The Economic Policy Committee reviewed several legislative initiatives submitted by the Government of Georgia in the first reading.

At the committee session, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Tamar Ioseliani presented the draft law “On Amendments to the Air Code of Georgia” together with related amendments to the Civil Procedure Code, the Law on Enforcement Proceedings, the Law on State Fees, and the Law on Rehabilitation and Collective Satisfaction of Creditors.

According to the presenter, the legislative package was prepared to facilitate Georgia’s accession to the Cape Town Convention.

She explained that adoption of the package would ensure creditors’ rights under the convention, including the right to register an international interest related to aviation objects in the international registry and, in the event of contractual default, to request the immediate removal of an aviation object from the State Register of Civil Aircraft of Georgia. This, she noted, would increase the reliability of Georgia’s aviation market for foreign investors and significantly reduce aviation object costs for airlines operating in the Georgian market.

Tamar Ioseliani also spoke about the draft law “On Amendments to the Maritime Code of Georgia,” which aims to harmonize Georgian maritime legislation with the current regulations of the International Maritime Organization.

According to her explanation, the purpose of the bill is to eliminate a technical deficiency in existing legislation related to the legal regulation of requirements for recognized organizations. Adoption of the draft law would therefore harmonize Georgian legislation with international standards and norms.

Chair of the committee Shota Berekashvili stated that the presented draft laws constitute important legislative initiatives and would help align Georgian legislation with international standards.

At the session, Parliamentary Secretary of the Government Vakhtang Bachiashvili presented draft amendments to the laws “On State Procurement” and “On Public Procurement”.

According to the presenter, the amendments were prompted by changes to the fee structure for filing complaints with the Dispute Review Council regarding public procurement disputes, since under the current regulation, the complaint fee is not proportional to the estimated value of the procurement.

“The draft law provides that, in the case of filing a complaint with the Dispute Review Council, the fee shall be determined as follows: for public procurement — 2% of the estimated procurement value, and for simplified procurement — 2% of the simplified procurement value. At the same time, the fee shall not be less than 500 GEL and not more than 1,000 GEL”, - Vakhtang Bachiashvili stated.

The Parliamentary Secretary also introduced the document on Georgia’s accession to the Riyadh Design Law Treaty and the accompanying draft amendments to the Law of Georgia “On Designs”.

According to him, the treaty aims to establish unified minimum standards in the field of design protection, which would significantly reduce the costs and delays caused by differing procedures among countries. By joining the treaty, Georgian designers and representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises would find it easier to secure legal protection for their works abroad.

Vakhtang Bachiashvili noted that the Riyadh Treaty, adopted in Saudi Arabia in 2024 at the diplomatic conference of the World Intellectual Property Organization, is currently supported by 28 countries worldwide.

The committee supported all issues discussed during the session.