Bill 377.

Summary.

Article 1 proposes to repeal Law 6 of March 30, 1993, which the bill identifies as the law that superseded Decree No. 121 of May 12, 1966. According to the title of that law, the decree established an inspection and control zone for foot-and-mouth disease in the border region with the Republic of Colombia, together with other provisions. The article describes Law 6 of March 30, 1993 as legislation that established sanitary measures for the control and eradication of foot-and-mouth disease in the Republic of Panama. The proposed measure is the repeal of that law; Article 1 sets out no replacement system for inspection or sanitary control.

Article 2 extends the repeal to Law 49 of August 14, 2001 and Law 35 of July 20, 2008. In addition to naming those two laws, it provides for the repeal of any legal or regulatory provision that amends or regulates the law addressed by the bill, or conflicts with the bill’s provisions. The clause thus covers legal and regulatory provisions falling within those descriptions. The bill places these repeals in a single article alongside the repeal of the two laws it expressly names. That article establishes no duties, prohibitions, procedures, deadlines or penalties for persons involved in controlling foot-and-mouth disease.

Article 3 provides that the proposed law would take effect on the day after its promulgation. This commencement rule applies to the proposed law and accompanies the repeals in the preceding articles. Taken together, the bill’s three articles provide for the repeal of Law 6 of March 30, 1993; the repeal of Law 49 of August 14, 2001 and Law 35 of July 20, 2008, as well as the other provisions covered by Article 2’s repeal clause; and the timing of the proposed law’s entry into force. The text assigns no implementation responsibilities and establishes no replacement sanitary measures.

The bill is submitted to the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) and concerns the regulation of foot-and-mouth disease in the Republic of Panama, particularly the border zone with the Republic of Colombia mentioned in the title of the law proposed for repeal. Its provisions could be of interest to, or affect, public authorities responsible for animal health and border inspection, as well as livestock producers, animal transport operators and agricultural trade businesses connected with that region.