At the sitting held on 8 December, the Finance Committee considered the amendments submitted to the Bill amending and modifying the Tobacco Law and Bill amending and modifying the Law on Games of Chance.

A total of 10 amendments had been submitted to the Bill amending and modifying the Tobacco Law. The Government and the Committee rejected 9 of the amendments submitted by the deputies, while the Committee accepted the Government’s amendment to article 8 of the Bill and submitted an amendment of its own, correcting a technical mistake in article 16 of the Bill.

41 amendments had been submitted to the Bill amending and modifying the Law on Games of Chance. The Government and the Committee accepted one amendment to article 7 of the Bill, while the Committee also accepted the Government’s amendment to article 47 of the Bill.

By a majority of votes, the Committee members also accepted the Bills on the Confirmation of the Protocol of 1992 to amend the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage of 29 November 1969, and on the Confirmation of the Protocol of 1992 to amend the International Convention on the establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage of 18 December 1971.

The Committee went on to consent to the State Audit Institution 2011 Financial Plan Proposal considered at the previous sitting, after the SAI Council President and Ministry of Finance representative informed it that the funds requested for SAI financing in the upcoming year would be included in their entirety in the 2011 budget.

SAI Council President Radoslav Sretenovic informed the Committee members that, on 16 December, the SAI would submit to the National Assembly its audit of the end-of-year statement of the 2009 budget, financial reports of 7 ministries and one administration, as well as the National Bank of Serbia. He also stated that the audit of public enterprises is currently underway.

The sitting was chaired by Zoran Krasic, Committee Chairman.