Hassan Al-Sitri
The government referred to the House of Representatives a draft law ratifying the agreement between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the International Date Council regarding the establishment of the headquarters of the International Date Observatory in the Kingdom of Bahrain, attached to Decree No. 64 of 2025, and a draft law approving the unified “law” system regarding plant genetic resources for food and agriculture for the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.
According to the memorandum of the Legislation and Legal Opinion Authority, the ratification of the agreement between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the International Dates Council regarding the establishment of the headquarters of the International Dates Observatory in the Kingdom of Bahrain comes from the desire of the Kingdom of Bahrain to host the headquarters of the International Dates Observatory and to stipulate the legal status of the Observatory in the Kingdom of Bahrain in a way that enables it to carry out its tasks and responsibilities in order to achieve the desired purposes of its establishment, which will contribute to strengthening the Kingdom’s position as a regional and international center in the date market.
The agreement – in addition to the preamble – consists of twelve articles. The first article included definitions of the most important terms used in the agreement, such as “the Kingdom,” “the Council,” “the Observatory,” “Headquarters,” and “the Statute.”
Article Two stipulates that the headquarters of the permanent observatory shall be in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Article Three stipulates that the Observatory has legal personality and legal capacity, especially the capacity to contract and dispose of real and movable property, and for this purpose it has the right to take all legal measures in accordance with the statute and in a manner that does not conflict with the laws of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Article Four required that the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain grant the Observatory all necessary facilities to enable it to carry out its mandate and achieve its objectives, while Article Five specified the purpose of establishing the Observatory as it will work as a pivotal tool in supporting the member states of the Council in making decisions based on reliable global data and indicators, by carrying out its tasks of collecting, analyzing and publishing data related to the date market at the international level.
As for Article Six, it permitted the Observatory, within the limits of its purposes and without conflict with the laws in force in the Kingdom of Bahrain, to possess funds, create accounts in various currencies, and bring funds, securities and foreign currencies into the Kingdom of Bahrain or transfer them to another country in accordance with the laws and regulations in force in the Kingdom, and obligated the Observatory when exercising those rights to the observations and recommendations made by the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Article Seven obligates the Director of the International Date Council to send a list of the names and addresses of the Director of the Observatory and his employees to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and to notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of any changes therein. Article Eight emphasized that the agreement does not prejudice the right of the Kingdom of Bahrain to take the necessary measures to protect security, safety and public order in its territory in emergency and exceptional circumstances.
Article Nine stipulates that the Observatory’s correspondence with government agencies within the Kingdom of Bahrain must be through the Director of the Observatory through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom.
Finally, Articles from Article Ten to Article Twelve organized the provisions related to the amicable settlement of disputes that arise about the application or interpretation of the agreement, the mechanism for amending it, and its entry into force from the date the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain notifies the International Dates Council of the completion of the necessary legal procedures, in addition to the provisions related to the duration of the agreement, the mechanism for its termination, its versions, and its language.
As for the second draft law on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, it aims to monitor, collect, classify, evaluate, document and protect plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, regulate their entry and exit to and from the GCC countries, ensure fair and equal sharing of benefits from their use, and encourage scientific research activities related to them.
