Ministerial Decision 84/2020 Issuing the Regulation Governing the Use of Agricultural Land.

This Regulation consisting of 62 articles aims at regulating the use of agricultural land in the Sultanate. General provisions state that (i) it is prohibited to transfer soil from agricultural land, or bulldozing it, or filling it with soil that is not suitable for cultivation; (ii) it is prohibited to remove palm and fruits trees from the agricultural land for the purpose of dredging the soil and changing its features; (iii) It is prohibited to use wells and aflajs (underground water systems used for irrigation) designated to irrigate crops, existing houses, and service facilities for any other purpose; (iv) the authorized employees of the Ministry have the right to enter the agricultural land from sunrise until sunset in order to detect violations that occur in violation of the provisions of these Regulations; (v) a preliminary approval may be granted to change the use of using the agricultural land to a non-agricultural purpose if the change is for the establishment of value-added investment projects, including the following: private or international school, universities or specialized colleges, commercial complex, hospital or specialized medical centers, hotel or the tourist resort, economically feasible projects related to agricultural, animal, and fish activities; (vi) the approval issued under the provisions of these Regulations is valid for a period of 2 years, and if this period lapses without the completion of the rest of the procedures, the approval shall be considered void; (vii) the requests referred to in these Regulations are referred to a Technical Committee formed by a decision of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Regulations deal also, concerning the land irrigated either by the wells or by the aflaj and water sources, with (i) changing the specific purpose of using agricultural land. In this case, it is necessary written approval from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the land should be outside the agricultural area, it is prohibited the closure or transfer of existing agricultural (plant, animal) or fish projects adjacent to the area, and the change is for one time only, in the case of partial change; (ii) renting; (iii) establishment of housing units; (iv) establishing service facilities; (v) separation of houses, service facilities, and existing facilities; (vi) building or separating an area for mosques, schools, and public councils; (vii) establishment of farmhouses; (viii) penalties and administrative fines.