Law No. 111 of 2013 on Commercial Shop Licences

Law No. 111 of 2013
on Commercial Shop Licences

Articles of Promulgation

Article One

The attached Law Regulating Commercial Shop Licences shall be enforced, and its provisions shall apply to shops and establishments operating in the State of Kuwait.

Article Two

The Minister of Commerce and Industry shall issue the Executive Regulations of this Law within three months from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette, provided that the regulations and resolutions currently in force shall continue to apply until this Law comes into force.
Existing licences shall remain valid until the end of their term.

Article Three

The Law Regulating Commercial Shop Licences No. (32) of 1969 referred to above is hereby repealed, as is any provision that conflicts with the provisions of this Law.

Article Four

The Prime Minister and the Ministers, each within his competence, shall implement this Law, which shall come into force three months from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

Law Regulating Commercial Shop Licences

Article 1

No establishment or office may be opened or owned for the purpose of engaging in trade or practising a profession or craft except after obtaining a licence to that effect from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, unless the practice of the profession or craft is subject to special laws, decrees or resolutions. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry shall issue this licence to whoever applies for it where the conditions stipulated in this Law or any other law are met, together with the other conditions supplementary to the procedures for granting the licence as specified by the Executive Regulations of this Law.
An application for a licence may not be rejected except on the ground that any of the conditions for granting the licence is not met, provided that the Executive Regulations specify the period prescribed for issuing the decision of approval or rejection.

Article 2

Without prejudice to the Companies Law and the laws regulating the practice of certain activities, the Minister of Commerce and Industry shall issue a resolution specifying and classifying the commercial activities that may be practised in the State and their capital, in accordance with the latest internationally recognised systems, and shall work to develop and update them periodically in line with the needs of economic activity in the country and the requirements of its economic development. The resolution shall be published in the Official Gazette, in a special booklet and on the Ministry’s website.

Article 3

The following conditions shall be met by the licence applicant:
1 – The applicant shall be a natural or legal person of Kuwaiti nationality or holding the nationality of a State of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.
2 – If the licence applicant is a natural person, the applicant shall be not less than 21 years of age, the owner of the capital of the establishment and responsible for its management, and shall manage it for his own account. If it is a company, it shall be incorporated in accordance with the Companies Law.
3 – If the licence applicant is a foreign company or one of its branches, it shall satisfy the conditions set out in the laws, regulations or resolutions regulating the practice by foreign companies or their branches of the activity for which it wishes to obtain a licence in the State of Kuwait.

Article 4

No licence to engage in trade may be granted to a trader who has been declared bankrupt, unless this is with the permission of the bankruptcy judge in accordance with Article (591) of the Commercial Code. Nor may a licence be granted to any person convicted of a crime of fraudulent bankruptcy, commercial fraud, theft, swindling, breach of trust, forgery or use of forged documents, unless he has been rehabilitated. Any person who engages in trade in violation of this prohibition shall be punished by the penalties stipulated in Decree-Law No. (68) of 1980 Promulgating the Commercial Code referred to above.

Article 5

Where ownership of a licensed commercial establishment passes to persons lacking or having diminished legal capacity, the guardian, custodian or curator of any of them shall apply to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to amend the licence if he has obtained the court’s permission to invest their funds in trade in accordance with the Commercial Code, provided that the licence in this case includes the name of the guardian, custodian or curator of any of them, who shall be responsible for any violation of the provisions of this Law.

Article 6

The licence shall be issued on a temporary basis and for a period specified by the Regulations, and the person concerned shall obtain the remaining approvals within that period from the relevant authorities as regards the type of activity to be practised and the suitability of the establishment’s location for practising that activity, all unless the said approvals have already been obtained.
The Executive Regulations of this Law shall specify the procedures for submitting a licence application and the documents and information required for its issuance.
The Executive Regulations shall also provide for the establishment of a unit at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to assist licence applicants in completing the procedures for its issuance in a manner that ensures the completion of all transactions by the competent authorities, provided that the unit includes representatives of all the other relevant authorities.
The Executive Regulations shall regulate the permissibility of dealing with electronic records, registers and documents exchanged between the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and other government entities through government electronic programmes and systems.
If the period of the temporary licence expires without the required approvals having been completed for a reason attributable to the licence applicant’s default, the temporary licence issued by the Ministry shall be cancelled.

Article 7

The Executive Regulations shall specify the activities that may not be practised under a temporary licence.

Article 8

The Minister of Commerce and Industry may grant any person, whether natural or legal, a licence to hold exhibitions limited to the display of goods and products, provided that no buying or selling is carried out through them except with his permission.
The licence shall be cancelled by a resolution of the Minister of Commerce and Industry if such exhibitions are used for purposes other than those for which they are intended.

Article 9

The Executive Regulations shall specify the general and special requirements for licences relating to foodstuffs and to hazardous and nuisance shops that may cause harm to public health or public tranquillity, in coordination with the competent authorities.

Article 10

The Executive Regulations shall specify the durations of the licences granted in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

Article 11

The licence shall be cancelled in the following cases:
1 – If the company to which the licence was issued ceases to exist, or is dissolved and liquidated.
2 – At the request of the licence holder.
3 – If the activity is not practised for six consecutive months without notifying the Ministry.
4 – If the licence is not renewed within one year from the date of its expiry.
5 – If it is proven that the licensee obtained the licence on the basis of false information or forged or sham documents.
6 – If the licensee violates the requirements attached to the licence and set out in the Executive Regulations of this Law.
7 – If he violates the health conditions, or offers for sale spoiled foodstuffs or adulterated goods or products, or goods or products harmful to health.
8 – If the licensee’s right to engage in trade lapses in accordance with the provisions of the law.
9 – If the licensee leases the licence to third parties.

Article 12

Unless a more severe penalty is stipulated in another law, any person who commits the acts stipulated in Clauses (5) and (7) of the preceding Article shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year and a fine of not less than one thousand dinars and not exceeding five thousand Kuwaiti dinars, or by either of these two penalties.

Article 12 bis

Any natural person who practises any money exchange business, such as buying, selling or exchanging local or foreign currencies, or transferring them inside or outside the State, for the account of the public without obtaining a licence to do so shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months and a fine not exceeding three thousand dinars, or by either of these two penalties.
A private legal person shall be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dinars and not exceeding twenty thousand dinars if it practises any of the business referred to in the preceding paragraph without obtaining a licence to do so. It may also be sentenced to the closure of the establishment or its branches used in committing this crime, and the judgment may be accompanied by the publication of the conviction in the Official Gazette.
In all the cases stipulated in this Article, the judgment shall order the confiscation of the currencies that are the subject of the crime and the tools used in committing it.
The Public Prosecution shall have jurisdiction over the investigation, disposition and prosecution of the crimes stipulated in this Article.
* Added by Decree-Law No. 162 of 2025 (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue No. 1771, 28 December 2025).

Article 13

The shop shall be closed administratively in the cases stipulated in Clauses (5), (6), (7), (8) and (9) of Article (11).

Article 14

The Regulations shall specify the procedures for transferring the licence to the heirs and the cases of assignment of the licence to third parties.

Article 15

Employees delegated by the Minister of Commerce and Industry who have the capacity of judicial police officers shall have the power to inspect licences and commercial shops in order to record any violations of the provisions of this Law that may occur.

Article 16

Licensees shall pay the prescribed fees in the manner specified by the Executive Regulations of this Law.

Issued on 22 May 2013 and published in the Official Gazette Kuwait Al-Youm on 16 June 2013.