President al-Assad issues a law relating to the licensing and operation of tourist facilities

Damascus-SANA

With the aim of improving the quality of tourism services and controlling them, controlling and deterring violations, and collecting the rights of the state’s public treasury with regard to dealing with the conditions of unlicensed tourist facilities, President Bashar al-Assad issued today Law No. 23 of 2022 related to the licensing and operation of tourist facilities.

Below is the text of the law:

President of the Republic

Based on the provisions of the Constitution.

And on what was approved by the People’s Assembly in its session held on 10/11/1443 AH corresponding to 5/12/2022;

It issues the following:

chapter one

Definitions

Article 1 - The

following words and phrases, in the context of applying the provisions of this law, have the meaning shown next to each of them:

Chapter II

Classification and Tourist Licensing

Article 2 -

Determined by a decision of the Minister:

• A-

  Types of establishments, their annexes, their classification levels, their specifications, their equipment, the quality of their services, and the mechanism for licensing and supervising them.

• b-

  Cases of amending and canceling both the classification and the tourism licence.

Article 3 –

• A-

  By a decision of the Minister, a tourism classification committee shall be formed in each governorate as follows:

• B-

  The committee shall undertake the classification of establishments within the concerned governorate in accordance with Article 2 of this law.

• C-

  The committee meets at the invitation of its chairperson whenever needed, and its meeting is considered legal if attended by the majority of the members, including the chairperson.

Article 4 –

• A- A

  committee shall be formed by a decision of the Minister to study objections to the tourism classification, as follows:

• B - The

  committee decides on objection requests within fifteen days from the date of registering the objection at the Ministry’s office or the Tourism Directorate in the governorate.

• C-

  The committee meets at the invitation of its chairperson whenever needed, and its meeting is considered legal if attended by the majority of the members, including the chairperson.

Article 5 –

The tourism license is issued by a decision of the Minister. This license does not exempt from obtaining all other licenses imposed by the laws and regulations in force and necessary for the operation of the facility.

Article 6 -

The Minister may allow the establishment to be put into trial operation before obtaining a tourism license for a period of three months to ensure its operational and service readiness. A reasoned decision may extend this period for one time.

Article 7 –

• A-

  The investor is prohibited from starting to praise or employ the facility before obtaining a tourist praise license or a tourist employment license from the Ministry.

• B- It

  is prohibited to operate the facility before obtaining a tourist license or the necessary approval for trial operation.

Chapter III

Pricing

Article 8 -

• A- By a decision of the Minister, a central committee shall be formed as follows:

• B- The committee stipulated in Paragraph /

  a

  / of this Article shall determine the prices of all tourist services, including the prices of accommodation and food provided by the establishment, according to the level of classification, and the bases adopted in this pricing. These prices and bases shall be reviewed whenever the need arises.

• C- The committee meets at the invitation of its chairperson whenever needed, and its meeting is considered legal if attended by the majority of the members, including the chairperson.

• d- The Minister issues decisions related to setting prices.

Article 9-

• A- A

  committee shall be formed by a decision of the Minister to study the objections to prices as follows:

• b- The

  committee decides on objection requests within fifteen days from the date of registering the objection at the Ministry’s office or the Tourism Directorate in the governorate.

• C-

  The committee meets at the invitation of its chairperson whenever needed, and its meeting is considered legal if attended by the majority of the members, including the chairperson.

the fourth chapter

censorship

Article 10 –

 The Ministry shall supervise the following:

• A- Accommodation

  facilities of a star level and above.

• B -

  Feeding facilities of two stars and above.

• C-

  Tourism and entertainment activities approved by the Ministry.

Article 11-

• A- A

  number of permanent employees of the first and second categories are assigned by a decision of the Minister to monitor the implementation of the provisions of this law and control the violations stipulated in it, and they are given the authority of the judicial police.

• B-

  The employees mentioned in Paragraph (

  a

  ) of this Article shall take the following oath before the President of the Civil Court of First Instance in the governorate in which they were appointed and before

  assuming

  their

  duties

  :

• C-

  Individuals empowered with the jurisdiction of the judicial police shall supervise the establishments, seize violations, and organize the necessary controls against the violating establishments in accordance with the provisions of this law and the decisions issued in implementation of it.

Article 12-

• A-

  By a decision of the Minister, joint monitoring committees shall be formed in each governorate as follows:

• B-

  The committees stipulated in Paragraph (

  a

  ) of this Article shall supervise the establishments, each according to its competence, and the provisions of Article /

  11

  / of this law shall apply to these committees.

Article 13-

• A-

  Oversight of establishments shall be in accordance with the following:

• Preventive control:

  the visits made by the judicial police with the aim of developing the level of quality of services in the establishments by directing observations that need to be rectified within a certain period.

• Joint supervision:

  It is carried out by the joint committees so that each member of the committee undertakes the supervision of the matters that fall within his competence.

• Secret control:

  visits made by police officers without identifying themselves with the aim of evaluating the quality of service in the facility and based on a mandate from the Minister. In the event of any violation, they are identified and the necessary control is organized for the violation.

• Periodic supervision: inspection

  tours carried out by members of the judicial police assigned by the Minister in accordance with the provisions of Article /

  11

  / of this law in accordance with the task assigned to them.

• B -

  In the event of a complaint, it shall be addressed by the judicial police officers assigned by the Minister in accordance with the provisions of Article /

  11

  / of this law.

Article 14-

• A- Two samples of the suspected substance are taken, and the facility’s management or investor, as the case may be,

  is

  obligated to provide the judicial police officers with a quantity of the substance suitable

  for

  testing

  .

• b-

  Immediately after the sample is taken, a report of three copies shall be drawn up that includes the following data:

• date and time.

• Names of the workers organizing the sample control minutes, their percentage and their capacity.

• The place where the sample was taken and the seizure report was organized.

• The name, surname and occupation of the person who took the samples.

• The name of the investor, the name of the facility, its operational description, the reason for the suspicion of the substance, a brief summary of the circumstances in which the sample was taken, and the amount of materials from which the samples were taken.

• The signature of the investor of the facility, its manager, or the person for whom the sample was taken, as the case may be, on the regulating seizure, and in the event of refusing to sign, this is indicated in the body of the seizure.

• C-

  The members of the tourist police or the internal security forces in the area in which the work of the employees authorized with the powers of the judicial police is located, shall provide the necessary support to them to carry out their tasks when requested to do so.

Article 15-

The sample control organizers are obligated to inform the concerned person of their official capacity before starting any work, and to give him a notice that includes the type and quantity of the sample, registration number and the date of taking the sample signed by them. The Ministry, provided that the health conditions and all conditions to be followed in taking the sample into account in order to preserve it and prevent it from being affected by weather conditions.

Article 16-

• A-

  The reports of approved laboratories are considered final regarding perishable materials. As for other materials, the test can be retested if the test is defective, lacking, ambiguous or contradictory, and the person concerned is informed of the test result.

• B-

  If the experience report denies the sample’s violation of the approved standard specifications, the Directorate of Tourism that drew the sample immediately informs the person concerned, and returns the second copy of the sample to him.

• C-

  If the experience report or the certificate of analysis concludes that there is a violation, the concerned person who has the right to object is notified within five days starting from the day following the date of the notification before the Tourism Directorate in which the facility falls within its scope of work, which in turn refers the objection to the Ministry for presentation to the A committee formed by the Minister for this purpose. If the objection is rejected, the appropriate penalty will be imposed in accordance with the provisions of this law. If the objection is accepted, the second form of the sample is re-analyzed according to the standard specification in force at the expense of the objector at one of the laboratories approved by the Ministry, and the result of the analysis is considered for this The sample is final.

Chapter V

Penalties and fines

Article 17-

• A- A

  fine of /

  1,000,000

  / SYP 1 million for anyone who puts the facility into operation without obtaining a tourist

  (

  commendation or employment

  )

  license and a tourist licence, and the facility is closed until its status is settled.

• B- The

  investor will be fined /

  500,000

  / five hundred thousand Syrian Pounds, if he operates the facility granted a tourist praise or employment license without obtaining the tourism license or the approval of trial operation.

• C-

  The investor shall be fined /

  500,000

  / five hundred thousand Syrian pounds, in the event of refraining from amending the tourism license of the facility in the cases determined by the Ministry, and the facility shall be closed until its status is settled.

• D-

  The investor shall be fined an amount of /

  250,000

  / two hundred and fifty thousand Syrian pounds in the following two cases:

• Not obtaining a tourist record.

• Investment in excess of what is specified in the tourist license

  .

• E-

  The investor shall be fined

  100,000

  Syrian Pounds for each day of delay after the trial run period expires until obtaining the tourism license, if he continues to operate the facility after the trial run period ends without obtaining the tourism license.

Article 18 -

• A-

  The investor shall be fined an amount of /

  2,000,000

  / SP two million Syrian pounds, and the facility is closed for a period of two weeks in the following two cases:

• The presence of materials prepared for presentation within the facility that are not suitable for human consumption.

• Health-proven cases of food poisoning.

• B- The

  investor will be fined an amount of /

  2,000,000

  / SP two million Syrian pounds, and the facility will be closed for a period of six days in the following two cases:

• The presence of spoiled foodstuffs within the facility.

• Controlling filth cases within the facility.

Article 19

• A-

  The investor will be fined an amount of /

  500,000

  / five hundred thousand Syrian pounds, and the establishment will be closed for a period of three days in the following two cases:

• Lack of attention to hygiene throughout the facility.

• Lack of attention to hygiene in the places where food is stored or prepared and in contact with it.

• B- The

  investor shall be fined an amount of /

  500,000

  / five hundred thousand Syrian pounds, in the following cases:

• Non-compliance with the Ministry's instructions regarding the conditions for keeping materials.

• Lack of attention to hygiene in one of the departments of the facility.

• Failure to take care of the personal hygiene of the facility's employees.

Article 20 –

• A-

  The investor will be fined /

  1,000,000

  / SYP million, and the facility will be closed for a period of one week in the event that the employees authorized with the authority of the judicial police in accordance with the provisions of this law refuse to enter the facility according to the instructions of the Ministry or in the event of a reluctance to give them samples.

• B- The

  investor shall be fined an amount of /

  500,000

  / five hundred thousand Syrian pounds, and the establishment shall be closed for a period of three days in the following cases:

• Presence of unknown material.

• Charging prices in excess of the prices approved by the Ministry.

• Failure to provide regular invoices to customers.

• C-

  The investor shall be fined an amount of /

  500,000

  / five hundred thousand Syrian pounds, and the establishment shall be closed until its status is settled in the following two cases:

• Changing the operational capacity of the facility without obtaining the necessary license.

• Non-compliance with the licensing rules.

• D-

  The investor shall be fined an amount of /

  500,000

  / five hundred thousand Syrian pounds in the following cases:

• Non-compliance with the operational conditions of the facility according to the Ministry's instructions.

• Failure to announce prices according to the mechanism approved by the Ministry.

• Refrain from reserving or renting empty beds and rooms for unjustified reasons.

• Failure to announce the name of the facility, its classification, and its conformity with its name in the facility’s records.

• Dealing with facility visitors in an inappropriate manner.

• Non-conformity of the service provided to the service recipient with the specifications specified by the Ministry.

• Providing a service that is not required of the customer and charging for it.

• Using a reservation system that does not comply with the standards approved by the Ministry in the accommodation facilities.

• Unavailability of the equipment and tools required to operate the facility according to its classification level.

• Failure to obtain the necessary approval to establish an artistic program or a music corner.

• عدم توفير العدد الكافي من العاملين من خريجي كليات السياحة، والمعاهد والمدارس الفندقية العائدة للوزارة ومراكز التدريب السياحي المرخصة وفق النسبة التي تحددها الوزارة في تعليماتها التنفيذية.
• ‌ه- يغرم المستثمر بمبلغ قدره /250,000/ ل.س مئتان وخمسون ألف ليرة سورية في حال عدم الالتزام بمواعيد الإغلاق المحددة من قبل المحافظة، وتضاعف الغرامة وتغلق المنشأة في حال التكرار.
• ‌و- يغرم المستثمر بمبلغ قدره /100,000/ ل.س مئة ألف ليرة سورية في الحالات الآتية:
• عدم حصول العاملين على بطاقة العمل السياحي.
• عدم وجود بطاقة صحية خاصة بالعمال أو عدم تجديدها، وتضاعف الغرامة وتغلق المنشأة في حال التكرار.
• استخدام مديرين وعمال لا تتوفر فيهم الشروط المعتمدة.
• عدم توفر العدد المطلوب من العمال المحدد، وفق سوية المنشأة التصنيفية.
• عدم ارتداء اللباس الموحد للعمال.
• الامتناع عن تقديم البيانات والجداول الإحصائية التي تطلبها الوزارة.

المادة 21 –

• ‌أ- فيما عدا المخالفات المنصوص عليها في الفقرتين /أ–ب/ من المادة /18/ من هذا القانون، للوزير أن يستعيض عن مدة الإغلاق بغرامة مالية من /200,000/ ل.س مئتي ألف ليرة سورية إلى /1,000,000/ ل.س مليون ليرة سورية عن كل يوم إغلاق وفق تصنيف المنشأة.
• ‌ب- يصدر الوزير قرارات التغريم أو إغلاق المنشآت المخالفة أو استبدال الإغلاق بالغرامة المالية.

المادة 22 –

في حال عدم تسديد الغرامات المنصوص عليها في هذا القانون من قبل المخالف يتم إغلاق المنشأة لحين التسديد أصولاً.

المادة 23 –

• ‌أ- توزع الغرامات المالية المحصلة بموجب أحكام هذا القانون وفق النسب الآتية:
• 70% للخزينة العامة للدولة.
• 15% لتأمين مستلزمات وتجهيزات الجودة والرقابة في الوزارة.
• 15% توزع على العاملين في الوزارة واللجان المشكلة بموجب أحكام هذا القانون.
• ‌ب- تصدر بقرار من الوزير أسس ونسب توزيع حصيلة الغرامات المنصوص عليها في البند /3/ من الفقرة /أ/ من هذه المادة على العاملين في الوزارة واللجان المشكلة بموجب أحكام هذا القانون.

الفصل السادس

أحكام ختامية

المادة 24 –

تصدر بقرار من الوزير التعليمات الخاصة بأنظمة الحجوزات السياحية والفوترة والمواصفات الفنية والخدمية والتشغيلية للمنشأة.

المادة 25 –

• ‌أ- تمنح المنشآت غير المرخصة والموضوعة بالاستثمار قبل نفاذ هذا القانون مدة عام من تاريخ نفاذه لتوفيق أوضاعها والحصول على الترخيص السياحي لهذه المنشآت بالسوية التصنيفية التي تحققها وفقاً للأنظمة النافذة، وللوزير بقرار معلل تمديد هذه المدة لفترة مماثلة ولمرة واحدة فقط، وفي حال عدم التزامها بتوفيق أوضاعها تطبق عليها أحكام القوانين النافذة.
• ‌ب- تخضع المنشآت المنصوص عليها في الفقرة /أ/ من هذه المادة لرقابة الوزارة، وتفرض عليها كافة الضرائب والرسوم المتوجبة وفق القوانين النافذة.

المادة 26 –

يلتزم المستثمر بتشغيل عدد من العاملين من خريجي كليات السياحة والمعاهد والمدارس الفندقية العائدة للوزارة ومراكز التدريب السياحي المرخصة وفق ما تحدده الوزارة.

المادة 27 –

تصدر التعليمات التنفيذية لهذا القانون بقرار من الوزير.

المادة 28 –

Legislative Decree No.

of

Article No.

of Legislative Decree No.

of

shall be repealed .

Article 29-

This law to be published in the official newspaper.

         Damascus on 10-25-1443 AH corresponding to 5/26-2022 AD