Bills On Agreements, Protocol Before Senate

The President Marcel Niat Njifenji chaired the June 13, 2014 plenary sitting during which the three bills were tabled.

Two days after the opening plenary sitting of Parliament for the June 2014 ordinary session on June 11, 2014, Senators were once more in a plenary sitting on Friday, June 13 during which three government bills were tabled for scrutiny and adoption. The plenary sitting was chaired by the President of the Senate, Marcel Niat Njifenji.

Cameroon-Morocco Investments

One of the bills on the table of Senators is that to authorize the President of the Republic to ratify the agreement between Cameroon and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco on Mutual Encouragement and Protection of Investments, signed on 24 January 2007 at Rabat, Morocco.

The bill that was signed during the first session of the Enlarged Cameroon-Morocco Mixed Commission, is aimed at providing a legal framework for Moroccan investments in Cameroon and vice versa. Government in the explanatory statement specifies that the agreement provides that each contracting party shall encourage and admit the investments of the other party on its territory and guarantee fair and equitable treatment in conformity with international law.

The agreement also defines the areas wherein the most favoured nation clause is to be applied and lays down the bases for the establishment of the different partners in each State party. The agreement equally makes provisions for the compensation of losses, transfer of assets, disputes settlement procedures, mechanisms for it entry into force and conditions for termination.

Access to Genetic Resources

The second bill tabled in the Senate is the one to authorize the President of the Republic to accede to Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their utilization, adopted on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. The protocol is aimed at regulating access to the exploitation of genetic resources coming under the Convention on Biological Diversity and Managing the sharing of benefits arising from their utilization.

It lays down a complete legal framework from the collection of such resources to the sharing of the proceeds from their sales and obtaining related invention patents. Should Cameroon accede to the protocol, the country will be eligible for funding of its programmes and activities intended for sensitization, conservation and national capacity building offered by the protocol through the Global Environment Fund (GEF), improve the living conditions of indigenous populations and local communities and raise additional funds for the State.

Cameroon-Congo Air Transport

The last bill tabled was that to authorize the President of the Republic to ratify the agreement between the Government of the Republic of Cameroon and the Government of the Republic of Congo relating to the Air Transport, signed on 20 December 2012 in Yaounde. The objective of the agreement is to liberalise the operation of air services and air transport safety and security between the two countries.

Cameroon government believes that the agreement will be a major tool for the development of air transport services, given that the country is determined to improve the performance and competitiveness of its national air carrier, "CAMAIR-CO" at the national , regional and international levels.