AgroPages-Anvisa of Brazil launches system to facilitate exports in MERCOSUR-Agricultural news

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) of Brazil launched a new system to define the flow for the exchange of the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) report aimed at reducing the time taken to release exports between the MERCOSUR countries, comprising Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay as “full members”.

The GMP inspection report states that the marketing of health products in MERCOSUR can now be made directly to Anvisa and must be registered by the system, “Solicita”, a technological solution that allows the procedure to be performed electronically, thus making the process more agile.

The purpose of the new flow is to make reporting exchanges more efficient between regulatory agencies in the economic bloc. The measure also aims at ensuring the agility of the exports of Brazilian products to other MERCOSUR countries, stimulating business and the domestic industry.

Prior to the adoption of the new measure, an exporter based in Brazil had to first file a request with the health authority of the neighboring country for the foreign agency to make the request to Anvisa. The procedure required this rite and initial protocol in the country to which the export was intended. As a result, the process took one to two years. The adoption of the new flow will reduce this time to a maximum of eight months.

The exchange of GMP inspection reports is necessary for Brazilian companies to export their products to neighboring countries, as provided for in the MERCOSUR agreement. However, there was a delay in this process.

After discussing the issue, a new flow was presented to the regulated sector at a meeting held on October 15 in São Paulo. For Anvisa, the approval and implementation of the new flow for GMP reports reflects the agency's commitment to making improvements in work processes in order to fulfill its role of protecting and promoting the health of the population in an agile and efficient manner.