The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday afternoon. At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the results of his talks with President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal; President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the message received from President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir of the Republic of Sudan, the telephone call made to the Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi, the phone calls received from President Dr. Ashraf Ghani Zai of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, President Barack Obama of the United States of America, and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron. They reviewed bilateral relations between the Kingdom and these brotherly and friendly countries, ways of enhancing them, and the overall situations at regional and international arenas. The Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Adel bin Zaid Altoraifi said in a statement to Saudi Press Agency following the session that the Cabinet was briefed on reports on the latest situations and developments in the region, reaffirmed the Kingdom's firm positions towards them, and reviewed the great efforts exerted by coalition forces on all axes to destroy the capabilities of the Houthi militias and defeat their conspiracies against sisterly Yemen. The Cabinet expressed in this context its thanks and appreciation to the people of the Yemeni community in the Kingdom for their expressions of support and thanks to the Kingdom and the coalition countries for their sincere works to defend the legitimacy in Yemen so that the Determination Storm achieves its objectives and Yemen returns secure, stable and united, reaffirming in this regard that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not call for war, and that the Determination Storm came for the relief a neighboring country, oppressed people and a legitimate leadership appealed to stop tampering with Yemen's security and capabilities and to maintain its legitimacy, national unity, territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty; and therefore the coalition to defend the legitimacy in Yemen has enjoyed extensive blessing and comprehensive support of Arab and Islamic nations and the world. The minister said that the cabinet renewed the kingdom's stand with every possible effort in order to put an end to the Syrian tragedy which has become a humanitarian catastrophe not seen before in the modern history. In this regard, the cabinet commended the results of the third international conference of donors to support the humanitarian situation in Syria, which was inaugurated by Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, stressing that the kingdom has spared no effort to provide assistance and extend a helping hand to Syrian refugees, recognizing the importance of support and relief for our brothers and friends and standing by them. He pointed out that the kingdom's total aid to the Syrian people since the year 2011 amounted to more than USD600 million. The Council of Ministers welcomed the formal announcement by the International Criminal Court on the State of Palestine's accession to it as a full member. The cabinet stressed that the accession of the State of Palestine to the International Criminal Court strengthens its presence in the international field to preserve the rights of the Palestinian people. On the framework agreement that was reached in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, between the major powers and Iran over its nuclear program, the Council of Ministers expressed hope that a final, binding and definitive agreement would be reached leading to the strengthening of security and stability in the region and the world. The cabinet renewed support by the kingdom for peaceful solutions based on ensuring the right of states of region in the peaceful use of nuclear energy in accordance with the standards and procedures of the International Atomic Energy Agency and under its supervision and in line with the Arab League's decision aimed at making the Middle East and the Arab Gulf region free of all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. In this regard, the cabinet stressed that the promotion of security and stability in the region requires a commitment to the principles of good neighborliness and non-interference in the internal affairs of the Arab countries and respect of their sovereignty. The cabinet condemned the terrorist attack that targeted the University of Garissa, Kenya, expressing condolences to the government and people of Kenya and the families of the victims and wishing the injured a speedy recovery. On internal affairs, the Council of Ministers thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his care for the book of Allah and its dissemination and for honoring and care for people concerned with it, noting that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz local prize for memorization of the Holy Quran and its recitation and interpretation for boys and girls, which began its seventeenth session yesterday in Riyadh is an excellent example of the care for the book of Allah and preserving it by education and publication. He also stressed that his patronage of the opening ceremony of Exhibition and Seminars on History of King Fahd bin Abdulaziz (Fahd, The Spirit of Leadershipâ€), which are being organized by the sons and grandsons of late King Fahd in collaboration with King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah), embodies attention for documenting the achievement and preservation of history and taking advantage of it, as well as the loyalty for national history since the era of the founder late King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud. The Cabinet reviewed the announcement by Moody's global credit rating on fixing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's sovereign rating at the high score credit (Aa3) with stable outlook. It also tackled the announcement of Fitch global credit rating on fixing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's sovereign rating at the high score credit (AA) with a stable outlook, stressing that the success of the Kingdom to maintain its high credit classification despite the economic pressures, reflects the strength of the Saudi economy and its ability to counter periodic fluctuations and reflects the success of the Kingdom's economic policy as well. Dr. Adel bin Zaid Altoraifi reported that the Cabinet was briefed on the topics on its session's agenda, including issues that Majlis Al-Shura has taken part in their study, as it was briefed on the outputs of the Cabinet's General Committee and Experts Bureau in their regard, and decided the following: First of all: The Cabinet approved the reformation of the Military Service Council, headed by the Prime Minister and the membership of: Deputy Prime Minister (As Deputy Chairman; Minister of National Guard; Minister of Interior; Minister of Defense; Minister of Finance; Chief of General Intelligence; Commander of Royal Guard and three members appointed by a Royal Decree. Second: The cabinet approved a headquarters agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Organization for Tourism, signed in Taif on 14/07/1435 AH. A royal decree has been prepared to this effect. The agreement grants the President of the Arab Tourism Organization and its officials delegated by their governments who work at the headquarters of the organization judicial immunity with respect to acts performed by them by virtue of their jobs after their approval by the Foreign Ministry. Third: The cabinet approved a number of measures concerning uncultivated and illegally possessed lands: 1- The Ministry of Agriculture shall within three years from this date make an inventory of decisions of distribution of uncultivated lands whose owners have not applied for ownership, check those lands, determine what has been invested of them until this date, complete ownership procedures for the those who invested the percentage required for ownership, take what is necessary - according to the law - to cancel jurisdiction of those who did not invest the land allocated to them, document them and confine their use to public interest. 2- Status of agricultural lands made arable before the issuance of the Royal Decree No. (4/712 / m) dated on 25/12/1423 AH shall be corrected according to the following conditions: A- Correction applicant should have applied for correction to the Ministry of Agriculture or one of its branches before application of the referred to royal order which stopped distribution of uncultivated land. B- The farm should not be located on prohibited land, intercepting organization or within reserved lands as sources of water. C- Applicant shall abide by 'rules and procedures of rationalizing water consumption and regulation of its use in agricultural areas in all cities, villages and hamlets in the kingdom,' contained in the Council of Ministers' decision issued No. (335) and date of 09/11/1428 AH. D- Correction of agricultural lands' status should be confined to the actually revived area. Fourth: The Cabinet approved the authorization of the Minister of Defense - or his deputy - to discuss with the Spanish side a draft agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Kingdom of Spain on mutual protection of confidential information in the field of defense and sign it, before submitting the final signed version for completion of regular procedures. Fifth: After the reviewing the report submitted by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, and after consideration of Majlis Al-Shura's Resolution No. (51/24) dated 12/05/2013, the Cabinet approved the cosmetic products regulation. A royal decree has been prepared for this purpose. Among the most prominent features of this regulation are the following: 1. The regulation's conditions shall be applied to cosmetic products, their factories and warehouses, as well as their circulation and trading. 2. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority shall issue technical regulations and standard classifications of cosmetics products, their factories and the requirements of their employees. The Authority shall specify the prohibited materials and unrestricted materials for use in cosmetic products, and publish them on its website. 3. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority shall make sure that the cosmetic products are matching the technical regulations and standard classifications as well as the requirements approved by it. The cosmetic product in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall not be imported or circulated unless it is registered by the Authority which shall be responsible for issuing a certificate thereof. Sixth: The Cabinet approved appointments as follows: 1- Rajaullah bin Dakhilullah bin Ayedh Al-Salami, Director General of Main office for Youth Welfare in Riyadh at the General Presidency of Youth Welfare. 2- Abdullah bin Suleiman bin Mohammed Al-Sakaker, Director General of Legal Department (rank 14th) at the Ministry of Health. 3- Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al-Salman, Assistant Undersecretary for the private health sector (rank 14th) at the Ministry of Health. 4- Yusuf bin Khuda Bakhsh bin Ramadhan Bani Bakhsh, Director General of Administrative and Financial Affairs(rank 14) at the Ministry of Health. 5- Prince Walid bin Saud bin Thunayan Al Saud, Regular Expert (rank 14th) at Experts Bureau of the Council of Ministers. The Cabinet was briefed on two annual reports of Department of Zakat and Income, and Grain Silos and Flour Mills Organization for two previous fiscal years and issued its directives towards them.
