proportional to the increase in non-oil export of technical
and engineering services will be devolved with the Export Development Bank as
the government contribution to raise the capital of the export Development Bank
at a rate compatible with the objectives indicated in this Law for each year
and for the terminating year of the Plan.
The by-law including the manner of granting the credit
and its conditions shall be
prepared jointly by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, the
Plan of Budget Organization, and with cooperation of the Central Bank of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, and will be approved by the Cabinet.
G- The Export Development Bank is required to collect
by the end of the Third Plan, at the latest, the unclaimed balance of the
foreign exchange revolving fund for export content of Item (E) of Note (25) of
the Second Five-year Economic, Social and Cultural Development Plan Law enacted
on 12/1/1995. The collected sum
will be settled with the bank as the government contribution to the bank’s
capital. Using this funds,
financing facilities shall be given to exporters. The manner of settlement of all the said foreign exchange
revolving funds and the applied profit rate shall be determined by the Cabinet
within three months from enactment of the Law and shall be conveyed to the
Export Development Bank.
H- All ministries, agencies, the government-owned
enterprises, institutions and non-governmental public entities, also the real
and legal residents of Iran are obliged to coordinate their programs with the
Iran Export Development Center prior to organizing any international
trade/industrial fair domestically and/or out of the country, or participating
in any international trade fair, and have their plans confirmed by the said
center.
ARTICLE 114-Regulating domestic market
will not prohibit export. Export
of all goods and services, with the exception of the following items, is
permissible:
A- Antiques and objects of cultural heritage.
B- Animal, plant and vegetable items that are
considered to be of genetic reserve or environmental protection significance.
C- Export of goods subsidized by government will be
authorized upon proposal by the relevant agency and approval of the Economic Council.
Note: In order to regulate the
domestic market and off set the emerging scarcity, the Ministry of Commerce is
authorized upon its findings to satisfy the domestic needs by importing the
required commodities without any foreign exchange transfer.
ARTICLE 115- In order for the
foreign trade to flourish,
government is required to remove the non-tariff and non-technical trade
barriers while observing the religious prohibitions, and take necessary action
in order to prepare the timing schedule for reforming the par exchange tariff
rate, and announce it in the form of notice, and to determine the customs
tariffs.
ARTICLE 116- To strengthen the
competitive potentiality of the country’s exportable goods in the international
markets:
A- All ministries and government production and
service agencies connected with export are required to take necessary measures
to set in motion their information center by the end of the first year of the
Plan in the framework of the country’s comprehensive trade information network
plan, and provide information services to the local and foreign clients. Ministry of Post-Telegraph and
Telephone is required to provide necessary facilities in order to strengthen
the said network.
B- Ministry of Commerce is charged with taking measure
to put into operation the country’s comprehensive trade information network
(domestic and international) by the end of the second year of the Plan.
C- In order for the Iranian companies and technical
and engineering firms including both the contractors and consultants to
actively participate in the world market and to export technical and
engineering services, government is required to provide the following
facilities and continually monitor their proper performance:
1- To provide the ground for
insuring the bank guarantees with minimum required deposit.
2- Create the possibility of
dispatching the machinery needed to execute the projects without any
security pledge.
3- Provision of insurance and
banking services with minimum cost and charge.
4- Setting up a system of granting
export credit to development projects in the form of buyer-supplier credit.
5- To project and determine a
special quota in the banking system’s credit allocation.
6- To provide necessary funds for
inclusion in the country’s annual budget for the government participation in
financing these types of export credits.
7- To prepare the ground for export
and supply of the partnership bonds by the exporters of technical and
engineering services as one source of financing their projects.
The
above-mentioned applicants must be pre-qualified by the Plan and Budget
Organization and possess the proper rating.
ARTICLE 117- In
order to formulate the country’s export strategies, determine assistance and
facilities to render to the export sector, eliminate the obstacles, and
implement the adopted policies of the Third Plan, the High Council of the
Non-oil Export Development will be established under chairmanship of the
President or the Vice President, with the membership composing of the Ministers
of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Metals, Cooperative, Foreign Affairs,
Petroleum, Economic Affairs and Finance, Agriculture, Construction Jihad,
Governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Managing Director
of the Export Development Bank and the heads of the Iran Export Development Center, the Customs of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines; and
Chamber of Cooperative. The
secretariat of the said council will be housed in the Ministry of Commerce. The
decision of the council shall be binding upon ratification by the Cabinet and
within the framework of the pertinent laws in connection with provision of the export facilities for
all ministries, entities and the government-owned enterprises, non-governmental
public entities and institutions, and also the private real and legal
persons. Three members of the
Islamic Consultative Assembly from the Commissions of “Commerce and
Distribution Affairs”, the “Plan and Budget Affairs”, “Economic Affairs and
Finance, and Cooperative” participate in the meetings of the High Council of
Non-Oil Export Development as observers.
The Secretariat of the said council is charged with submitting quarterly
progress reports of the council’s performance to the said commissions.
The provincial Export Development Committee will be chaired
by the provincial Governor-General, and will consist of the Directors-General
of the Commerce, the Customs, the Plan and Budget Organization, and other
relevant directors, as the case may be, and the Managing Director of the
province’s Export Bank. Duties of
the secretariat of the province’s Export Development Committee will be
entrusted to the provincial Director-General of the Commerce.
ARTICLE 118- Duties and authority of
the Ministry of Commerce subject to the Law of the Manner of Management of the
Urban and Rural Consumption Cooperative enacted on 2/3/75 concerning formation
of the Urban and Rural Commercial
Corporation, as well as implementation of the other provisions of the
same law will be extended for the first two years of the country’ Third
Development Plan.