Argentina – ANMAT incorporates Monk Fruit extract into the Food Code

The National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, thru Joint Resolution 3/2026, incorporates Monk Fruit extract (Siraitia grosvenorii), also known as Monk Fruit, Luo Han Guo, or Rakanka; it is a natural sweetener derived from a small Asian fruit; used internationally as an alternative to sugar and is incorporated into article 1398 of the CAA.

Its sweetness mainly comes from mogrosides, especially mogroside V, with a sweetening power between 100 and 250 times that of sugar, practically without any caloric contribution.

Main benefits:

  • It does not significantly raise blood sugar levels as it is not metabolized like common sugars.
  • Its caloric contribution is practically negligible, and therefore, it is useful in “sugar-free,” “low-calorie” formulations or aimed at people who cannot consume other natural sweeteners like sucrose.
  • Its sensory profile is more pleasant than other intense sweeteners because it has less bitterness, less metallic aftertaste, and a sweetness sensation closer to sugar.
  • Technological versatility: It is stable in beverages, dairy products, supplements, baked goods, and functional formulations.

The most frequently used applications worldwide are: Sugar-free drinks, dietary supplements, sports proteins, protein bars, products called “keto,” table sweeteners.

The incorporated regulation establishes the criteria for identity, quality, and purity, ensuring its safe use in food and making significant nutritional contributions to food and beverage matrices.

Ecuador – ARCSA establishes a temporary and definitive regulatory regime for the registration of importers and distributors in health notifications

The competent health authority, in coordination with the Foreign Trade Committee, has issued a binding regulatory directive to definitively establish the administrative regime applicable to the processing of applications for the inclusion or registration of importers and distributors in health notification certificates, health records, and mandatory health notifications. This legal measure is directly framed within the official implementation phase of the strategic guidelines set forth in Resolution 017-2025, a commercial control instrument originally issued in December of the previous year and formally published in the Official Register 188 for national observance. In strict application of the Second Transitional Provision of the aforementioned regulation, the mandate establishes an exceptional and temporary regime with an exact duration of one hundred and twenty calendar days, counted rigorously from the date the legal document comes into effect. During this transitional period of administrative adaptation, all procedures aimed at the inclusion or updating of import and distribution entities in the current health records will be processed under the technical figure of record modification. To facilitate the operational regularization of commercial agents in the regulated sector, the governmental body stipulates that, for the purpose of collecting official fees, a financial amount equivalent to ten percent of the originally set tariff value for obtaining the respective primary certificate will be applied. Under this temporary scheme, the regulation expressly authorizes product holders to simultaneously incorporate one or more associated importers and distributors thru the submission of a single application, significantly reducing the bureaucratic and economic burdens for companies. However, the legal text explicitly warns that, once this peremptory transition period of one hundred and twenty days has expired, the technical incorporation of new actors in the marketing chain will be irrevocably subject to the permanent provisions stipulated in Article 4 of Ministerial Agreement 112. Consequently, under this definitive and post-transitional framework, the regulatory entity will require the individualized payment of the fee corresponding to ten percent of the base amount of the sanitary registration for each additional importer or distributor intended to be added to the file, consolidating a strict monitoring scheme that requires companies to strategically plan their distribution logistics before the conclusion of the tariff flexibility period.