New Law Draws Harsh Reaction from Commerce Chambers

TIRANA, September 30

Thursday’s decision of the Albanian Parliament for adopting the changes to the law on Commerce and Industry Chambers didn’t sit well with the commerce chambers in Albania. They harshly reacted by saying that such decision is a step backwards for democracy and it is against the principles applied by similar organizations in Europe and beyond.
According to the newly adopted changes to the above-mentioned law, different categories of businesses will be forced to join commerce chambers and pay for it. Thus, small enterprises and startups will pay only one dollar per year. Small businesses will pay up to ten dollars per year while big businesses are going to pay an annual amount that varies from 30 to 1,000 dollars.
According to Monitor magazine, the American Chamber of Commerce declared its stance against this decision since the moment when the draft law has been proposed and it is expected to react through a press statement.
The same way, even the British Chamber of Commerce confirmed their stance against the decisions. Moreover, it said that this is a ‘soviet’ law as it was based on the model adopted in Serbia.
Compulsory membership is against the principals of the International Chamber of Commerce. Further on, even the Anglo-American model recognizes the voluntary and open membership principle.
Even the Konfindustria representatives say that the adoption of fees shows that their proposals were not taken into consideration.
Discussions on this law were held for over a year and stakeholders made their proposals and suggestions. They identified the need for making some essential changes to the law on commerce and industry chambers in order to reform them. Therefore, they could be legitimate representatives of business interests.
On their part, the lawmakers said that commerce chamber sin Albania are currently in a difficult situation and they fail to meet the minimal obligations that derive from international agreements. Therefore, they considered apt the adoption of the proposal on obligatory membership.

News Source: monitor