Georgian parliament adopts new foreign agents bill in final reading

The Georgian parliament approved a new foreign agents bill on Tuesday, which the ruling party said is modeled after a similar US law, according to Georgian public broadcaster 1TV.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was adopted during its third and final reading during parliament's plenary session.

The law requires entities representing "foreign principal agents" to officially register, disclose relevant documents publicly, submit annual financial declarations and comply with monitoring to determine compliance or foreign affiliation.

Failure to register or meet the legal requirements will result in criminal liability, according to amendments made to Georgia's Criminal Code. The Anti-Corruption Bureau will be responsible for enforcement.

The legislation allows for the cancelation of registration and mandates oversight to detect agents acting on behalf of foreign interests.

"A law identical to the American standard and an exact copy has been adopted," Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili was quoted after the vote.

In early February, Mamuka Mdinaradze, parliamentary leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said his party would introduce a draft bill that is a "direct copy" of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), noting the partial implementation of the law on Transparency of Foreign Influence.

The law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, which entered into force last June, requires organizations, including media outlets, which receive more than 20% of their funding from overseas, to register with the state. It also requires them to publish annual financial reports.