Committee’s B2G Dialogue Partners:
Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection
Parliamentary Committee on social protection, health and family
Economic Council under the Prime Minister

Committee’s Main Advocacy Initiatives in 2018:
Coordination the position of new labor code through conducting numerous Committee meetings and drafted the position paper reflecting a balanced approach based on a detailed research of foreign practices and labor codes;

Law on unqualified day-workers. The Law on occasional activities performed by day workers has entered into force. The Committee has been actively involved in the legislative process leading to the adoption of the new law on the regime of unqualified day-workers. This law has been adopted by the Parliament in early 2018 and provides a mechanism for contracting occasional workers in the agricultural sector without concluding labor contracts. AmCham will focus further on the operational mechanisms.

Employment Subsidies Applications
AmCham was actively informing and supporting members to apply for governmental subsidies granted to employers that create new workplaces in their companies. The eligibility criteria are set by the Governmental Regulation, and include among others the requirement to increase the number of jobs with at least 100, and keep their retribution at a level not lower than 75% of the average monthly wage per economy and maintain jobs for at least 3 years. The value of the subsidy is 40,000 MDL per each created workplace that is eligible for subvention.

AmCham Raised Concerns on Possible Changes in Kindergartens’ Daily Functioning Hours
AmCham has addressed to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research with a letter signaling the potential social and economic risks that would be triggered by the initiative to shorten the daily functioning hours for the national kindergartens. In this, AmCham reiterated its position that limitations on availability of pre-school educational institutions’ services is a subject of a major public interest, due to the impact on working parents’ labor activity, integration on labor market and functioning of enterprises. The position comes after the publishing of a ministerial announcement stating that an initiative concerning kindergartens’ daily program is under review and might be placed for public consultations.

AmCham drafted the position paper on free days in August – highly reflected in local mass-media
The AmCham position paper shared more insights into business concerns about the lack of predictability, risks and social costs that could be generated by declaring additional non-working days in August 2018.

AmCham initiated and elaborated the draft law and supporting note on temporary work agent regulation.
Law on personnel leasing makes Moldova less competitive in terms of flexibility in employment regulation. Hence, there is a need to introduce in the national legislation the provisions of Directive 2008/104/EC on temporary agency work, in order to stimulate job creation and integration in the labor market. The new regime will allow companies to cope with fluctuations in the commercial and production processes by providing opportunities to benefit, on a temporary basis, from the services of personnel that has been previously selected and hired by a temporary-work agency.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STAYING INVOLVED:
- Regularly meet AmCham team members
- Establish your own lobbying priorities
- Identify your allies on your lobbying priorities
- Encourage your team members to get involved

Committee’s B2G Dialogue Partners:
- Ministry of Finance & State Tax Service
-Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure
-Ministry of Justice
-Competition Council
-National Center for Personal Data Protection
-State Agency on Intellectual Property
-Bureau for Migration and Asylum
-Parliamentary Committee on economy, budget, and finance
-Economic Council under the Prime-minister

Committee’s main CROSS - SECTORIAL advocacy areas in 2018:
1.*New: Business Ethics & Compliance
-Tax Policy & Administration
-Civil legislation
-Competition
-Personal Data Protection
-Intellectual Property Protection
-Environmental legislation
-Work Migration & Foreigners’ Regime in RM
2.Committee’s main SECTORIAL advocacy areas in 2018: -IT & Telecommunications
-Distribution & Retail
-Energy & Renewable Energy & Oil
-Tobacco
-Meals Tickets

Committee’s B2G Dialogue Partners:
Customs Service
Ministry of Economy & Infrastructure
Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment
National Agency for Food Safety

Committee`s Dialogue Agencies:
EU Delegation, EU High Level Advisors, EPPO, GIZ

Committee’s Main Advocacy Initiatives in 2018:
New Customs Code.
-Implementation of extended producer responsibility for packaging and electrical & electronic equipment waste.
-Improvement of Regulation on simplified customs procedures
-New Law on organic agriculture
-Improvement of the Regulation on import of goods subject to food safety control
->Methodology on determination of costs for sewage services
-Improvement of the Regulation on customs value of goods

Healthcare Committee received highest scores and members’ generous appreciation for:
• engagement with relevant authorities
• relevancy of advocacy initiatives
• quality of position papers

Committee’s B2G Dialogue Partners:
Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection
Medicines and Medical Devices Agency
National Health Insurance Company
Parliamentary Committee on social protection, health and family
Economic Council under the Prime Minister

Advocacy Breakthrough - Regulation on ethical drug promotion was approved in October 2018!
Many years, AmCham Healthcare Committee has urged the authorities to approve national regulations regarding ethical drug promotion practices to healthcare professionals, which would be in line with the Directive 2001/83/CE and international best practices.
Effective and insistent communication with the relevant authorities lead to the final approval of the document, aiming at preventing unethical and illegal understandings by regulating:
(I) prohibition on gifts and any monetary compensation for the prescription of drugs of a certain brand;
(II) mandatory declaration of sponsorship expenses by pharma companies;
(III) obligations of medical sales representatives and rules concerning their visits;
(IV) limits and rules on hospitality at events organized by companies;
(V) rules on the content of promotion documentation.

Committee’s advocacy wins in 2018:

Amendments to regulatory framework on healthcare public procurement have been approved
AmCham suggested legislative amendments in order to ensure a balanced reduction of delay penalties imposed on suppliers of medicinal products under public procurement contracts. Position paper has been promoted together with DISMED and Economic Council under PM. Numerous meetings were held at the Council on this subject engaging all relevant stakeholders, with AmCham having the leading role, as well as ensuring post-meeting follow-up and technical support.

AmCham’s main recommendations for amendments to the Governmental regulation on state registration of the manufacturer’s price for medicines were fully accepted
In its position papers Committee members asked for more alignment with the standards on over-the-counter drugs pricing applied by EU countries. Effective and prompt communication with the Ministry’s team at all stages of the process, including State Chancellery, as well as Committee coordinator’s participation in the working group under MEI on this initiative have contributed to its promotion.

Committee’s advocacy on the go in 2018:
Review of the draft Law on medicines transposing the EU Directive 2001/83/CE Although the process is still ongoing, multiple revisions have been included in the draft law upon AmCham’s recommendations, including EU medicines authorization procedure, safeguards on parallel imports of drugs, and removal of provisions regarding online sales of medicines.

The new two-dimensional codes appearing on the packaging of pharmaceuticals is on Committee discussions’ agenda
Committee stays focused on the transition of EU drug manufacturers to the new two-dimensional codes appearing on the packaging of pharmaceuticals, and follows the potential consequences of these changes in the light of national legislation on packaging.

The new pharmacovigilance rules adopted by the Ministry of Health in 2017 remains to the one of the Committees’ priorities and subject of discussions with the Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices.

Committee’s B2G Dialogue Partners:
National Commission for Financial Markets
National Bank
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Economy & Infrastructure

Committee`s Dialogue Agencies:
IFC/World Bank, EU Delegation, GIZ

Committee’s Main Advocacy Initiatives in 2018:
-Modernization of the Civil Code.
-Implementing regulations on the Law on non-bank credit organizations
-Improvement of the Law on payment services and electronic money
-Implementing regulations on the Law on the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorism financing
-Postponement of implementation of IFRS in insurance sector (IFRS 17)