For businessmen in the sector in Panama, the rules and regulations that currently apply to the import of cement into the country have lagged behind.

According to the Chamber of Construction (Capac), cement is not the only material that should be regulated, since the rest of the main construction inputs that are marketed and used in industry should also be regulated.

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Héctor Ortega, president of Capac, explained to Prensa.com that “… the industry grew too fast and we were a little behind in terms of updates to standards or regulations.

Regarding current and future regulations, Edgar Arias, director general of Standards and Industrial Technology of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, said that “… although there are standards for the import of cement, they are not strictly complied with, and that is why they are working on the approval of a regulation. It was decided to update the technical standard and elevate it to a technical regulation, because it dates from 1998, before the excessive entry of cement without complying with the requirements.”

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implemented has already been consulted with all parties, including the country’s three cement companies and some 20 importers. The regulations are awaiting approval from the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. Then it will take about six months to disseminate the rule.

CentralAmericaData figures show that between January and June last year the main importer of hydraulic cements in Central America was Nicaragua, with $28 million, followed by Guatemala, with $18 million, El Salvador, with $12 million, Honduras, with $7 million, Panama, with $6 million and Costa Rica, with $5 million.