– Enacted the amended Independent Election Commission Law for 2026.

– Approved the legislative rationale for the amended Anti-Money
Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Law for 2026.

– Approved the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) Board of
Commissioners’ decision to grant the National Water Carrier Project a
package of facilities and exemptions to finalize project kickoff
procedures.

– Approved the legislative rationale for the amended bylaw governing
the grid connection of renewable energy facilities, clean-energy
system exemptions, and energy conservation for 2026.

– Approved measures to curb fuel consumption across government
vehicle fleets through electronic connectivity and Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) fueling technology.

– Increased financial allocations for procuring local wheat and
barley from the 2025–2026 season to JD 59 million up from JD 45
million expanding domestic purchases from Jordanian farmers from
110,000 to 147,000 tonnes.

– Approved operational measures to strengthen the Kingdom’s port
systems and supply chains.

– Approved a EUR 110 million EU grant agreement to support economic
and social modernization under the strategic partnership between
Jordan and the European Union.

– Endorsed administrative organization bylaws for the Integrity and
Anti-Corruption Commission and the Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission, alongside the structural rationale for the Ministry of
Health.

– Approved bonus and savings fund bylaws for employees at Mutah
University and the Hashemite University.

– Dissolved the boards of directors of the Chambers of Commerce
effective Sept. 27, tasking the Minister of Industry, Trade, and
Supply with nominating temporary management committees to pave the
way for upcoming elections.

AMMAN, Sept. 17 (Petra) – The Cabinet, at a session held Wednesday
and chaired by Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, approved a draft law
amending the Independent Election Commission Law of 2026.

The draft law was prompted by the need to update a number of
provisions in line with legislative developments resulting from the
political modernization process, strengthening the Commission’s
ability to exercise its constitutional and legal responsibilities
efficiently and effectively.

Under the proposed amendments, Commission employees would be
prohibited from joining any political party for as long as they work
for the Commission, in order to safeguard its neutrality. The
Commission is responsible for registering political parties and
following up on their affairs. The amendments would also require any
Commission employee wishing to stand in an election administered or
supervised by the Commission to take unpaid leave at least 90 days
before the election. If elected, the employee would be deemed to have
resigned.

The amendments would also update the Commission’s powers and
responsibilities in line with the Political Parties Law and bring
digital election campaign tools within the forms of campaigning
subject to oversight to ensure compliance with the law. They would
also update provisions governing Commission employees and align them
with the Human Resources Management Bylaw for the public sector,
strengthening institutional neutrality and improving performance
efficiency.

The amendments would provide greater clarity on the scheduling of
municipal elections and any other elections assigned to the
Commission by the Cabinet. They would also regulate the authority to
cancel or postpone voting at polling and counting centres when
circumstances arise that could affect the integrity of the electoral
process, ensuring that elections are conducted properly and
maintaining their integrity and transparency.

The Cabinet also approved the reasons for a draft law amending the
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Law of 2026.

The draft law is part of continued efforts to develop and strengthen
the national framework for combating financial crimes, in line with
the national interest and internationally recognised best practices
and standards.

It seeks to keep the Kingdom’s framework in step with developments in
international standards and practices relating to anti-money
laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It would strengthen the
relevant legislative and regulatory frameworks while keeping pace
with changes in the nature and patterns of financial crime.

The draft law also reflects the government’s approach to upholding
the rule of law and protecting the integrity of the financial system
by tackling organised and cross-border crime, including terrorism and
its financing, financial crimes linked to corruption, drug
trafficking, fraud and tax evasion.

As part of preparations to begin implementing the National Water
Carrier Project, the Cabinet approved a decision by the Aqaba Special
Economic Zone Authority’s Board of Commissioners to grant the project
a package of facilities and exemptions needed to proceed with
implementation.

The decision is intended to facilitate the procedures required to
launch the project, which is the first of its kind. It will
desalinate 300 million cubic metres of seawater annually and pump the
water through pipelines extending for about 450 kilometres. The
project is expected to provide nearly 40 percent of the Kingdom’s
drinking water needs, making it a key contributor to national water
security.

The project is expected to provide an annual volume of water
equivalent to the combined storage capacity of all dams in the
Kingdom and nearly three times the output of the Disi Project. It
will raise the annual per capita water allocation from 60 to 110
cubic metres and increase the number of days on which water is
supplied from one to three days a week across all governorates of the
Kingdom.

On energy supply security, the Cabinet approved the reasons for a
draft bylaw amending the Bylaw Regulating the Connection of Renewable
Energy Source Facilities to the Electricity System and Exempting
Renewable Energy Source Systems and Rationalising Energy Consumption
for 2026.

The draft bylaw would allow citizens and economic sectors to benefit
more fully and efficiently from renewable energy by providing greater
flexibility for self-generation, encouraging electricity storage and
promoting more efficient consumption. It would also improve the
viability of investment in clean energy, increase the electricity
system’s ability to accommodate additional renewable energy capacity,
and maintain a stable and reliable electricity grid for all
subscribers.

The draft bylaw builds on the Kingdom’s progress in renewable energy,
which now accounts for about 27 percent of electricity generation
needs. The Energy Sector Strategy for 2025–2035 aims to raise this
share to 40 percent by 2035, increasing reliance on domestic energy
sources and reducing dependence on imported conventional energy.

The draft bylaw is also part of a broader effort to strengthen the
role of renewable energy in the national energy mix and expand the
electricity system’s capacity to accommodate additional renewable
energy safely and sustainably. It is in line with the strategic
targets of the national energy sector and supports the Kingdom’s
international commitments to reducing carbon emissions and addressing
climate change.

The proposed rules would give citizens and establishments greater
flexibility in meeting their electricity needs through renewable
energy, while encouraging them to store electricity for later use.
They would also provide citizens and investors with a clearer
framework before deciding to invest in renewable energy by setting
out permitted capacities, connection mechanisms, storage requirements
and energy-efficiency requirements.

The expansion of energy storage and energy-efficiency systems would
also help develop services linked to the clean energy sector,
including the design, installation and maintenance of renewable
energy systems and batteries, as well as energy auditing services and
energy-efficiency solutions. This would support the development of
local expertise and services in the growing sector.

The draft bylaw was prepared following discussions with government
and regulatory bodies, electricity companies, representatives of
economic sectors, specialists and renewable energy investors. It was
also based on a regulatory impact assessment aimed at encouraging
investment in and expansion of clean energy.

Implementation of the amended bylaw will be monitored and evaluated
using indicators measuring the expansion of renewable energy
projects, installed electricity generation capacity, additional
storage capacity and their impact on the electricity system. A
comprehensive review will be conducted three years after the bylaw
enters into force to develop the relevant procedures, assess the
extent to which its objectives have been achieved, and evaluate its
impact on electricity tariffs and the stability of the national
electricity system.

Separately, the Cabinet approved a number of measures to control and
rationalise fuel consumption by government vehicles and machinery
through electronic connectivity and the exchange of data needed to
implement Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for
electronic fuel dispensing.

The move is part of a broader government drive towards digital
transformation and data-driven oversight. It will make
fuel-dispensing operations more transparent and easier to monitor and
hold accountable, while reducing waste, improving the efficiency of
government fleet management, protecting public funds and
rationalising operating expenditure.

The measures require users of government vehicles to record and
monitor fuel purchases electronically and automatically, without
human intervention.

The wider use of the technology builds on practical experience that
has demonstrated its effectiveness. It has already been deployed on
vehicles belonging to a number of government entities, demonstrating
the feasibility of extending it more widely across the public sector.

Electronic fuel-dispensing technology links the fuelling process
electronically to the government vehicle itself, allowing fuel
quantities and dispensing data to be recorded automatically, without
human intervention in recording values and quantities. This reduces
reliance on manual procedures.

The technology does more than document fuelling operations. It also
allows fuel data to be linked to the movement and actual use of
government vehicles, making it possible to compare the amount of fuel
dispensed with the vehicle’s actual use and identify any abnormal or
unjustified consumption more quickly and accurately.

The system will be rolled out across all ministries, government
departments, public institutions and authorities, municipalities,
joint services councils, the Greater Amman Municipality and wholly
government-owned companies. This will standardise mechanisms for
controlling fuel consumption and strengthen oversight across
public-sector institutions.

To strengthen the strategic stockpile of wheat and barley, the
Cabinet approved an increase in the financial allocations earmarked
for purchasing locally produced wheat and barley from the 2025/2026
agricultural season to JD59 million from JD45 million. The decision
will also increase the quantities purchased from Jordanian farmers
from 110,000 tonnes to 147,000 tonnes, with the aim of strengthening
the strategic stockpile.

This is the second time the government has increased the financial
allocations for purchasing locally produced wheat and barley. In
June, it doubled the allocation to JD45 million from JD19 million the
previous year to purchase wheat and barley from farmers. The quantity
to be purchased was then estimated at about 110,000 tonnes, more than
double the 40,000 tonnes purchased during the previous season.

The decisions are intended to support farmers and encourage them to
expand the areas planted with wheat and barley, given the strategic
importance of the two crops.

To safeguard the continuity of supplies of basic goods and
commodities, the Cabinet approved a number of measures to address
operational challenges facing the Kingdom’s ports and supply chains.

The measures include extending the free period for national exports
at Aqaba Container Terminal from seven days to 14 days for six
months, effective immediately.

They also include reducing the fee payable by liable parties for the
destruction of goods from JD450 per tonne or part thereof to JD50 per
tonne or part thereof. The measure will be implemented in
coordination with the Ministry of Finance for three months, effective
immediately, and subject to the conditions set by the Cabinet.

The measures build on earlier steps taken by the government to
increase capacity and flexibility, including expanding storage yards
and logistics centres, developing supporting infrastructure and
logistics services, and establishing alternative routes such as
multimodal sea and land transport systems to ensure greater
flexibility and speed.

They also include expediting customs clearance procedures, reducing
cargo dwell times, transferring part of the clearance process to
Amman Customs, and exempting transit trips operating through border
crossings from the applicable trip limit for three months.

The measures further include increasing the number of daily trips
permitted for container trucks to nine, allowing technically equipped
trucks that meet public safety requirements to carry two 20-foot
containers per truck, and giving priority in handling, customs
clearance and release to domestic food products, imports destined for
the local market and national exports, among other measures.

The decision is part of government efforts to strengthen the
readiness of Aqaba’s ports and the transport and logistics system to
deal with the impact of regional conditions on shipping operations
and supply chains. It is also intended to speed up customs clearance
and cargo handling, increase capacity, provide alternative supply
routes and support national exports, while maintaining the flow of
goods into the Kingdom and limiting the costs of delays for consumers
and economic sectors.

The measures are directly aimed at benefiting citizens and the
national economy by maintaining the regular flow of goods to markets,
reducing waiting times and limiting additional costs resulting from
delays. They will also support national exports and trade activity,
helping ensure the availability of goods needed by citizens and
improving the efficiency and reliability of Aqaba Port as the
Kingdom’s main economic gateway and a key hub for regional trade.

Government measures introduced over the past period have already
produced tangible results. The average dwell time for transit
containers at the port has fallen from about 15 days to around 12
days, while the average dwell time for incoming local containers is
about eight days. The daily capacity of container exit gates has also
increased from around 900 to 1,200 containers.

These measures have helped ease pressure on the port and enabled
goods, particularly foodstuffs, to reach local markets more quickly
and regularly.

Within the framework of the strategic and comprehensive partnership
between Jordan and the European Union, the Cabinet approved a EUR110
million grant agreement provided by the EU to implement a
multi-sector programme through the General Budget in support of
economic and social modernisation programmes.

The programme covers three areas: economic governance, human capital
and the green economy. The grant will be disbursed in two
instalments, with the first, worth EUR38.5 million, to be provided at
the end of this year and the second, worth EUR71.5 million, at the
end of next year.

The programme aims to improve the business environment, strengthen
public financial management, and develop energy, water and clean
transport services, employment, education, vocational and technical
training, research and innovation.

Regarding legislation governing the work of institutions, the Cabinet
approved two administrative organisation bylaws for the Integrity and
Anti-Corruption Commission and the Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission. It also approved the reasons for an administrative
organisation bylaw for the Ministry of Health.

The bylaws are intended to develop the administrative structures of
the institutions concerned, enabling them to carry out their
functions more efficiently, strengthen governance and keep pace with
best practices.

Regarding matters related to Jordanian universities, the Cabinet
approved two bylaws governing bonuses and savings funds for employees
of Mutah University and The Hashemite University.

The bylaws aim to regulate bonus provisions for employees at the two
universities and strengthen the governance and management of their
savings funds and all related matters, promoting fairness and
transparency and ensuring that eligible employees benefit from them.

On another matter, the Cabinet decided to dissolve the boards of
directors of chambers of commerce effective Sept. 27 and tasked the
Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply with submitting the names of
members of the chambers’ management committees to the Cabinet, in
preparation for elections in accordance with the applicable
legislation.

//Petra// AA