Mongolian cooperatives hold a special place in the internationalization of the cooperative idea and practice. The efforts of the Mongolian people were central to securing the UN International Year of Cooperatives 2012 (UN resolution/A/RES/64/136), when the 2011 UNDESA Expert Group Meeting on Cooperatives and Social Development: Beyond 2012 met in Ulan Bator to plan the International Year. Efforts to modernize the Mongolian laws concerning cooperative enterprises began around the same time. With persistent advocacy and evidence-based arguments for a supportive environment for the development of cooperatives, the National Association of Mongolian Agricultural Cooperatives (NAMAC) and the national apex, Mongolian National Cooperatives Association (MNCA) helped pave the way for a revised legal framework for cooperatives in May 2021. The new legislation brings cooperatives closer to the ILO International Labour Standard (Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193) which safeguards the universal values and principles by including the ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity in its provisions and annexe.
Following the participation of NAMAC in the UN Expert Group Meeting ahead of the 2021 Report of the UN Secretary General on Cooperatives in Social Development, the ICA Cooperative Law Committee (CLC) in collaboration with the ICA-AP and the Cooperative News, organized an interview with Altantuya Tseden-Ish, Vice President, NAMAC, to know more about the new law and understand what transpired in the 12 years of relentless advocacy by cooperatives which ushered in a new legal regime for cooperatives. Ms. Ann Apps, Lecturer at the University of New Castle Law School, Australia and a member of the ICA-CLC conducted the interview. Ms. Altantuya discussed the changes in the law, their impact on taxation and accounting issues, and the role of governments and apex bodies in promoting and implementing the law, especially for cooperatives in all sectors.
The video interview and the summary can be accessed here.
ICA-AP undertook the legal framework analysis of its member countries as part of the #coops4dev project. The legal framework analysis report for Mongolia can be accessed here. It reviewed the laws in force before 2019 and recommended clear regulations for secondary cooperatives, part of which has been met by the revised law.
ICA Legislation Service
Did you know that ICA offers independent legal advice to its member organisations through the coordination of the Global Office and the expertise of the ICA CLC members?
Legal experts assess and monitor changes in policies and laws affecting cooperatives at national, regional, and international levels and respond to legal issues that are referred to them from various ICA Bodies – Regional Officer, Sectoral Organisations, and Thematic Committees.
ICA member organisations are encouraged to avail the benefit of this service, ask legal queries and related policy questions, and participate in the ICA Network of Cooperative Lawyers by contacting the secretariat at legislation@ica.coop or kumar@ica.coop.
