Advocacy

BUSINESS CORE PRESENTED TO THE AUTHORITIES

AmCham has kicked off our dialogue with the new Government, and key ministers responsible for public policies with an impact on economic development and business activity, reaffirming AmCham's role of a valued advocacy force in Moldova and committing to remain trusted dialogue partner for Moldovan policymakers. AmCham submitted AmCham Business CORe - a compendium of major priorities for reforming the business environment, boosting growth and prosperity.

Advocacy

AmCham is actively involved as a member of the following Organizations & Governmental Working Groups:

Economic Council to the Prime Minister
The Economic Council to the Prime Minister was established as an advisory body with the mission to facilitate the dialogue between the representatives of the business environment, donors’ community and policymakers to develop a favorable social-economic climate and non-discriminatory, transparent business environment, which would be attractive for investment. For more efficient performance, permanent thematic working groups and temporary (ad-hoc) working groups have been created within the Council since 2016.

“Guillotine” Working Group
National Working Group on Regulation of Entrepreneurial Activity (otherwise called “Guillotine” Working Group) is intended to monitor and revise new regulations (draft norms elaborated by central state authorities) affecting entrepreneurial activity. Working Group acts weekly and analyses on average 5-6 normative acts per sitting. The work is based on impartiality and compliance with the basic principles of regulation of entrepreneurial activity (e.g., regulatory impact assessment, etc.).

National Confederation of Employers in RM
 As a member of the National Confederation of Employers in Moldova (NCE), AmCham is involved in many of its activities to foster policy change and establish a better business environment.

Councils for Dispute Resolution within the Tax Service, Customs Service, Agency for Technical Supervision, Agency for Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance, National Center for Personal Data Protection, National Agency for the Regulation of Nuclear and Radiological Activities, National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology
The Dispute Resolution Councils within the public authorities are composed of representatives from authorities and business associations, including AmCham. The Councils act in the form of meetings, which are organized depending on the appeals filed. The members of the Councils will share solutions on the examined subject at the meeting in order to resolve the deferred disputes.

The Advisory Committee under Customs Service
AmCham performs the Secretary of the Advisory Committee, ensuring the continuity of the dialogue mechanism between the Customs Service and the business community. Advisory Committee under Customs Service is a trade facilitation body consisting of representatives of the Customs Service and representatives of associations involved in external trade.

Advocacy

B2G dialogue partners

  • Ministry of Labor and Social Protection
  • Parliamentary Committee on social protection, health and family
  • Economic Council to the Prime Minister
  • Tripartite working group for amending the Labor Code

Solved regulatory issues

  • Regulated regime of electronic signatures and the use of other electronic means in employment relations
  • Regulated short-time work scheme in labor relations (reduced activity regime) and several other support schemes for employers and employees

Areas of ongoing advocacy efforts

  • General labor regulatory basis
  • Non-compete clause regulation
  • Remote work regulation
  • Temporary work agent regulation
  • Implementation of creche voucher mechanism with related tax incentives for the private sector

HR COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES



B2G dialogue partners
  • Ministry of Finance
  • Ministry of Economy
  • Ministry of Labor and Social Protection
  • State Tax Service
  • Parliamentary Committee for the economy, budget and finance
  • President Office
  • Center of Information Technologies in Finance
  • Public Oversight of Audit Activity Council
  • National Bureau of Statistics
  • National Social Insurance Authority
  • National Health Insurance Company
  • National Agency on Archives
  • Chisinau Municipality Council

 

Solved regulatory issues
  • Tax invoice issues (the transportation document in e-commerce)
  • Depreciation of assets (some important clarifications for the community have been received)

 

Areas of ongoing advocacy efforts
  • Tax and Customs Policy 2023
  • Deductibility issues (refugees’ assistance, distance working, COVID, employees’ meals and transportation, travel expenses, internal marketing expenses, mileage form, etc)
  • Non-residents' activity
  • Digitalization of tax reporting (optimization of interaction with State Tax Service, including via previously announced Automated Electronic System "Electronic Monitoring of Sales" and Fiscal Gateways, as well as developing the e-Invoice instrument in a more proper way)
  • Review and digitization of tax administration and accounting procedures for internal purposes and use of the digital tools in optimization of the internal processes, including e-archive
  • New Tax Code and approximation to EU Directives aspects
  • MD-US Double Taxation Agreement
  • Local taxes

 

TAX COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

B2G dialogue partners
  • Customs Service
  • Ministry of Economy 
  • Ministry of Infrastructure & Regional Development
  • Ministry of Environment
  • Ministry of Agriculture & Food Industry
  • National Agency for Food Safety
  • Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Industry

 

Solved regulatory issues
  • New Customs Code approved
  • AmCham EPR concept has been welcomed by the Ministry of Environment for further development and implementation
  • A working group was established within the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Industry
  • to amend the Land Code and eliminate restrictions for the mining activities under the high-quality agricultural land

 

Areas of ongoing advocacy efforts
  • Implementation of the new Customs Code 
  • Advancing on exporting goods of animal origin
  • Advancing on improvement of the postponement of payment of customs duties mechanism
  • Ensure a level playing field between US-made products and goods of preferential origin
  • Advancing on implementation of extended producer responsibility principle for packaging
  • Elimination of excessive control when importing goods subject to food safety control
  • Simplified payment of import duties for goods imported by postal operators
  • Advancing on improvement of evidence by Customs Services of tariff quotas 
  • Advancing on elimination of restrictions for the mining activities under the high-quality agricultural land 
  • Maintenance of tax & customs regime for operation in Free Economic Zones

 

TRADE & MANUFACTORING COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

B2G dialogue partners

  • Ministry of Health
  • Medicines and Medical Devices Agency
  • National Health Insurance Company
  • Parliamentary Committee on social protection, health and family
  • Economic Council to the Prime Minister

Committee Advocacy Win: The improved medicines authorization procedure

The amended regulatory framework provides for three new rapid procedures for medicines authorization, as opposed to the general 210-day procedure:

  • Conditional procedure (for one year) for medicines needed in emergencies, including vaccines and medicines needed for diseases of significant public health importance.
  • Accelerated unilateral recognition procedure for medicinal products authorized by the EMA, FDA, and other countries with stringent regulatory authorities such as Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
  • Collaborative procedure for WHO pre-qualified medicines.

Also, the term of import of medicines for which the Registration Certificate has expired, but the file was submitted for renewal, has been extended to 12 months, the same term being provided for the import of medicines manufactured under the provisions prior to issuing documents certifying the approval of the post-authorization changes.

 

Areas of ongoing advocacy efforts

  • Harmonization of national legislation on medicines and medical devices with relevant EU directives and regulations
  • Medicines authorization procedure improvement
  • Medicines prices formation and the registration of producer prices improvement
  • Price liberalization for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines
  • Clear and transparent mechanism for medicines compensation
  • National healthcare procurement system improvement
  • Managed Entry Agreements (MEA) concept implementation
  • Further implementation of GxP standards (GMP, GDP, GPP)
  • Digitalization of the medical system and telemedicine services regulation
  • Regulated online trade of medicines and pharmaceutical products
  • Expanding pharmaceutical services and primary health assessment services for patients in pharmacies

Committee’s B2G Dialogue Partners:

  • National Bank of Moldova
  • National Commission for Financial Market
  • Parliamentary Committee for the economy, budget and finance
  • Ministry of Finance
  • Ministry of Justice
  • Economic Council to the Prime Minister
  • ODIMM
Solved regulatory issues
  • Approved Law that caps creditor’s interest rate, fees and penalties considered few AmCham recommendations
  • Facilitated compliance with certain provisions from the Law on electronic signature
  • Approval of the” Digitization package” - a legislative initiative developed on the Economic Council platform with assistance from IFC and GIZ, aimed at removing regulatory constraints that hinder the digital interaction G2B2G; B2B; B2C2B. The main amendments refer to the modernization of the law on personal data protection, Civil Code, Law on credit history bureaus; AML Law, etc. (24 laws)
  • Improvement of communication between Public Services Agency and the financial sector

Ongoing advocacy efforts
  • Regulations on responsible lending and on creditworthiness assessment for banks and non-bank credit organizations
  • Insurance and re-insurance activity
  • Modernization of the Register on pledges
  • Access to the state managed financing facilities (DLC) by non-bank credit organizations
  • Access of NCOs the the ODIMM state Guarantee Fund for SMEs

B2G dialogue partners    
  • Ministry of Finance
  • National Bank of Moldova
  • Ministry of Economy
  • National Commission for Financial Markets
  • President Office
  • Parliamentary Committee for the economy, budget and finance
  • State Tax Service
  • Center of Information Technologies in Finance
  • Office for Prevention and Fight Against Money Laundering
  • National Center for Personal Data Protection
  • Agency for Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance

 

Areas of ongoing advocacy efforts
  • Electronic Distance Identification (E-Know Your Customer)
  • E-commerce issues (with focus on payments)
  • Open Banking (Payment Services Directive2 Package)
  • Regulation of crowdfunding activity
  • Regulations on cash registers (including on Fiscal Gateway issues) and Automated Electronic System "Electronic Monitoring of Sales", including cash withdrawal from CRE
  • Loyal competition on the payment services providers’ market
  • E-signature and its issues

 

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

B2G dialogue partners

  • Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure
  • Ministry of Justice
  • Competition Council
  • State Agency on Intellectual Property
  • National Center for Personal Data Protection
  • Bureau for Migration and Asylum
  • Parliamentary Committee for legal affairs, appointments and immunities
  • Parliamentary Committee for the economy, budget and finance
  • Parliamentary Committee for national security, defense and public order
  • Economic Council to the Prime-minister
  • Working Group of the State Commission for Regulation of Entrepreneurial Activity

 

Solved regulatory issues

  • An improved national mechanism for examining the foreign direct investments and approved Law on the mechanism for examining the investments of importance for state security
  • Relaxed personal data protection regulations and approved Law on the digitization of the national economy
  • Improved Law on petroleum products
  • Improved Law on the manufacture and circulation of ethyl alcohol and alcohol production
  • Improved Order of the Office for Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering regarding the approval of the compliance form structure

 

Areas of ongoing advocacy efforts

  • CNESP decisions
  • Personal data protection
  • Intellectual property
  • Competition legislation
  • Energy & oil
  • Telecommunications
  • Work migration & foreigners’ regime in Moldova
  • Distribution & retail
  • Tobacco
  • Anti-money laundering
  • FDI screening mechanisms

 

LEGAL COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

B2G dialogue partners

  • Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure
  • Ministry of Environment
  • Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Industry
  • National Agency for Energy Regulation
  • Mayor Office

 

Solved regulatory issues

  • Approved Government decision on the capacity limits, maximum quotas, and capacity categories in the field of electricity from renewable sources by 2025
  • Approved regulations on the confirmation of the status of eligible producers in the field of renewable energy
  • The established possibility of using agricultural land for renewable energy projects and amended Land Code
  • AmCham EPR concept has been welcomed by the Ministry of Environment for further development and implementation

 

Areas of ongoing advocacy efforts

  • Renewable energy regulatory framework
  • Environmental regulations on waste management
  • Implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) principle for packaging according to best EU practices
  • Subsidiary legislation on incineration and co-incineration of waste
  • Waste water treatment facilitation
  • Legislation on industrial emissions
  • Organic Agriculture
  • Paperless B2G

 

GREEN TRANSITION COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES