PANAMÁ

On March 4, the Trade Committee began debating the bill obliging suppliers of medicines to detail information on their products, a text driven by MP Kayra Harding (Partido Revolucionario Democrático – ruling party). The text requires suppliers to include the characteristics of the medicines being traded in Spanish. The committee will continue to debate the draft in the coming weeks. 

The idea is that all suppliers should provide the consumer with clear and reliable information written in Spanish about the nature, composition, content, weight, origin, expiry date and price of each product. They should also make specific warnings or precautions “representing a danger to human health” clear.

The text establishes that the Ministry of Health (MINSA, for its acronym in Spanish) will be authorized to determine the existence of other additional requirements to be included on medical labels, after the bill is passed. It is important to emphasize that due to support by the ruling party, the bill will most likely progress swiftly through the legislative debate.