Newly Enacted Law on Registration of Association

The State Administration Counsil (“SAC”) passed the new Registration of Association Law 2022 on 28 October 2022 (“2022 RAL” or the “Law”) to regulate the registration and other related aspects of Local Non-governmental organization (“NGOs”) and International Non-governmental Organization (“INGOs”). The RAL repeals and replaces the Registration of Associations Law 2014 (“2014 RAL”). The 2022 RAL was enacted on 28^th October 2022.

Definition of NGOs and INGOs

The 2022 RAL maintain the same definition of NGOs and INGO as the non-profit organization which constituted by registered under this RAL. However, the newly enacted 2022 RAL has provided a new requirement for the INGO to include at least 40% Myanmar citizens in their executive members which did not exist under the 2014 RAL.

Requirements for registration of NGOs and INGOs

While the requirement for registration of an NGO is maintained as similar as the old 2014 RAL, the 2022 RAL added some additional requirements for registration of an INGO in additional to the requirement under 2014 RAL including:

• Draft Memorandum of Understanding with respective authorities (this was also required previously even though such requirement was not mentioned in the 2014 RAL)
• Recommendation of the government department/organization concerning the objectives and programs of the INGO
• Recommendation of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations
• Recommendation of the Ministry of Immigration and Population
• Remarks from Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Approval of the respective Regional Administration Authority from the area where the activities will be conducted
• Source of funds for the operations in Myanmar

Implication of the 2022 RAL to the existing NGOs and INGOs

The 2022 RAL required that all existing NGOs and INGOs registered under the 2014 RAL can still continue operating their operations under the existing Registration Certificate (“RC”) until the expiration of the existing RC.

The NGOs and INGOs formed prior to the enactment of this 2022 RAL are required to register and obtain a new RC in accordance with the 2022 RAL within 60 days of the enactment of the 2022 RAL (i.e., 28^th October 2022). This requirement will also be applicable to the existing NGOs/INGOs whose license were expired and has not been renewed. In other words, the existing NGOs/INGOs that were not able to renew their certificate previously now can apply for the new RC under this Law by submitting the all-necessary requirement (list out below) including the new MOU within 60 days counting from 28^th October 2022 to the relevant registration body.

The 2022 RAL did not mention if any penalty will be applied in this situation or any late filing will be applied if the application made by the existing NGOs/INGOs will be done after the 60-day deadline. However, we note that the 2022 RAL did include a penalty including a fine of maximum MMK1,000,000 or 3-year imprisonment in the case of operation without a valid RC. Hence, does it mean the existing NGOs/INGOs with expired certificate and currently applying for a new RC will need to cease operations until the new RC is obtained? This is no addressed in the Law.

It may be a challenge and difficulties of the existing NGOs/INGOs since it normally takes quite a long time to obtain a new MOU with the respective Ministry. Hence, it leads to the case that the existing NGOs/INGOs may not be able to meet the deadline given in the 2022 RAL.

Timeline and fees for registration

The temporary RC will be issued to the NGO/INGO within 21 days from the date of the application. During this period, the registration body will assess the application and make decision if the application from NGO/INGO can be approved. The RC will be issued within 30 days from the date of the decision made if the registration body decides to approve the application.

The NGO/INGO has one change to revise and re-submit its application to the registration body after receiving the rejection from its first application. If the registration body still reject the 2^nd time resubmission, such decision will be final. The 2022 RAL provided the timeline of resubmission of the application within 30 days of the date of rejection to INGO but no certain timeline provided for the NGO.

Once the approval decision is made by the registration body, the NGO/INGO is required to make the payment of the registration fees to the relevant Myanmar Economic Bank within the required period. The fee is ranged from MMK30,000 to MMK300,000 for NGOs and MMK500,000 for INGOs

Renewal and validity

The RC is valid for 5 years from the date of the approval and can be renewed

The renewal application must be submitted to the registration body 90 days before the expiration day. A late penalty will be applied in the case of late submission. The procedure to review the application for renewal of the RC is similar to the procedure of review of the new application.

Penalties

The 2022 RAL provides different ranges of penalty (including fine or imprisonment) on different types of offences applicable to officer in charge of the NGOs/INGOs (chairman, secretary or executive members). The summary as per below:

Offences	Penalty
Operate in Myanmar without a RC	a fine amount of maximum MMK1,000,000 or 3 years of imprisonment
Operate with expired RC	a fine of maximum of MMK500,000 or 2 years of imprisonment
Any person that supports or be a member of any NGO/INGO without the RC	a fine of maximum of MMK500,000 or 2 years of imprisonment
Any registered NGO/INGO that secure, transfer, utilize or offer any cash, properties or assistance in an illegal manner or hide or without any of such actions	3 years of imprisonment or a fine or both
Any registered NGO/INGO delivers speech or make persuasion by making use of its name for a political party or a religious belief or any benefit other than the social and capacity development activities for the common benefits of its members	3 years of imprisonment or a fine or both
Any NGO/INGO that contact or support the following (i) armed insurgent organization or person, (ii) terrorist organization or terrorist; and (iii) unlawful association or its members	– 5 years of imprisonment or a fine of maximum MMK5,000,000 or both; and – Termination of the NGO/INGO and the confiscation of the NGO/INGO’s cash fund and properties as the Country’s treasure
Any NGO/INGO engage in activities that can adversely affect the perpetuity of sovereign power, the rule of law and the security of the country	– 5 years of imprisonment or a fine of maximum MMK5,000,000 or both; and – Termination of the NGO/INGO and the confiscation of the NGO/INGO’s cash fund and properties as the Country’s treasure

Reporting requirement

The registered NGO/INGO is required to submit the following reports:

• Quarterly report on the activities performed to the Township Administrator of the Township General Administration Department
• For the NGOs/INGOs obtained the RC from the Union, Regional, State or Union Territory Registration Board: the audited annual report prepared by the certified public accountants (full-fledged) to the registration body within 60 days after the end of every calendar year
• For the NGOs/INGOs obtained the RC from the self-administered zone, district or township registration board: the audited annual report prepared by an auditor or an audit team with three executive members within 60 days after the end of every calendar year
• A copy of the above audited annual reports to be submitted to relevant authorities who provided the recommendations

Other approvals

The NGOs/INGOs are required to seek for the approvals from the relevant registration body for the followings:

• Winding up
• Change of name, address of the organization
• Change of executive members
• Opening of a branch
• Change of original objectives, plan
• Expansion

Administrative actions

The registration body has the right to apply administrative actions on the NGO/INGO that do not comply with their duties under the 2022 RAL including warning, restriction, the suspension or cancelation of the RC. The NGO/INGO has the right to appeal to the next level of the registration body if the NGO/INGO is not satisfied with the order of the registration body. The appeal must be filed within 60 days of the passing of the order from the registration body.