Parliament Agrees; Formation of Ministry of Commerce, Perhaps Another Time

In today's open session on Sunday, December 2nd, members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly agreed to a request to suspend the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce for a period of 6 months. According to the report from the 'IRNA' news agency, the request to suspend the bill for the formation of the Ministry of Commerce was raised by several representatives and was ultimately approved. Mohsen Dehnavi, a representative from Tehran, stated that 'from a technical and expert perspective, we were not in favor of separating it as a ministry.' According to Dehnavi, the reason for the request to suspend this proposal was to maintain the integrity of the industry, production, and commerce sectors under unified management. This bill has been suspended at a time when experts believe it is unlikely to return to the public session soon, and the reason for this claim is the political nature of the discussion regarding the separation of ministries to avoid the impeachment of former Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, Reza Fatemi Amin. Following the impeachment and dismissal of Fatemi Amin, the Research Center of the Parliament announced in June its complete opposition to the 'formation of the Ministry of Commerce,' declaring it contrary to the constitution. In a detailed report, the parliamentary research body referred to a historical import-oriented view of commerce as a 'threat' and indicated that the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce would lead to an increase in 'unnecessary intermediaries' in the economy, ultimately resulting in higher prices for goods. According to this center's report, these issues are part of the evidence showing that the Ministry of Commerce would disrupt the administrative affairs of the country's food security, and its establishment is 'against the principles of a proper administrative system emphasized in higher documents.' The report refers to Article 10 of Principle 3 of the Constitution, which calls for the establishment of a proper administrative system and the elimination of unnecessary organizations, as well as Articles 10 and 12 of the general policies of the administrative system, which aim for streamlining, adjusting, and rationalizing the administrative system and focusing on effectiveness and efficiency in administrative processes and methods, and Article 16 of the general policies of resistance economy, which calls for rationalizing the size of the government and eliminating parallel and unnecessary agencies and excessive costs. It is noteworthy that the thirteenth government presented a bill consisting of a single article and 6 notes titled 'Law on the Establishment of the Ministry of Commerce' to the Islamic Consultative Assembly, which was approved in a session on May 1st of this year. Previously, the government of Ebrahim Raisi attempted to establish a 'Commerce Organization' under the presidency instead of a ministry, which was halted due to initial opposition from the parliament. The Ministry of Commerce was independent until 2011, when it merged with the Ministry of Industries and Mines, forming the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade. Ambiguity surrounds the fate of the 'formation of the Ministry of Commerce'; the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade is opposed, while the government is in favor. The general principles of separating commerce from industry were approved; 'Commerce' is on the verge of returning to the realm of ministries. Media speculation in Iran; the formation of the Ministry of Commerce has gone to the sidelines. The parliament assisted the Ministry of Intelligence; a request to annul the elections of the Chamber of Commerce.