The Milli Majlis Committee for Natural Resources, Energy and Ecology held a scheduled meeting on 17 November.

The Committee Chairman Sadig Gurbanov opened the meeting by congratulating the participants on occasion of our lands’ liberation from the occupation. Though the 44-day war that had begun on 27 September had been waged after a completely new fashion, our President, our Army and our Nation had won in all its facets all the same, Mr Gurbanov emphasised. He thanked cordially our victorious Army led by President and Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev on behalf of all the committee members.

The memory of the fallen soldiers and officers and of the civilians killed during the war was commemorated with a moment of silence.

Next, the Committee Chairman mentioned the two items on the agenda of the meeting. He supplied the committee members with detailed information about the draft amendments to the Bill (the first reading) ‘On Environment Protection’, saying that they were based on the President’s ‘Action Plan to Minimise the Environmental Impacts of Discarded Plastic Packaging during 2019-2020’ dated 7 February 2019. Mr Gurbanov spoke of the long degradation periods of plastic waste, its volume in the nature growing each year and the atmospheric poisoning caused by toxic fumes from its incineration. Put together, all those affect the environment. Degradation-resistant thin plastic bags have a higher profile in polluting the nature. The proposed amendments envisage imposition of limitations on corporate importation, production and trade in, and sales to consumers at catering and service outlets of polythene bags with the film thickness of up to 15 microns as well as of disposable swizzle sticks, forks, knives, plates and cups. It is proposed to apply the Bill to polythene bags starting on 1 January 2021 and to other disposable goods beginning on 1 July 2021.

The draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences were tabled at the first reading at the committee meeting as well. Sadig Gurbanov explained that the draft was of the adaptive nature and described the cases in which administrative penalties would be imposed for violation of the rules of corporate importation, production and trade in, and sales to consumers at catering and service outlets of polythene bags with the film thickness of up to 15 microns as well as of disposable swizzle sticks, forks, knives, plates and cups (the rules in question are in the Bill ‘On Environment Protection’.

The Committee Members Asim Mollazade, Nasib Mahamaliyev, Fatma Yildirim and Iltizam Yusifov brought up the atrocities of the Armenian vandals, the damage they are dealing to the nature and environment and the brutal destruction by them of the forests, vegetation cover and fauna in our long-occupied lands that those vermin are departing from now. The MPs added, on another note, that the drafts discussed at the committee meeting would play an enormous part in environmental protection.

In the end, it was decided to table both Bills for deliberations at a plenary session of the Milli Majlis.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis