Moldova to have National Atlas

Moldova will have a National Atlas, an official cartographic document that will include geographic, economic, social and historical information about the country's territory. The parliament approved a draft law to this effect today.

The legislative initiative, developed by the Agency for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre, aims to improve the quality of services in the field and enhance geospatial activities in Moldova.

The document establishes, among other things, the expansion of the competencies of the Agency for Geodesy, Cartography, and Cadastre, which will also oversee the appraisal of movable assets and not just immovable ones. At the same time, appraisers will be required to undergo continuous professional training every five years, and their reports will be reviewed by a special verification council, which can propose sanctions or the revocation of certificates in case of misconduct.

Also, the document introduces the notion of "cadastral work," establishes the types and contents of these works and the compulsoriness of the certification of cadastral engineers. They will need to hold a professional competence certificate, valid for five years, and participate in continuous training programmes.

Other important provisions include: assigning the National Technical Supervision Inspectorate the role of monitoring and controlling cadastral activities; explicitly regulating the entities that can perform cadastral work; mandatory re-assessment of registrars in case of repeated misconduct; and simplifying the procedure for registering public agricultural land by eliminating the need for prior delimitation.

The parliament’s plenum is set to consider the draft in the second reading.