The business sector in Guatemala is anticipating an increase in the prices of food and medicines, due to the government's decision to raise the cost of procedures such as the issuance of licenses and health registrations, required to market these products.
By means of Government Agreement 179-2020, which entered into force on December 1, 2020, new fees were imposed for the services of procedures for licenses, registrations and other processes for medicines, laboratories, pharmaceuticals, food products and others.
The business sector in Guatemala rejects the measure of the Ministry of Economy, which establishes maximum sales prices to the consumer for certain pharmaceutical products, while the state of disaster decreed by covid-19 lasts.
The most important change proposed by the authorities is to make exceptions to the health registration of pharmaceutical products in situations of critical shortage.
After receiving the approval from the Cabinet Council, it is expected that next week, the Minister of Health, Rosario Turner Montenegro, will present before the National Assembly the Draft Law, which seeks to amend Law 1 on Medicines.
In the wholesale pharmaceutical distribution business, it is estimated that Cefa, Distribuidora Farmanova and Compañía Farmacéutica together represent about 65% of the market share.
Data from the report "Company's Corporate System", complied by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, provides details on company information based on sector, main activity, imports, exports, contracts granted by the government and other data.
Arguing that the expected therapeutic effects were not proven, the Social Security of Guatemala decided to remove 107 medicines from the Basic List of Medicines.
On October 10th the Board of Directors of the Guatemalan Institute of Social Security (IGSS) announced the approval of the new Basic List of Medicines, which excludes some vitamins, antidepressants and painkillers.
Slowness in the procedures for obtaining sanitary permits and technological deficiencies in laboratories are two of the elements that are reducing competitiveness of Dominican pharmaceutical companies.
Entrepreneurs in the pharmaceutical industry in the Dominican Republic are aware that there are several aspects that could be improved in order to achieve growth in the global pharmaceutical market.Lack of coordination and dialogue with the public sector is another point that the union of companies in the sector believes should improve.
Panama has adopted the Central American technical regulations on minimum conditions and labeling of pharmaceuticals for human use.
From the Resolution by the Ministry of Health published in La Gaceta:
1. PURPOSE
The purpose of this technical regulation is to establish minimum requirements that must be met in the labeling of pharmaceutical products for human use, both products in the territory of the countries of the Central American region, and foreign ones.
In a sector worth $307 million a year, 10% of the market is supplied by laboratories in the Panamanian capital, and the remaining 90% by international pharmaceutical companies.
The biggest challenges faced by domestic enterprises are the obstacles in importing raw materials, skilled labor, and delays in the registration process, among other things. "...
Due to a Union dispute the control area of medicines and related products remains closed, preventing the import of chemicals and drugs.
The National Health Laboratory Services and the Food and Drug counter at the Ministry of Health are also closed. This situation affects the private sector, as there is no ability to complete the paperwork for "... importing of manufactured drugs, affecting not only the chemicals and pharmaceutical industry, but also food, sugar mills, agrochemicals, etc. . Fernando López, president of the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala (CIG), reported that if this situation continues losses could amount to $100 thousand (about Q776 thousand). "