Bill 396.

Summary.

The bill establishes a framework to prevent food loss and waste, measure losses, and promote the sustainable use of food resources under the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan. Its objectives include access to sufficient, nutritious food, reduced emissions, and a circular economy. It would apply to producers, processors, distributors, retailers, food services, markets, consumers, organizations offering food programs, food banks, digital platforms, and public administration bodies. It defines, among other terms, food, waste, shrinkage, loss, surplus food, food safety, and food security.

It requires food that has reached its expiration date to be withdrawn from sale and donated to the designated recipients, subject to safety monitoring. The Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud) would regulate a table specifying shelf life after expiration. Seized food fit for consumption would also be donated within a mandatory short period; destroying it would be prohibited if it retained adequate phytosanitary conditions. Companies supplying prepared food could donate surplus food that cannot be reused, in accordance with Law 37 of December 22, 2014. The Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo) would regulate those programs; donations would be considered acts of good faith, donors would be exempt from civil or criminal liability, and a reporting and verification platform would be established.

Participants in the food chain, together with the competent authorities, would have to implement measures to reduce losses, including reuse, composting, and other uses for by-products. Tax and financial incentives are provided for. The National Secretariat for the Food and Nutrition Security Plan (Secretaría Nacional para el Plan de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional, SENAPAN) would create a plan to prevent and reduce food loss and waste, which businesses and institutions that handle food would adopt, and would submit an annual report. Food unfit for human consumption would be put to use through processing plants for biogas, biofertilizers, biodiesel, composting, or other activities that pose no health risks; operators of those plants could receive incentives.

The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación), SENAPAN, and the Ministry of Social Development (Ministerio de Desarrollo Social) would promote campaigns and school instruction on responsible consumption, with periodic evaluations. The National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, SENACYT) would promote research on reducing losses and on the circular economy, with the participation of the Agricultural Innovation Institute (Instituto de Innovación Agropecuaria), universities, and producers. School kitchens could use rescued food that is safe to eat; their operators would receive mandatory training, and the programs would be evaluated annually.

The bill amends Law 37 of December 22, 2014: it adds definitions, assigns the Ministry of Health responsibility for health oversight of food banks, permits food banks to facilitate donations of prepared food, and caps the administrative charge to beneficiaries at 30% of commercial value. It also regulates deductions for donations of food and personal care and hygiene products: it refers to Article 697(a) of the Tax Code, specifies limits of 1% per year and 50,000 balboas (B/.50,000.00), and provides for a deduction equal to 100% of the invoiced acquisition cost for certain donations to food banks. The Directorate General of Revenue (Dirección General de Ingresos) participates in recognizing beneficiary institutions. The Ministry of Social Development and SENAPAN would recognize the largest donors annually.

The Food Bank (Banco de Alimentos) could arrange rent discounts linked to donations; the National Government (Gobierno Nacional) would promote collection drives, with the exemption provided for those who contribute goods or services. The amendment to Law 44 of November 23, 2006 assigns the Directorate General of Inspection, Surveillance and Control (Dirección General de Inspección, Vigilancia y Control) responsibility for authorizing donations of seized goods and establishing the procedure for those donations after satisfactory analyses. The Ministry of Agricultural Development (Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario) would impose penalties in coordination with the Ministry of Health and the Panamanian Food Safety Authority (Autoridad Panameña de Seguridad Alimentaria). The Executive Branch would issue implementing regulations within 6 months, and the law would enter into force 6 months after its promulgation. The provisions could be relevant to municipalities, schools, food services, retailers, producers, and social organizations.