Bill 156.

Summary.

The bill establishes technical regulations for pork and pork products intended for human consumption that are processed, portioned, packaged, stored, transported, or sold in the Republic of Panama. It covers domestic and imported products and applies to production, portioning, storage, and sales establishments; carriers; importers; butcher shops; supermarkets; markets; grocery stores; and other retail outlets.

It defines the processes and products used in the regulations, including pork carcasses, fresh meat, frozen meat, butchering, distribution, refrigeration, marinating, and tenderizing. Citing the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency (Agencia de Normas Alimentaria del Reino Unido), it treats refrigerated meat that has undergone no other preservation treatment as fresh for up to 10 days after slaughter. It also defines official inspection, hygiene and manufacturing practices, the sanitary license issued by the National Directorate of Food Control and Veterinary Surveillance (Dirección Nacional de Control de Alimentos y Vigilancia Veterinaria) of the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud), and the roles of customs and pig-farmer observers in imports.

It provides that fresh meat must be kept refrigerated and the cold chain maintained. Establishments that store, distribute, or sell these products must have preservation equipment. After a shelf life of 10 days from slaughter, the meat must be frozen and sold as frozen. Sellers must retain documentation identifying the country of origin. Thawing meat to sell it as fresh refrigerated meat is prohibited; frozen meat that is cut into portions must continue to be marketed as frozen. Retail outlets must have freezing, labeling, and traceability equipment. Transport of frozen products must have equipment that maintains a temperature of -18 degrees Celsius.

For imported meat, the bill requires a sworn declaration of its intended use and how it will be marketed. If it is intended for further processing, sanitary registration of the processed product must be obtained. It permits frozen meat to be marketed in processing plants and retail establishments subject to requirements concerning documentation, traceability, equipment, and sale in a frozen state. It prohibits the manufacture and import of synthetic, artificial, or laboratory-grown meat and provides for oversight to distinguish such meat when it enters the country.

For labeling, it refers to the Codex Alimentarius standard CODEX STAN 1-1995 and requires a Spanish-language label for domestic and imported products. The label must identify the processing plant, slaughter, packaging, and expiration dates, the cut, the species, the country of origin, and storage instructions. It also requires a code on the packaging that allows customs and pig-farmer observers to verify the information. The bill reiterates that standard as a reference document throughout the country.

Conformity assessment involves the Ministry of Health’s National Directorate of Food Control and Veterinary Surveillance, the National Directorate of Animal Health (Dirección Nacional de Salud Animal) of the Ministry of Agricultural Development (Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario), and the Consumer Protection and Competition Defense Authority (Autoridad de Protección al Consumidor y Defensa de la Competencia, ACODECO). For imports, it also involves the Panamanian Food Agency (Agencia Panameña de Alimentos, APA) and the National Customs Authority (Autoridad Nacional de Aduanas). Through the customs observer, the latter would oversee operations at ports, airports, and free zones, including physical and document inspections, tariff classification, valuation, origin, labeling, and analysis. Customs information would be shared daily on a digital platform. ACODECO would audit frozen meat inventories against sales, which must be invoiced as frozen and state their origin where applicable.

The bill’s provisions would also apply to public institutions, municipalities, and nongovernmental, religious, and political organizations that carry out the covered activities. It would enter into force on the day after its promulgation. Its subject matter relates to health, agricultural, customs, and consumer protection authorities, as well as pig farming, the meat industry, imports, refrigerated transport, and food retail.