Data-center law in Vanuatu

Environmental Management and Conservation Act [CAP 283] (Act No. 12 of 2002)

Effective 2003-03-10 · Applies to both

Section 1 applies the Act throughout Vanuatu, including its lands, air, and waters, and section 11 requires every project, proposal, or development activity that impacts or is likely to impact the environment and requires a licence, permit, or approval under any law to comply with the Act.

Section 12 subjects a project to environmental impact assessment where it is likely to cause a significant environmental, social, or custom impact, including impacts on coastal dynamics, water resources, land contamination, public health, air quality, or the unsustainable use of renewable resources, with narrow exemptions in section 13 for small-scale residential and traditional construction and emergency action.

Section 24 makes it an offence, punishable by a fine of up to VT1,000,000 or imprisonment of up to 2 years, or both, to undertake an EIA-subject activity without written approval or after approval has been refused, and section 41 imposes the same penalty for providing false information, obstructing an officer, or breaching an approval's terms. Section 42 makes each day a continuing offence lasts a separate offence.

The Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation, the Act's administering agency, states that the Act as currently in force also incorporates the Environmental Management and Conservation (Amendment) in the Statute Law (Miscellaneous) Provisions Act No. 2 of 2010 and the Environmental Management and Conservation (Amendment) Act No. 28 of 2010, whose text is not described here.

Source: Full text of law

Electricity Supply Act [CAP 65]

Effective 1972-03-24 · Applies to both

Section 3 gives the concessionnaire holding the sole concession for electricity supply at Port Vila and Luganville the exclusive right, within its concession area, to generate, supply, and sell electricity, and section 4 makes it an offence, punishable by a fine of up to VT250,000, for any other person to generate, distribute, or supply electricity within that area, while expressly excepting a person generating electricity for their own use in a dwelling house, store, workshop, or other premises they own.

Section 8 criminalises malicious damage to an electric line or work with imprisonment of up to 2 years, and separately fines maliciously extinguishing a public lamp up to VT10,000 or up to 3 months' imprisonment, or both.

Sections 9 to 13 fine wasting or diverting electricity, damaging works, other wrongful acts against the concessionnaire's meters or equipment, and obstructing an authorised officer, in amounts from VT5,000 to VT50,000, and section 14 lets the Minister responsible for power make regulations carrying fines of up to VT10,000.

Source: Full text of law

Utilities Regulatory Authority Act No. 11 of 2007

Effective 2008-02-11 · Applies to both

Section 2 states the Act's purpose as regulating certain utilities to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable regulated services and to maximise access to them throughout Vanuatu, and section 1 defines a regulated service as the supply of electricity or water to a consumer, including all processes leading up to that supply.

Section 3 applies the Act to a regulated service only to the extent it is not inconsistent with an applicable contract or another Act, and Part 3 gives the Authority power to issue safety standards, safety orders, and reliability standards for a regulated service, determine maximum prices, and assist consumers to resolve grievances with a utility.

Section 21 makes it an offence for a utility to contravene a safety, reliability, or price determination, engage in anti-competitive conduct, or provide false or misleading information, with strict liability and a fine on conviction of up to VT50,000,000 for a body corporate or VT5,000,000 for an individual, enforced by the Authority through a civil claim in the Supreme Court or Magistrates Court rather than a criminal prosecution.

Source: Full text of law

Foreign Investment Act No. 25 of 2019

Effective 2020-01-15 · Applies to private

Part 2 establishes the Vanuatu Foreign Investment Promotion Agency as a body corporate to advise Government on foreign investment and administer the Act. Section 35(2) bars a foreign investor from carrying out an investment activity without a valid certificate of registration issued under the Act. A foreign investor is defined to include a natural person who is not a citizen of Vanuatu and a body corporate not wholly owned or controlled by Vanuatu citizens.

Sections 17 to 31 let the Agency and Council of Ministers maintain and review Prohibited, Reserved, and Restricted Lists of investment activities, and section 56 makes it an offence, punishable on conviction by a fine of up to VT1 million for an individual or VT2 million for a body corporate, to carry out an investment activity without the required registration certificate.

Section 58 separately fines or imprisons for up to 2 months, or both, a person who knowingly makes a false or misleading statement in connection with an application or other document under the Act, and section 59 fines or imprisons for up to 12 months a person who improperly discloses or uses information obtained while administering the Act.

Source: Full text of law