Dealing With Licences

Improvements in 2007

DEALING WITH LICENCES

1. Improvements in the Hotel Sub-Sector

Introducing one composite licence of multiple licences based on the star ratings of the hotels and hotel apartments;
Merging 3 permits from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs only 1 permit; and
Combining Public House Licence and Liquor Sales Licence as 1 licence (Public Licence K1).

2. Improvement in Business Licenses under Local Authorities

The improvement made in business licenses under local authorities helps to reduce the queues at the end of every year by spreading the renewal process throughout the year. It also reduces the number of times businesses need to renew their licences.

Validity period of licenses will start from the date of application and expire on the same corresponding date the following year(s):

Licenses now valid for 1 – 3 years; and
Businesses can now commence immediately after submitting applications for licenses and upon receipt of the acknowledgements.

The business operators will need to comply with the conditions stipulated by the local authorities. No enforcement would be carried out by the local authorities during the first 2 months. However, the licence will be revoked if the operator does not comply with the conditions after 2 months in operation.

3. Issuance of Certificate of Compliance and Completion (CCCs) by professionals to replace Certificate of Fitness for Occupation (CFO).

The CCC will be issued by the Principal Submitting Person (PSP) consisting of registered engineers, architects or draughtsmen whichever relevant, together with vacant possession. The initiative has reduced the number of procedures and time taken in registering property.

4. Establishment of One Stop Centre (OSC) at the Local Governments

The current practice of approving development proposals that involve land matters, planning permission, building plans and earthwork plans is done separately and approved consecutively. With the establishment of OSC, all applications can be submitted concurrently. The OSC will then circulate them simultaneously to all relevant technical agencies to get feedback within a stipulated time. Approval for high impact projects, Government projects and projects under the Built Then Sell (BTS) concept will be approved within 120 days while other projects will be approved within 6 months. The OSC Committee also replaces the Planning and the Building Committees at the local governments. To date, 103 OSCs have been established.

5. Improvement in Approval of Licenses for Occupational Safety and Health by The Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH)

DOSH has undertaken improvement to reduce the time taken in approval for:

Permission to Install (PTI): reduced to less than 30 days
Design Approval Certificated Machinery
Critical Vessel Review by Third Party: reduced to less than 4 weeks
Without Review by Third Party: reduced to less than 6 weeks
Non-Critical Vessel review: reduced to less than 2 weeks
Registration for Safety and Health Officer (SHO): reduced to 30 days
Registration for SHO with more than 10 years experience: interviews will be conducted on monthly basis.

6. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by Department of Environment (DOE)

Prior to review by PEMUDAH, time taken to process preliminary EIA Report took up to 3 months. Now the time taken in reviewing the preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report has been reduced to 5 weeks.

Additionally, consultants undertaking EIA preparation are now required to register with DOE. A list of registered EIA consultants is now available on DOE's website.

7. Patent Registration The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO)

MyIPO is responsible for the development and management of intellectual property system in Malaysia . At the same time, it is responsible for implementation of 6 Acts namely, Trade Mark Act 1976, Patent Act 1983, Copyright Act 1987, Industrial Design Act 1996, Layout Designs and Integrated Circuit Act 2000 and the Geographical Indications Act 2000.

Prior to PEMUDAH's review of the patent registration process, it took 5 to 6 years to get a patent registered. The delay was mainly because of the patent search process.

Approval has since been given for MyIPO to engage additional staff for the purpose of patent examination. With the additional staff, as at 31 December 2007, MyIPO has cleared the backlog going back to October 2004. MyIPO aims to clear the backlog and reduce duration of registration to 3 – 4 years.