(Jan. 17, 2017) Mongolia’s Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry is working on new legislation on mining. The Mining Law now being drafted would regulate all aspects of mine businesses, from their establishment to closure. (Mongolia Considers New Mining Law, NEWS.MN (Jan. 4, 2017).) It thus reportedly would cover a wider range of topics than […]
Topic: Cultural heritage, Licensing and permits, Mineral resources and mines, Natural resources
(Dec. 20, 2016) A recent inspection of a fishing vessel by the Marine Management Organisation of the United Kingdom found approximately 2.65 metric tons of undersized scallops (110 millimeters or smaller), which totaled 8.09 % of the catch of the vessel. (Master and Owner Fined £21,746 for Fisheries Offences, Marine Management Organisation (Dec. 14, 2016).) […]
Topic: Marine resources and fisheries, Natural resources
(Dec. 16, 2016) Recent reports indicate that despite a national ban on timber exports issued in May 2016, illegally harvested timber is still being sold at auctions supported by local governments in Laos. The smuggling is especially common in the central and southern provinces. (Richard Finney & Ounkeo Souksavanh, Logging Continues in Laos as Provinces […]
Topic: Crime and law enforcement, Forests and timber, Natural resources, Smuggling
(July 28, 2016) Japan’s Act on Promotion of Distribution and Use of Legally Logged Wood Products was promulgated on May 20, 2016. (Act No. 48 of 2016, OFFICIAL GAZETTE (in Japanese).) Under the new Act, wood product companies may apply for registration, certifying that they will apply measures to trade only in legally produced timber in their […]
Topic: Environment, Forests and timber, Natural resources
(June 20, 2016) The Act on Preservation of Areas of Remote, Inhabited Islands Establishing Territorial Seas and Maintenance of Local Societies on Areas of Specified Remote, Inhabited Islands Establishing Territorial Seas (Act on Preserving Remote Island Areas) was promulgated by Japan on April 27, 2016. (Act No. 33 of 2016, KANPOU [OFFICIAL GAZETTE].) It will be […]
Topic: Border security, Maritime and admiralty law, Natural resources
(May 23, 2016) On May 4, 2016, Zambia’s 158–member unicameral Parliament passed the Mines and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill, 2016, to amend the Mines and Minerals Development Act 2015. (Martine Chileshe, Zambia Mines and Mineral Development Act 2015 – Amendment, TAX NEWS SERVICE (June 30, 2015), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) According to […]
Topic: Mineral resources and mines, Mining, Natural resources, Taxation
(Feb. 29, 2016) On February 16, 2016, Sierra Leone’s Constitutional Review Committee (an 80-member body established in 2013 to review the 1991 Constitution and a 2008 report proposing changes to it) published an abridged draft report of its findings. (Ibrahim Tarawallie, New Chapters Proposed in New Constitution, CONCORD TIMES (Feb. 17, 2016).) The draft report, which took two years […]
Topic: Citizenship and nationality, Communications, Constitutional law, Education, Environment, Natural resources, State and local government
(Sept. 25, 2015) On September 22, 2015, a group of approximately 100 Cambodians from the Phnong ethnic group rallied to support five members of the group who were questioned in court and then released. The issues involved were claims of illegal logging and a land dispute in Kratie Province of eastern Cambodia. The provincial court […]
(Apr 29, 2015) On April 18, 2015, Indonesia’s Minister of the Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, issued the “Mataram Declaration,” named after the capital of the province of West Nusa Tenggara. The Declaration is part of the government’s response to a May 2013 ruling of the Constitutional Court giving indigenous groups control of forested […]
Topic: Forests and timber, Minority rights, Native peoples, Natural resources
(Nov. 7, 2014) President Barack Obama has issued a proclamation creating the largest marine reserve in the world, expanding an existing reserve over scattered areas in the south-central Pacific Ocean. The September 25, 2014, proclamation expands the territory of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. (Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument Expansion, Proclamation No. […]
