Decree No. 97-410 of February 21, 1997, on the Composition and Functioning of the Public Enterprise Restructuring Commission and the Technical Privatization Committee, as amended by Decree No. 98-1440 of July 13, 1998

Decree No. 97-410 of February 21, 1997 / CAREPP & CTP as amended by Decree No. 98-1440 of July 13, 1998 1 DECREE NO. 97-410 OF FEBRUARY 21, 1997 FIXING THE COMPOSITION AND FUNCTIONING OF THE COMMISSION FOR THE SANITATION AND RESTRUCTURING OF PUBLICLY PARTICIPATED ENTERPRISES AS WELL AS THE COMPOSITION AND POWERS OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE FOR PRIVATIZATION AS AMENDED AND SUPPLEMENTED BY DECREE NO. 98-1440 OF JULY 13, 1998 The President of the Republic, Upon proposal of the Minister of Economic Development, Having regard to Law No. 89-9 of February 1, 1989, on participations and public enterprises, as amended and supplemented by Law No. 94-102 of August 1, 1994 and Law No. 96-74 of July 29, 1996, Having regard to Decree No. 89-377 of March 15, 1989, fixing the composition and functioning of the commission for the sanitation and restructuring of publicly participated enterprises, as amended by Decrees No. 90-1286 of August 7, 1990, No. 93-981 of May 3, 1993 and No. 96-493 of March 25, 1996, Having regard to Decree No. 96-270 of February 14, 1996, defining the powers of the Ministry of Economic Development, as amended and supplemented by Decree No. 96-1225 of July 1, 1996 and notably its Article 7(ter), Having regard to the opinion of the Prime Minister, Having regard to the opinion of the Administrative Tribunal, Decrees:
Article 1.
The Commission for the Sanitation and Restructuring of Publicly Participated Enterprises is composed as follows:

• The Prime Minister: Chairperson,
• The Minister of the Interior: Member
• The Minister of International Cooperation and Foreign Investment: Member
• The Minister of Finance: Member
• The Minister of Economic Development: Member
• The Minister of State Domains and Land Affairs: Member
• The Minister of Social Affairs: Member
• The Minister of Vocational Training and Employment: Member
• The Secretary-General of the Government: Member
• The Secretary of State in charge of Public Participations: Member.
• The Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia: Member.
• The President of the Financial Market Council: Member.
  Furthermore, the ministers concerned by the files submitted for examination, observers, and any person whose opinion is deemed useful shall participate in the commission's meetings. The General Directorate of Privatization at the Ministry of Economic Development shall ensure the permanent secretariat of the commission.
  Article 2.
  The Commission for the Sanitation and Restructuring of Publicly Participated Enterprises shall be convened by its Chairperson.
  The commission's agenda shall be set by its Chairperson upon proposal of the Minister of Economic Development.
  Article 3.
  The Commission for the Sanitation and Restructuring of Publicly Participated Enterprises shall examine the files submitted to it by the Prime Minister or by the Minister of Economic Development.

Decree No. 97-410 of February 21, 1997 / CAREPP & CTP as amended by Decree No. 98-1440 of July 13, 1998 2
Article 4.
The Technical Committee for Privatization established pursuant to Decree No. 96-1225 aforementioned is composed of the following permanent members:

• The Secretary of State in charge of Public Participations or their representative: Chairperson.
• A representative of the Prime Minister's Office: Member.
• A representative of the Ministry of Finance: Member.
• A representative of the Ministry of State Domains and Social Affairs: Member.
• A representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs: Member.
• A representative of the Central Bank of Tunisia: Member.
• A representative of the Financial Market Council: Member.
  Representation from the aforementioned departments in the Technical Committee for Privatization must be at the rank of General Director or Director of Central Administration. In this framework, the General Directorate of Privatization shall ensure the permanent secretariat of the committee. Invited to the committee's meetings shall be the General Director of the concerned sector at the supervising ministry, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and generally any person whose opinion is deemed useful for the committee's work regarding each enterprise whose file is submitted to it.
  Article 5 (new) as amended and supplemented by Decree No. 98-1440 of July 13, 1998
  The Technical Committee for Privatization shall convene upon summons by the Minister of Economic Development to examine the items on its agenda, prior to their examination by the Commission for the Sanitation and Restructuring of Publicly Participated Enterprises. The Technical Committee for Privatization is tasked with ruling on the following matters:
• The reissuance of tenders that received no submissions.
• The sale of asset components of publicly participated enterprises whose estimated value by the relevant services and expert firms does not exceed one hundred thousand dinars, provided that the sale price is not less than 70% of the valuation.
• The transfer of public enterprise participations, with the exception of banks, up to a limit of 10% of the capital of the enterprise in question, provided that the total of public participations and public enterprise participations in the capital of the concerned enterprise does not exceed 34%.
  The Technical Committee for Privatization shall rule on requests submitted by the concerned private shareholders regarding the transfer of their participations alongside the transfer of public participations and those of public enterprises in the capital of companies to be privatized.
  Article 5 (bis):
  The Technical Committee for Privatization is tasked with monitoring the liquidation operations of public enterprises and publicly participated enterprises, decided upon following the opinion of the Commission for the Sanitation and Restructuring of Publicly Participated Enterprises. It shall examine all pending matters within this framework and proceed to prepare reports to be submitted to the Commission for the Sanitation and Restructuring of Publicly Participated Enterprises.
  Article 6.
  The permanent secretariat of the Technical Committee for Privatization is tasked with preparing the agenda of said committee, maintaining files related to its activities, and preparing the minutes of its meetings.
  Article 7.
  Decree No. 89-377 of March 15, 1989 aforementioned, as well as all texts that amended and supplemented it, are hereby repealed.
  Article 8.
  The Prime Minister, the Ministers, and the Secretaries of State are each charged, within their respective competencies, with the execution of this Decree, which shall be published in the Official Journal of the Tunisian Republic. Tunis, July 13, 1998 Zine El Abidine Ben Ali