The Government of Panama launched the new Panamanian Food Agency (APA) this Friday, with the promise that it will boost national production and prevent the disorderly importation of food products into the country.

The APA “will be in charge of the management and verification of procedures for the agro-industrial and industrial production of food, export and import of products, their transit and transshipment,” the government said in a statement.

his new agency replaces the Panamanian Food Safety Authority (Aupsa), created in 2006 and indicated by national producers to allow excessive importation of all types of food, especially meat and dairy, even during the national harvest season.

“Today the Aupsa disappears, this highway for imports, as defined by national producers, where there were no clear rules, the agreements of the agri-food chain were not respected, and the entry of products of dubious origin, which did not They had the essential health certificate of origin, “said Cortizo.

The Minister of Agricultural Development, Augusto Valderrama, called the defunct Aupsa “a nightmare,” and pointed out that “petty importers took advantage of” that institution “to practically kill off many productive sectors” in Panama.

“The APA becomes an ally of producers to streamline the processes of production, import and export of food in a transparent manner and safeguarding human health and the animal and plant heritage of the country,” said the Government in its statement.

Panamanian producers have been demanding more support from the State for years to boost production in the field, relegated for decades and with a weight in the gross domestic product (GDP) that does not reach 3%.

Precisely one of the campaign promises of President Cortizo, a former Minister of Agriculture, is the reactivation of the Panamanian countryside.

With the launch of the APA “we honor our commitment to strengthen the institutional framework of the processes related to plant and animal health safety and the quality of the food consumed by the population (…) today is a day of victory for Panama , an important date for the agricultural sector, for our farmers in the countryside and for consumers, “Cortizo said.

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