Draft bill 297.

Summary.

The draft bill seeks to guarantee all students at higher education institutions in the Republic of Panama equitable access at affordable cost to copying, printing and binding services for theses, reports and graduation papers. It covers services needed for the formal submission of academic documents required to obtain degrees or certifications. This definition links the services to the document requirements of public and private universities and to the formal submission of students’ academic work.

The proposed rules would apply to every university and higher education institution in the country, whether public or private, regardless of its administrative or financial arrangements. The duty to make the services available would therefore extend to institutions within that scope when they provide the services on their premises and when they arrange for external providers to do so. Universities would have to offer students copying, printing and binding at regulated and affordable prices. Provision on university premises and agreements with external providers are the two means contemplated for meeting that obligation.

Art. 5 refers to coordination between public and private universities and the Consumer Protection and Competition Defense Authority (Autoridad pe Protección al Consumidor y Defensa de la Competencia, ACODECO). The subsequent provisions require universities to display current prices for the regulated services in a visible place and on their digital platforms. The publication duty thus covers both a physical location at the institution and its digital channels, and concerns the current prices of the services subject to regulation.

The bill assigns ACODECO responsibility for supervising and enforcing compliance with its provisions and provides for sanctions in cases of abusive practices or excessive prices. It also allows student associations to take part in monitoring compliance and to report breaches to the competent authorities. As a final provision, it calls on the Executive Branch to issue implementing regulations within no more than (6) months from promulgation.

The public bodies connected with these measures are ACODECO and the Executive Branch. The bill’s provisions could concern or affect students and their associations, public and private universities and other higher education institutions, and providers of copying, printing and binding services for academic documents. These groups are addressed through the proposed arrangements for access, service provision, price publication, oversight and reporting.