The Executive has approved the fifth business deregulation package. The package covers changes to government decisions related to a variety of issues. Among the main provisions in the draft is the exclusion of adaptation medical examinations, which take place once every 3 months after employment and do not bring benefits, but only represent a major administrative burden. According to the health regulation on the health surveillance of persons exposed to occupational risk factors, several areas of work are covered by the adaptation medical examination. The most conservative estimates suggest that of all workers employed annually, approx. 48 000 could be subject to adaptation testing.

The cost of the examination would vary widely depending on the type of work, but would be on average about. 200 lei. Otherwise, the exams alone, being taken by all those concerned, would cost the business community approx. 10 million lei annually. In addition, each medical examination would consume at least 2 hours of the employee’s time, related to travel, waiting and examination. The cost per hour, based on the projected salary for 2023, including social contributions and other costs related to the procedure, would be approx. 104 lei per hour.

Thus, in total, the effort of employees could be approx. 95 thousand hours per year, valued at up to approx. 10 million lei annually. Another provision that the state wants to waive is the exclusion of periodic medical examinations for workers who use more than 50% of computers and similar devices, but nowadays practically all workers use computers and it is no longer a risk factor at work and is used not only in the ICT sector. Examinations for workers using computers and other devices take place every 2 years.

According to estimates approx. 100 thousand employees are estimated to be covered. If all those concerned were subject to the exams, which would cost about. 200 lei, the total cost would be 20 million every 2 years, or 10 million per year. Another exclusion concerns the doctor’s notes on the medical record sheet, which makes the sheet practically daily, so the check-up will be certified by a separate note, not linked to the sheet. It should be noted that 1,697,062 roadmaps were sold by specialised institutions in 2022. Another provision concerns the extension of eligibility for subsidy to more rural tourist accommodation structures, such as rural houses, tourist hostels, craft establishments. In 2022, interest-covering subsidies were granted for loans taken out by agritourism guesthouses.

A total of 11 subsidies were granted for a total amount of 849 thousand lei, which, based on the average nominal rate set by the NBM at the beginning of the year, would have facilitated loans in the amount of approx. 9.9 million lei. Thus, if the other 2 types of tourist ostriches were eligible for subsidies, and each one would receive similar amounts, we could facilitate the sector’s access to another approx. 20 million lei in loans. The draft amendments also remove the certificate of conformity for juices, as laboratory tests of harmlessness are sufficient and standardisation applies to non-food products. In 2022, 40 certificates of conformity were issued. Before certificates are issued, laboratory tests are carried out separately. These will remain, also taking into account the harmlessness aspects.

The certificate can cost from 3,000 to 10,000 lei. However, it is important to note that copies of the certificates must accompany each product and be present at all juice marketing establishments. This adds up to a huge amount of paperwork and some oversights in this respect are liable to fines. It also excludes from the government decisions the obligation to report to military centres about employees, as it has already been excluded from the legislation by the package No 1 adopted this year. The impact of this solution is estimated at up to 2 million lei annually.

The Secretariat of the Economic Council to the Prime Minister is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, funded by the UK Government’s Good Governance Fund, and the International Finance Corporation’s Investment Climate Reform Project funded by the Government of Sweden’s International Development Agency.

The Secretariat of the Economic Council to the Prime Minister is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, funded by the UK Government’s Good Governance Fund.