The National Assembly introduced the Co-operatives and Farmer Groups Bill of Bhutan 2025, aiming to revise outdated laws and streamline co-operative formation, regulation, and accountability. The new Bill addresses challenges to co-operative formation in Bhutan, repealing previous legislation and allowing one-year validity of registration certificates, allowing for easier renewal. The bill repeals the Co-operatives Act of 2009 and related guidelines, aims to address poor policy support and weak monitoring, and introduces mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation, and reporting. Dispute resolution procedures within these entities will also be outlined in the delegated legislation. According to the Bill, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock will be in charge of promoting and assisting farmer groups and cooperatives.
It goes on to describe the duties of FGs and Coops as well as the functions of the DAMC. The new rules require a cooperative to be formed with a minimum of 15 members, one from each family. A minimum of seven members, each from a different family, are required for FGs. Any FG with above 14 members needs to become a cooperative. In addition, the Bill outlines the responsibilities and rights of individual members as well as those of the Federations of Co-operatives, Co-ops, FGs, and the Union of Federations. The Bill states that, based on performance and need, all such groups may seek upgrading, merging, creating associations, or dissolving.