The Government approved, this Tuesday, the decree authorizing the Central Bureau of Asset Recovery and its provincial delegations to investigate, trace, seize and recover assets, instruments, products and advantages of any nature, related to the practice of illicit and/or criminal activities inside or outside the country.

The Law on Extended Forfeiture of Assets, Recovery and Management of Assets in Favor of the State was passed in 2020, and the Central Asset Recovery Office now approved will be a "multisectoral body subordinated to the Public Prosecutor's Office, with powers of investigation, tracing, seizure and recovery of assets."

The decree, approved at the session of the Council of Ministers, is aimed at materializing the 2020 law regulating extended confiscation of property, including assets that were already in the defendant's sphere five years before the indictment.

The rule also requires that the court pursue property in the possession of third parties, which has been disposed of free of charge or for a consideration by the defendant up to five years before the indictment.

On the other hand, assets that are not compatible with the lawful income of the person convicted of committing a criminal activity will be presumed to be unlawful and subject to appropriation by the state.

The document obliges members of the governing bodies of credit institutions, financial companies, and tax administration officials to break professional secrecy on matters of interest to the discovery of the material truth of facts related to criminal activity.

In the same session, the executive approved the Regulation for Standardization and Conformity Assessment, an instrument that aims to ensure quality in products and goods for the consumer.

The government also approved the decree regulating fishing in inland waters and the decree approving the system of accumulation and transfer of education credits. The latter instrument aims to facilitate the mobility of personnel who wish to transit between different learning contexts within the professional education subsystem.