Ministerial Decree No.177/2012 issuing the Aquaculture and Related Quality Control Regulations.

This Regulation consists of 80 articles, divided in II Parts, and 3 Annexes.
Part I deals with rules to establish aquaculture farms in Oman. In particular: create an aquaculture farm and import aquatic species to be farmed need an authorization by the competent Authority (a division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Wealth); collect aquatic species to be cultured from the fishing waters needs a prescription by the competent Authority; transfer farmed aquatic species from one farm to another needs written consent of the competent Authority; requirements for imported aquaculture species; compliance with environment protection laws and pollution control regulations. Article 14 establishes the Aquaculture Committee responsible for: facilitating the procedures for the establishment of aquaculture projects; proposing and checking the suitability of the site of the projects; studying applications to establish aquaculture projects; setting special conditions for the leases of government lands allocated to establish aquaculture projects; and reviewing reports on implementation of aquaculture projects. The Regulation deals also with licensing system (dividing between license to create a commercial aquaculture project and license to create and integrated aquaculture project) by prescribing about: duration of the license; fees for issuance and renewal of a license; procedural matters; commitments to the licensees; and duration of the aquaculture projects (20 years for the commercial projects and 10 years for the integrated farming projects).
Part II deals with Aquaculture Products Quality Control. In particular: health requirements for commercial farming projects (quality control certificate in accordance with the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and quality control standards to be met; sanitation facilities; water used; food storage facilities; commitments to the licensees and the workers in aquaculture; rules regarding fertilizers, feed and veterinary drugs; records to be taken by the licensee; harvesting, handling and export procedures and certificates.
The 3 Annexes are entitled as follows: Drugs and veterinary chemicals authorized for use in aquaculture (A); Regressive grace period of veterinary drugs and chemicals authorized in aquaculture (B); and License fees (C).