Improving Institutional Capacity:
Strengthening Farmer Organizations in the OIC Member Countries
88
1. Does the country have a co-operative law that gives legal standing to farmer
organizations?
Group Country Y/N Source Comments
Arab Countries (cont’d)
Lebanon  Lebanon's first ever cooperative law was enacted in
1909. The last amendments on it were made in 1983.
Libya 
In the late 1990s, the Libyan government established
agricultural development policies to create farmers'
cooperatives.
Bahrain 
Bahrain's co-operative law was last adjusted in 2006.
The Bahraini co-operative law is divided into 8 chapters
and 69 articles that outline different issues ranging from
the legal requirements and conditions for establishing a
co-operative, to the finance sources and income of co-
operatives.
Mauritania  Law number 96-010 of January 1996 gives FOs legal
standing
Morocco

Law Number 24-83 defines farmers' organization
(cooperative agricole) as a group of people who get
together to establish an enterprise that creates goods or
services that the group of people needs. It includes:
general guidelines (guarantees body independence, legal
status, etc.); creation and agreement procedures;
membership regulation (admission, retirement, etc.);
capital instructions; organization and functions (general
assembly, admin office); financial guidelines; control and
assistance; integration and dissolution; fiscal obligations;
penal provisions; FO unions; National Federation of
Cooperatives.
Egypt 
Egypt 2014 constitution establishes government support
for cooperatives and guarantees protection and
independence.
Oman 
Despite the fact that Oman has a long history of reliance
on the agriculture sector prior to the discovery of oil,
there is no law in the country that gives legal standing to
co-operatives of any kind, let alone FOs. There were high
recommendations given by Sultan Qaboos to start
drafting such a law three years ago, however, these
recommendations have not been taken into
consideration as of today.
Palestine 
This is a complicated issue, given the complex situation of
Palestine as a state. In the West Bank, cooperatives still
operate under the umbrella of the 1956 Jordanian
Cooperative Law. However, this is not the case in the
Gaza Strip, where cooperatives work according to the
Egyptian cooperatives law of 1934 .A new cooperative
law was issued in 2009 by the PNA under the
recommendations of the ILO, however, its consistency in
both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is still not
optimal.
Qatar 
The activities of cooperatives in Qatar are regulated by
the Co-operative Law of Qatar that was legislated in
1975.
Saudi Arabia 
Farmer organizations do have legal standing in Saudi
Arabia. However, this is not done through a specific co-
operative law.
Sudan

USAID 2008 - The
Cooperative Law and
Regulation Initiative-
Cooperative Societies Act, 33, 2003:
Syria  The co-operative law that still guides the work of co-
operatives in Syria today is the 1955 number 65f law.