DUSHANBE, March 28, 2014, Asia-Plus – The Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) Environmental Commission held a meeting on March 28 to discuss the draft of the Environmental Code of Tajikistan.

Muhammadato Sultonov, a spokesman for the Majlisi Namoyandagon, says public hearings on the draft environmental code have been held in all the regions and large cities of the country under support of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

We will recall that the OSCE Office in Tajikistan held the last round of public hearings on the final draft of the Environmental Code for Tajikistan on August 27, 2013.  The final draft was developed and presented to government and civil society representatives by the working group on the development of the National Environmental Code, which consisted of Tajik and international experts.  The document incorporated the comments received during other sessions of public hearings held in all the regions of Tajikistan in June 2013.

The aim of the public hearings was to discuss the draft Code and give an opportunity to the relevant actors to contribute to the final draft.

The project aims at improving the environmental legislation and ensuring its compliance with international standards.  It was initiated following the request of the Government and the Parliament of Tajikistan.

The Environmental Code is to become a key legislative document in the field of environment and the OSCE’s support in the development of this document was crucial.