Adapt the country’s sanitary norms to international standards and unify food import and export systems is part of the plan proposed by the Varela administration.

In order to take advantage of commercial agreements and increase exports to the European and North American markets, the government is working to consolidate its health systems.

The Panamanian Association of Exporters (Apex) CEO, Rosmer Jurado, said to Elcapitalfinanciero.com that “… the government’s decision to initiate the process of unification and modernization of the country’s health system is key to ensure that importers and exporters fulfill the same standards, so that consumers are assured that imported products meet the same quality requirements as domestic production, ensuring their safety.”

Jurado added that “… this will allow more rapid progress in the approval of farms and processing plants interested in exporting their products to international markets, since many countries with which Panama has commercial agreements have health systems run by only one institution, while at the local level, imports are regulated by Minsa, Mida and Aupsa, and Mici and Mida are involved in exports, which makes dialogue with their counterparts difficult. ”

For its part, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Augusto Arosemena, said that “… despite the existing coordination between this entity, the Ministry of Health (Minsa), the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) and the Panamanian Food Security (Aupsa), it is evident that the country can not keep fractioned its health system, as this is negatively affecting exporters, because it hinders communication with the authorities of the main international markets to which they want to take our products.”