Finance Committee Approves Customs Staff Promotions and Establishes Retirement Fund for Licensed Surveyors

The Finance and Budget Committee convened under the chairmanship of MP Ibrahim Kanaan, with attendance from MPs Ali Fayyad, Alain Aoun, Raji Al-Saad, Ghassan Hasbani, Hadi Abu Al-Hasan, Ghada Ayoub, Jihad Al-Samad, Razi Al-Haj, Jamil Al-Sayyed, Mark Dou, Ihab Matar, Ali Hassan Khalil, Bilal Abdallah, Amin Sherri, Ghazi Zaiter, Qassem Hashem, Ayoub Hmeid, Adnan Traboulsi, Cesar Abi Khalil, Hassan Fadlallah, Qabalan Qabalan, and Melhem Khalaf.

Also present were George Maarawi, Director General of the Ministry of Finance; Gracia Al-Qazzi, Director General of Customs; Sarkis Faddous, President of the Licensed Surveyors Syndicate; and Brigadier General Rabee Nasrallah, Head of the Administrative Affairs Department in General Security.

Following the session, Kanaan stated, "We approved a draft law to regularize the ranks of non-commissioned officers and members of the Customs Enforcement Directorate. A group joined Customs and met the legal requirements, and their personnel were supposed to be promoted according to the Customs Enforcement Directorate Regulation Law; however, this did not occur over the years. The committee approved the proposal with some amendments after consulting the government, Customs Administration, and the Legislation and Consultation Authority. Congratulations to the benefiting personnel."

He added, "Regarding the draft law aimed at regularizing the status of inspectors in the General Directorate of General Security, there is a Constitutional Council ruling from 2025 that annulled a similar provision to the one before us. This placed us in a legal dilemma to find a solution for a group entitled to promotion to officer rank. To avoid violating the Constitutional Council’s decision and respecting the executive authority’s powers, we decided to consult the government for its opinion. The proposal will be scheduled for a future session once the government's collective response is received, ensuring the legal validity and protection of the beneficiaries' rights."

Kanaan continued, "Concerning the proposal to establish a retirement fund for licensed surveyors in Lebanon, the committee agreed to create the fund and requested the redrafting of some articles to align with the observations of the Legislation and Consultation Authority, which the government referred to the Speaker of Parliament."

In response to a question about the draft law to reform the banking sector, Kanaan said, "The proposal was not on this session’s agenda, pending the attendance of the Governor of the Central Bank and the Minister of Finance to discuss the amendments prepared by the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance. The committee will hold a session on this matter either this week, if their attendance is secured, or next week."