MGTO submits F&B licensing bill to Legal Affairs Bureau

The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has confirmed that a draft bill – which proposes to issue a temporary license to restaurants – has been submitted to the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ).

Temporary licenses are taken as a measure to speed up the licensing process, MGTO told local broadcaster TDM, noting that the draft bill is still subject to adjustment by DSAJ.

It is still unknown when the bill will be delivered to the Executive Council.

The Times contacted the tourism body to request further information about the draft bill but no reply was provided by press time.

Currently, MGTO grants licenses to restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

In a session at the Legislative Assembly last month, lawmakers Kou Hoi In and Si Ka Lon questioned the progress of simplifying license application procedures for restaurants, in response to which MGTO director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes explained that the bureau is planning to revise the license application law.

The revised procedure would allow the bureau to give temporary licenses to applicants.

Fernandes also explained that license application procedures for restaurants in hotels take time to be approved due to the complicated procedures involved, as it would need to reach the quality standards of both hotel and restaurant.

Thus, the director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP), Kou Peng Kuan, said that the bureau is implementing a new system of temporary licenses that will allow establishments to start operating conditionally while the licensing process is ongoing.

Currently, only the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) can grant general restaurants a temporary license with a six-month validity period.

Back in December, it was announced that MGTO and IACM would issue licenses to restaurants as separate administrative entities.

Fernandes said restaurants inside hotels or shopping malls will be licensed by MGTO, whereas all other restaurants will be licensed by IACM, and she believed that only a few restaurant licenses would be transferred to IACM.

She also said that the tourism body is reviewing its own licensing mechanism, with the department having already approved the first draft of the review.