Mining License Renewal



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Do the originals of the Mining Licences need to be taken physically to MRPAM for the annual registration?

The license-holder is obliged to pay license fees annually in order to keep the license valid.   When you pay the annual license fee the original mining license certificate is required to be taken physically to MRPAM  (Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia) and make the appropriate record on the annex of the license certificate.

According to the internal rule of MRPAM, when MPRAM receives original documents such as mining license, request letter, license fee and MRPAM will provide the receipt confirmation. The receipt confirmation shall contain the documents received by the MRPAM and the date on which the license certificate was recorded the annual payment will be returned to the license holder or authorized person.  Practically speaking, the registration will take 3-7 days depending on the workload of MRPAM. Please note that if license holder is unable to do the annual payment and registration, an annual registration could be done with MRPAM if agent has a proper POA to act on behalf of the license holder. 

What’s the process for in case of the Mining Licences were lost or damaged and can the Mining Licences be reissued?

MRPAM will re-issue the mining license and following documents are required when apply for new license certificate:

–          Official request letter to reissue the license;

–          A receipt of the stamp duty fee of 250 000 MNT for mining license and 200 000 MNT for exploration license paid to MRPAM;

–          Announcement of invalidation of the lost license in the newspaper (piece of announced newspaper including the name, date, number of the newspaper);

–          A copy of Company certificate issues by the LERO;

–          Completed application form (reissuance of license) (available at MRPAM’s website to download)

Obtaining Lottery Permits



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With today’s blog we aim to provide you the information regarding the documents required for obtaining the special license of the lottery operations. In order to submit the request for obtaining the special license permit, you require following document listed below.

  1. Application for the special license
  2. The state registration certificate
  3. The state stamp duty fee payment /240 000-600 000/
  4. The lottery operation type, and the business project prospectus
  5. Audited financial report of the latest quarter
  6. The bank guaranty and information on the taxation loan
  7. The procedures and norms regarding the allocation of lottery profits
  8. Lottery tickets, or any other documents, templates and samples of lottery, its requirements, criteria, notes, drawings or signs, as well as the methods for the prevention from the production of counterfeit lottery products
  9. The procedures concerning the ticket checking during the lottery winning and its payment
  10. The feasibility study on the lottery operation, the financial funding of the lottery costs and the preliminary calculation of the lottery revenue
  11. Market analysis of lottery operation
  12. The technical requirements for the lottery equipment
  13. The Procedure on the registration of the distributed and non-distributed tickets
  14. The Procedure on the re-allocation and storage of non-distributed tickets
  15. The Procedure on the storage of the winning prize not claimed by the winner and the distribution of the winning prize after the termination of the lottery timeframe.
  16. In case, the lottery shall be operated via online, then the contract between the IT operators, companies and a detailed and understandable description of the project

With the next blog we will provide you a detailed information concerning the special permit for lottery operations, how and where you can get the permit and things to consider.

Legal provisions regarding the inheritance succession



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Inheritance succession means the manner in which the property is distributed or transferred after the death a person either by his/her own will or by legal provisions.

Pursuant to the Mongolian legislation following persons are entitled to the devolution of the property and are deemed as rightful heirs:

  • Husband, wife /the marriage shall be duly registered/, child and adopted child, child born after the death of the person, parents and adopted parents.
  • If persons stated above are absent or such people denied the interitance succession, then grandparents, brothers, sisters and grandchildren.
  • If persons stated above are absent or such people denied the interitance succession, then great-grandchildren.

In case the rightful heirs mentioned above did not reside at the same address together with the deceased person, then he/she shall file the request on the receipt of the inheritance property to the notary within 1 year upon the date of the death of the decedent. If, however, both the decedent and the rightful lived at the same address such requests are not required.

Moreover, if they failed to file such requests, it shall be deemed as denial from the inheritance. Also, one shall register the request on the denial from the inheritance within 3 months after the death of the decedent.

In case there are several heirs, then the covenant and settlement regarding the allocation of the property to be inherited may be certified at the notary. If the related parties fail to do settle the dispute amicably, then such succession dispute is a subject of the court jurisdiction.

One shall also consider the fact that the succession is not restricted solely to the property and its associated rights, but the obligations and liabilities of the decedent shall be devoted to the heir in accordance to the inherited property.

The heir shall submit the “Request on the certificate of the inheritance succession” at the notary of the district where the decedent resided and the “Certificate of the inheritance succession” is granted 1 year after the death of decedent.

Benefits of Notarial Notice Deed in Mongolia



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A notarial notice deed is a legally enforceable document of a notary produced based on the payment proof during the notarization of contract with an aim to secure the return of money or property and secure the pledge.

If you have a notarial notice deed, you can easily settle the disputes related to the non-performance of the agreement because instead of undergoing three instances at court proceedings, the judge shall issue for you an order obliging the other party to perform the obligations under the Agreement.  Moreover, you can also save court costs ad there is no requirement to pay the State stamp duty as in the court litigations. Therefore, in case one of the Parties failed to satisfy the Agreement performance in good faith and on a voluntary basis, upon the submission of the judge order and the execution deed at the Executive agency of court decision within 7 days after the issuance of the execution deed an enforcement procedure for the performance of obligations under the Agreement shall be commenced.

And these are the requirements for the notarial notice deed that can save both time and money:

  • To have a provision in the Agreement stating that the Parties shall perform the obligations under the Agreement in “undisputable manner” ,
  • The Agreement and the documents shall be notarized,
  • Not more than 3 years shall have passed after the commencement of claim rights,
  • Parties shall have accepted /no dispute or conflict/ the payment under the Agreement,
  • There is no court decision regarding this same Agreement.

Contracts and the Role of Notaries



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In contract law relations, notaries have a main function to provide legal counseling and assistance to the contract parties before and upon the conclusion of the contract.

Upon the certification and authentication of the contract, notaries are obliged to explain to the parties the contract’s content, legal consequences and liabilities in case of its breach. Furthermore, notaries shall clarify if the parties are concluding or have concluded the contract on the basis of equal rights without any pressure or any other manipulative factors, and whether the contract fully expresses the clients’ will, purpose and interests, if all contract parties are completely aware of the potential and factual consequences. In case there is no violation of such circumstances, the notaries shall finally make a certification of the contracts.

The Civil code of Mongolia and other related legislation provide following contracts to be necessarily certified and authenticated by notaries:

  • Contract on the transaction of immovable properties
  • Contract in relation to the marital property
  • The settlement on the sole ownership of apartments
  • Contract on the transfer, limited property and usage of the present properties
  • Gift promises of certain properties
  • Contracts on support and care
  • Contracts and settlements on the duty performance
  • Contracts on the bank deposit of money and securities

Finally upon the request of the parties, notaries may also certify any contracts, which do not require any notarization, unless such contracts comply with legislation.

Registration of Trademark Abroad



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The product and services of a company is considered to be its image and furthermore can become the main capital source of it. Any business enterprises with a well-known trademark has an advantage of maintaining and enhancing its competitive position in the market.

The legally registered trademark is a source for the prevention of the usage of the same trademark by other parties and the protection of your legal rights and interests as a trademark owner. Although there is no legal requirement for the registration of company’s trademark, it constitutes an exclusive right that aimed at protecting the rights of the eligible trademark owner from any usage of similar or consumer-confusing trademarks by others.

In case you are interested in protecting your rights in relation to the trademark, that is the result of your precious time and effort, from any violations both in Mongolia and abroad, the registration of it will be of a crucial importance.  Particularly for those who wish to export or grant their trademark license of products in another country, the international registration is a must.

For that purpose, you may to submit the national application in that foreign country of your wish or file an international application.

The first option requires you to submit the request for trademark registration at the trademark office in accordance with the related procedures of that country and you will probably need services of the authorized agent for trademark of that country as well. The fees regarding the trademark registration overseas differs depending on the operation to be carried out in respective countries.

As for the second one, the international trademark registration application, you may to file the registration request for the trademark, that has already been registered or undergoing the registration process in Mongolia by means of the so-called Madrid the international trademark system. This Madrid system, in which Mongolia joined as a member, offers an opportunity for trademark owners to register their trademark on international level in up to 120 member countries by filing a single application at fixed rate and time in one language.

Should you require a detailed information about the Madrid international trademark system, visit this link https://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/ or contact us.

Intro to Food Packaging Labels



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Aimed at decreasing the risks associated with food products, the Mongolian legislation sets the rules and requirements related to the packaging of some food products. The Law on Food safety of Mongolia as being the major legal source for the food sanitation relations, the “Procedure on determining and labeling of food raw materials and food products requiring the package and labeling” dated 2013 and the recently adopted “Standard for labeling of pre-packaged foods” with a code MNS 6648:2016 adopted by the Decree No. 64 of the National Standard Committee /the Mongolian Agency for Standard and Metrology/ provide required information to be included on the package.

According to these legal acts, food businesses shall necessarily state following information, including but not limited to the name of the food product, the name and address of the manufacturer, size, serial number of the product and the manufacturing date. The “Standard for labeling of pre-packaged foods” with a code MNS 6648:2016 sets out a more detailed standard to the information requirement. For instance, pursuant to Article 5.7.1/a/ of the Standard, the manufacturing date and the best before date shall be labelled. In case, the product’s best before date is not more than 3 months, the “month and day” shall be shown, while for the products with more than 3 months best before date – “year and month” shall be shown.

These standards are not mere ‘information instructions’ where the food companies may choose whether to follow them or not. Since, this legislation and standard are subject to comply with, there are several ways to impose penalties depending on the nature of the violation.

According to the Article 27.2 of the Law on Standard, technical regulation and accreditation conformity assessment, a citizen, company and the organization shall comply with the standards and technical regulation. Therefore, any violation of food standard and the Law on Food safety of Mongolia shall be a subject of penalty stated in the Law of Infringement and the Criminal Code. Pursuant to the infringement law /Sub-clause 4 of article 6.15/, that this infringement shall result into the seizure of properties and profits related to the infringement, compensation of damages, the person shall pay a fine of 1,000,000 MNT and the legal entity – 10,000,000 MNT.

The Criminal Code, however, does not explicitly state this type of Crime and provides only the crime “Sales and distribution of foods not meeting the health standards”, which requires that this violation should have caused a severe bodily harm or death. The person committing this crime shall be fined up to 27,000,000MNT or imprisoned up to 5 years.

Issuing Court Decisions



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Rendering the decision

The judge will announce a recess of the court session and to issue its decision. During the recess session parties will leave the court room.

 Decision

The first instance court will issue one of the following decisions.  

  • satisfy the claim’s demand;
  • satisfy part of the claim’s demand and dismiss the rest of it; or
  • dismiss the whole claim.

Announcing the decision and closing the court session

The judge will announce the decision, explain the other essential matters if necessary, and close the court session. The decision shall come into force immediately upon presentation.

The decision will be written within 7 days after its issuance and the judge will sign it. After the issuance of written decision and parties will come to court and get the decision within 14 days.  

Litigants, third parties, their representatives or defense lawyers may file a complaint of appeal to the courts within 14 days after receiving the decision of the court of first instance. 

Getting Mongolian Visa Online



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From the 1st of May this year, the Mongolian Immigration agency started issuing some types of visa permits in electronic way.

With the current modification, citizens and legal entities are not required to go to the Immigration agency in person in order to submit the visa permit requests in paper form or to obtain the related decisions and approvals in paper form.

Within the National program “E-Government” aimed at providing fast and citizen-oriented public services, the Mongolian immigration agency has introduced, as the initial step, the online services for granting the visa permits of tourist “J” and business “B” types for single entry and business “B” type for multiple entry visas.

As such, the applications for visa permits of temporary visitors for stay of 31-90 days and multiple entry visas for 30 days, which are issued at the Mongolian diplomatic and consular missions, as well as visa permits to be issued at the international border checkpoints of Mongolia may be filed electronically.

You may find the link of the e-visa section at the upper side of the main page of http://www.immigration.gov.mn or by directly visiting its official page  http://www.evisa.mn .

When registering and applying online, citizens and legal entities shall carefully read the required steps for inviting foreign guests and visa permit application. Upon the successful submission of all documents, the decision on the issuance of the visa permit shall be delivered within 3 business days to the registered email address and the phone number.

The visa permit shall mean the document permitting the issuance of visas granted by the Ministry of foreign affairs or the Mongolian immigration agency to the diplomatic mission offices of Mongolia abroad and the border checkpoints.

Presenting Evidence and Witness Testimony at Mongolia Court



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Continuing our look at general procedures for trying a case before court in Mongolia.

2.2 Examination of documentary and real evidence

A Court shall examine evidence and documents collected in the case. The written evidence which it considers necessary and requested by participants and judge will be read out at the requested page or section to the court. 

2.3 Asking questions

The judge will ask questions from both parties and the claimant and respondent will ask questions to each other and answer each other’s questions.

2.4 Examination of a witness

The judge shall bring witnesses into the courtroom and warn him/her of his duties and liabilities to be imposed on him/her and to sign the minutes of court session on this. Each witness is questioned separately. The judge, claimant and respondent will each ask questions from the witness.  

A witness who has not yet testified may not be in the Court room during the process of the court session. A witness who has been questioned remains in the Court room unless the judge permits him/her to leave.

A Court may conduct preliminary testimony of a witness or may reexamine the witness.

2.5 Reading out conclusions of an expert

The conclusions of an expert are read out at the court session. An expert will explain his/her conclusions at the court session. Questions may then be put to the expert. In the event of the expert’s conclusions being doubtful or unclear or contradictory, the court will order another expert to provide conclusions.

2.6 Additional clarifications from persons taking part in the case

After examining the evidence, the judge asks the litigants whether they have issues that need additional clarification. In this event, parties may ask questions and answer and explain more about their arguments which have not been presented.

 Also, both parties will present final conclusions of their sides.