The General Secretariat of the Cabinet has been placed under the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs with the Minister of State as in-charge.
The Prime Minister as head of the Cabinet has to report about Cabinet activities quarterly to the Emir and the Heir Apparent.
The Foreign Ministry will have two departments: Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs being in-charge of the two departments and its various sections, including the human rights office.
Fisheries, animal husbandry and agriculture have been placed under the Ministry of Environment and the assistant undersecretary of laboratory affairs will be in-charge of the Organization of Standards and Metrology, which was an independent authority.
The Ministry of Business and Trade, on the other hand, will have 12 departments. Public Transport is a separate department at the Ministry of Business and Trade and it will take care of ports and maritime activities as well.
The existing customs and ports authority has been abolished and while ports have been assigned to the business and trade ministry, customs now falls within the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Land, air and sea customs have been separated but put under one department, that is, the Department of Customs at the economy and Finance Ministry, while ports fall under Maritime Affairs Department of the Business and Trade Ministry.
Two more independent agencies, the state-run Zakat Fund and Haj Committee, have been placed under a ministry. Zakat Fund and Haj Committee is now part of the Ministry of Awqaf (endowment) and Islamic Affairs. They form two separate departments within the ministry with the pilgrimage panel now known as Haj and Umrah Committee.
A separate department has been created at the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning for private property acquisition for public use.
An Emiri Decision (Number 28 of 2009) was issued by the Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent, H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on Tuesday ordering the above restructuring. The decision comes into effect immediately after being issued.
The structure of the cabinet is being changed in a bid to enable it to help the Emir perform his duties as Supreme Executive Authority, the preamble of the Decision said. Meanwhile, the Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning said in a statement yesterday that all officials should keep doing their jobs until further notice so as not to disrupt the services rendered to the public.
