Luanda - The Plenary of the National Assembly (AN) will proceed, on the 25th of this month, to the final global vote on the draft Law to Combat the Smuggling of Petroleum Products, which on Friday passed by the specialized working committees.
With four chapters and 22 articles, the Executive's initiative Act was approved, in particular, unanimously, during the joint meeting of the committees responsible for the matter (1st, 2nd, 5th and 10th committees), with the parliamentarians suggesting some changes in matters of form, amendments and corrections of terms.
The proposal contains rules establishing the general framework for criminal liability for the commission of crimes affecting, in particular, the import or export, storage, transport, distribution and marketing of petroleum products.
It responds to the need to adopt a specialized legal framework to combat the smuggling of petroleum products, optimizing the existing regulatory treatment and adapting the current regime to the evolution of the needs for prevention and repression of the crimes in question, considering the determining impact of such social phenomena on preservation of energy security and the national economy.
Its penal framework ranges from three to 12 years in prison.
When intervening in the session led by the president of the 1st Commission, Joaquim dos Reis Júnior, the rapporteur, Lurdes Caposso (MPLA), gave some emphasis to Chapter II, which in her opinion constitutes the “key” of the Bill, for which proposed the addition of two articles referring to the regulation of import and export activities, in order to prevent the consummation of the crime of smuggling.
According to the parliamentarian, as it is a special criminology law, the expression punishable must be replaced by the term condemned. However, the penal framework contained in the proposal ranges from three to 12 years in prison.
Among several interventions, emphasis goes to parliamentarians Virgílio Tchiowa, Milonga Bernardo, Idalina Valente, both from MPLA, Alcino Cuvalela, Florêncio Kanjamba and Navita Ngolo (UNITA), whose concerns were, among others, improving the wording of the different articles contained in the document.
In turn, the Secretary of State for Oil and Gas, José Barros, said he agreed with most of the suggestions presented, which will be adopted, and clarified those present on certain issues raised, having highlighted that there are already other legal Acts that deal with the liberalization and regulation of commercial activity.
He cited Law 28/11, which regulates all fuel storage, distribution and commercialization activities, and Act 208/19, which deals with the liberalization of distribution and commercialization activities.
“Our intention, as a proponent, when we brought this Bill, was to propose a diploma that punishes smuggling”, he argued.
Conference of Presidents of Parliamentary Groups
The Plenary of the National Assembly will also carry out, on January 25th, the final global vote on the Proposed Law on Insurance Mediation, to be seen, in detail, next Monday, as well as the discussion and voting, in general, the Proposed National Security Law.
The decision results from the Conference of Presidents of Parliamentary Groups, held on Friday, under the guidance of the Speaker of the legislative body, Carolina Cerqueira.
Speaking to the press at the end of the meeting, the first secretary of the National Assembly, Manuel Lopes Dembo, said that, within the scope of international cooperation, the plenary will discuss and vote on four draft resolutions, three of which are linked to SADC, essentially to ratify protocols relating to Fisheries, Health and firearms control, and one on Angola's adherence to the Salamanca Declaration, on principles, policies and practices in the area of Special Educational Needs.
Regarding internal issues, deputies will approve the draft resolutions that change the name of the 10th specialized working committee and approve the Assembly's Budget for the 2024 financial year.VC/VIC/DOJ
