Afghanistan’s extractive industry is governed by the 2019 Mineral Law and the Hydrocarbons Law of 2017.
According to the 2016-2017 EITI Report, the 2019 Mineral Law and implementing regulations was designed to improve the governance of the sector, secure optimal resources for the state, improve the confidence of potential investors and facilitate local community participation in mining. The law prohibits elected politicians and senior government officials from acquiring mining contracts.
The 2017 Hydrocarbons Law requires contracts to be awarded subject to the completion of a public, transparent and competitive tender process managed by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum. In the event of a tie between two bidding companies, the law favours the bidder with an Afghan partner.
The 2016-2017 EITI Report is a good source of information on these issues, including state participation in the extractive sector and artisanal and small-scale mining. In early 2020, the two state-owned enterprises, Afghan Gas and North Coal Enterprises, published their financial statements that had been audited for the first time.
Tax code
The Ministry of Finance is the sole public authority with jurisdiction to collect taxes and custom duties and the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum is the authority with jurisdiction to collect non-tax revenues such as royalties.
Contracts
All contracts should by law be published and be made available online. Mining, oil and gas contracts have been published on the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum website.
Licenses
Mining regulations stipulate that announcements of bidding be published on the Ministry of Mines’ website, national and international press and media in Dari, Pashto and English, by the Department of Cadaster. The announcement is also to be provided to local government authorities by letter.
The regulations require that no later than ten days following the execution of any mining contract, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) is to publish an announcement summarising the material terms of the contract, including a summary of the minimum working obligations, rate of royalties and other material revenues and benefits that the government will derive from the contract.
In 2018, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum launched the Afghanistan Transparency Portal, which includes an online cadastral system and disclosure of non-tax payments on a per-license basis.