Government and productive sector align to modernize sensitive food regulations. The Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI in Spanish) held a strategic meeting to update the National Technical Food Regulations related to food products, reaching a consensus on the need to coordinate efforts and modernize the regulations. These actions aim to strengthen the country’s food security and ensure a more coherent, updated, and representative regulatory framework for the sector’s needs.
The Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Eduardo Arango, highlighted the importance of the inter-institutional forum as a key space for building a solid governmental roadmap aligned with the policies of the National Assembly, the Central Government, and the requirements of the productive sector. He emphasized that the consensus reached reflects the State’s commitment to coordinating efforts, which will be essential for maintaining effective dialog with the industry, producers, and consumers in the next stage.

The first meeting was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Health (MINSA in Spanish), the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA in Spanish), the Consumer Protection and Competition Defense Authority (ACODECO in Spanish), the Panamanian Food Agency (APA in Spanish), the National Customs Authority (ANA in Spanish), and members of the National Assembly linked to the agri-food sector.

During the meeting, it was agreed to establish an inter-institutional roadmap to review technical regulations in strategic sectors such as dairy products, meat (beef and pork), poultry, and grains like rice.