The Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF) is to review six more outmoded business laws currently being used in the country. The review is aimed at improving the regulatory environment for business operations in the country.

These outmoded laws, which PEF intends to review, are the Companies Code, 1963, the Bodies Corporate (Official Liquidation) Act, 1963, the Incorporated Private Partnership Act 1962, Contract Act, (Act 25) 1960, the Insurance Law 1989 (PNDCL) as amended and the Export and Import Act 1995 as amended.

The review of these laws follows the successful execution of a similar project in 2003/4 during which six other laws were reviewed by PEF with support from the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) of Washington D.C., USA. The first project reviewed business related bills/laws under the business legislative and advocacy project.

The objective of the project was to foster stakeholder?s participation in legislative process thereby improving the legal regulatory framework for business operations. The first six laws reviewed under the first project were the Public Procurement Bill, which is now an Act, the Right to Information Bill, the Industrial Designs Bill (which is now an Act), the Insolvency Bill, the Competition and Fair Trade Practices Bill and the Mortgages.

Addressing journalists in Accra last Thursday, the director general of PEF, Dr. Osei Boeh-Ocansey, said the foundation?s approach to the review through stakeholder workshops provided an opportunity for parliamentarians, policy makers, and the media to be exposed to the private sector position on issues.

Touching on how to ensure that these laws are implemented or active after the review, Dr. Boeh-Ocansey said with the coming into force of the commercial courts, things were expected to move faster, adding that with support coming from foreign partners it would be ensured that the laws worked.

The director-general of PEF said the review had come at this time because of the prevailing economic stability, adding that when conditions are turbulent it?s not easy to identify such faults.