The country’s small pharmacies will no longer be obliged to buy medicines from large pharmacies or importers, who until today were the only ones authorized to bring medicines from abroad, since the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo, authorized the Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre, to Present before the Cabinet Council a modification to Law 24 of 1963, which would allow these small businesses to be able to import medicines.
This was announced by Vice President José Gabriel Carrizo, who assured that this proposal was raised at the technical table for medicines that he chairs and added that this will open up the market and eliminate the oligopolies that have monopolized the importation of medicines and making their prices more expensive.
“With this amendment to the law we are also going to give small pharmacies the opportunity to import their medicines. What we are looking for is to open the market, a free supply and a free demand that eliminates the oligopolies that have been predominant in the country.
The concrete actions of the Government included the signing, between the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo Cohen and the Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre, of the decree that repeals Executive Decree 95 of May 14, 2019 and regulates Law 1 of 10 of January 2001 “on medicines and other products for human health”, which allows importation under the health registry.
According to the authorities, this new decree will allow the opening of the drug market so that other agents can import said products under the protection of the health registry in force in the national territory; with the aim of reducing drug costs and ending oligopolies in the country.
Among the articles included in this new decree are 368, which establishes in the memorial the applicant must include or attach, in addition to what is indicated in (article 82 of Law 1 of 2001, the following: the commercial name of the importing company; the license number of the pharmaceutical establishment and the notarial declaration of the legal representative, duly accredited, on the identity of the product.
Article 369 dictates that once the import request is approved by the National Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs, the distribution agency may import the product or products as many times as required, providing in each import procedure the Import Certification under Protection of Current Sanitary Registry and the purchase invoice with the information indicated in article 68 of Law 1 of 2001.
Vice President Carrizo assured that the previous measure on the 30% in the price of 179 medicines will also help since the reduction must be given from the laboratories so that small pharmacies are not affected by this initiative.
For this to be possible, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Federico Alfaro, assured that Federama, an association of laboratory houses, has already agreed to give that 30% discount to distributors, who also agreed to give the discount to pharmacies and thus the final price. of the consumer carry 30% less.
