Lukashenko sent the draft decree on control and supervision activities for revision, but some innovations have already been announced

Control and supervisory activities in Belarus will be improved. The focus is on reducing the excessive number of various inspections and monitoring, as well as measures to improve the performance of enterprises, rather than the predominant application of fines. The innovations in the draft decree of the head of state are aimed at this. The document was considered at a meeting with the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, a BELTA correspondent reports.

"The head of state has decided that the government, together with the governors, will finalize this draft. It will not be a draft of amendments, but a provision in a new edition, so that it is understandable and convenient to use. After that, the draft will be submitted for conclusion to the State Control Committee, after which it will be considered by the head of state. The deadline is set for August," Chairman of the State Control Committee Vasily Gerasimov told reporters following the meeting. As explained by First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov, the document has been generally agreed upon by state bodies and is balanced, and it solves the basic task set - changing the style and methods of work of regulatory bodies. "But the President has a very deep and subtle understanding of the issue. And the refinement of the document is a reaction to the position of the chairmen of the regional executive committees. Its essence is to change the styles and methods of setting goals for inspections. The issue is very relevant: is the purpose of an inspection to find a violation, or is the purpose of an inspection to find inconsistencies in legislation, discrepancies in regulatory legal acts (often contradicting each other), which lead to violations. If this format is the purpose of the inspection, then this will ultimately ensure the second requirement of the President - that the inspection ends not with punishment, but with an increase in the efficiency of enterprises and industries. Therefore, the document has been sent for refinement precisely in this context," he said. Thus, the overall goal is to help enterprises avoid detected violations in the future and increase the efficiency of their activities. The President emphasized that the finalized draft decree should ultimately be beneficial for enterprises, society, and, above all, the economy. Nikolai Snopkov reported at the meeting that the draft decree outlines two key areas. The first is minimal state interference in the activities of economic entities. Excessive control is eliminated by reducing inspection activities and, most importantly, duplicating functions of inspectors.

"For these purposes, the draft decree proposes to establish the frequency of monitoring no more than once every three months. To introduce a ban on conducting monitoring within a year after a check. Except in cases where there is information about violations of the law," the First Deputy Prime Minister added. The decree also plans to introduce an obligation for inspectors to register monitoring and technical measures in a logbook. This, according to the developers of the document, will significantly streamline the practice of their implementation. As part of the adjustment of the Code of Administrative Offenses, provisions will be included on establishing the responsibility of inspectors for non-fulfillment of this obligation. According to Nikolai Snopkov, the list of technical (technological, verification) measures and the procedure for their implementation are laid down in the draft decree. Previously, it was determined by the Council of Ministers. "These measures are not related to the inspection of economic activities. The main goal of these measures is to prevent the occurrence of accidents and other emergencies, mass diseases by conducting constant preventive control and supervision," the First Deputy Prime Minister explained.

For example, the Ministry of Internal Affairs monitors the destruction and use of ampoules and vials from narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The powers of the Ministry of Health include investigating the occurrence of occupational diseases or suspicion of a disease. "The specified list has been optimized by eliminating duplicate functions. About 20 measures are being reduced. And the frequency of conducting these measures has also been limited. About half of them will be conducted twice as often as the current deadlines," said Nikolai Snopkov. He is confident that such measures will significantly reduce the number of control measures, which will allow business entities to focus on core production processes.

Simultaneously, the draft decree provides for a number of measures aimed at shifting the focus from punitive measures towards prevention. It establishes an obligation for inspectors to determine the deadline for eliminating identified violations, based on their specifics and the objective possibility of elimination within the established timeframe. This deadline may be extended once upon the request of the inspected entity. It prohibits holding the head and employees of an organization liable for violations committed before their appointment to the position, within a year. The list of gross violations is expanded, the commission of which by an official of the controlling body may lead to disciplinary action, up to dismissal from their position. The inspected entity may file a corresponding complaint with the higher controlling body or the State Control Committee. Such violations, for example, are proposed to include conducting monitoring in places that are not publicly accessible without obtaining written consent from the entity; demanding documents and information during monitoring that are not stipulated by the monitoring; demanding information and documents during technical measures that are not related to the object of inspection or the object for which this measure is being carried out.

A system for evaluating the performance of supervisory and regulatory bodies is being introduced, which excludes the linkage to fines. On the contrary, priority will be given to how this work and a specific inspection have affected the efficiency of the enterprise's activities. As such criteria, it is planned to establish the proportion of preventive and prophylactic measures out of all conducted measures; the proportion of canceled decisions or requirements out of all issued ones; the proportion of justified complaints against the actions of controllers out of the total number of complaints. The relevant criteria will be determined by the Government for the bodies subordinate to it. Bodies and organizations subordinate to the President will develop such criteria independently. The second direction of the decree project is to strengthen control to protect state and public interests, as well as the life and health of citizens. For these purposes, the decree project establishes the possibility of conducting operational inspections on issues of compliance with pricing legislation, as well as fire safety requirements in places where more than 300 people are present. The list of grounds for sending inspection materials to law enforcement agencies is expanded. For example, in case of n

non-payment of taxes exceeding 2 thousand basic units (currently Br80 thousand). The powers of the State Pharmaceutical Inspectorate bodies are enshrined for the state supervision of the circulation of not only medicinal products, but also medical devices. The list of grounds for unscheduled inspections of entities within two years from the date of their registration is expanded. For example, such grounds include information about violations of the law (in this case, an inspection may be initiated by the Chairman of the State Control Committee), court orders in cases under their proceedings, and the continuation of a violation identified during monitoring.

"Overall, the adoption of the decree will significantly reduce the interference of controllers in the current activities of enterprises, without weakening control in vital areas, and will allow for timely detection of systemic violations of legislation and negative trends in the economic and social spheres," Nikolai Snopkov summarized.

Source: belta.by