Tunisian Republic
Ministry of Economy and Planning

The authorization as the meaning of Decree 417-2018 is the prior approval granted by the administrative authority to the applicant fulfilling the legal conditions required for the exercise of economic activity or for the realization of a project. Concessions granted by the competent authorities, licenses subject to a call for tenders or authorizations granted by the assembly of representatives of the people within the meaning of the article 13 of the constitution.

All economic activities not provided for in government decree 417-2018 are considered not subject to authorization.

  •  If no time limit for granting the authorization is indicated, a period of sixty (60) days will apply.
  •  If the granting of the authorization requires the intervention of one or more other administrative authorities, by virtue of a law or regulation, the time limit for examining the authorization request is suspended for a period not not exceeding ninety (90) days in any event. If the administrative authority concerned does not take a decision or does not provide the requested data within this period, the administrative authority responsible for the file decides according to the documents contained in the authorization request file.
  •  If the authorization request requires the approval of the higher investment council, the authorization period is one hundred and eighty (180) days from the date of filing the request with the administrative authority concerned.

The competent institution are: The Central Bank of Tunisia, the Approvals Commission at the Central Bank of Tunisia created by law n ° 2016-48 of 11 July 2016 referred to above, the Financial Market Council, the General Insurance Committee and any institution having by law the attribution of regulation of a given sector.

Administrative authorities are public services legally empowered to grant authorizations.