FAO assists Panama with new regulation to improve traceability
© FAOExperts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted a four-day mission in Panama to support national authorities in drafting secondary legislation on fisheries traceability, to ensure the legal origin of fisheries products throughout the supply chain.
The mission, held from 8–11 September 2025, assisted technical teams from the “Autoridad de los Recursos Acuáticos de Panamá” (ARAP) to develop a draft regulation that consolidates all required documents and information to guarantee traceability.
This secondary legislation will support ARAP’s work in the development of a traceability IT tool, enabling authorities to perform the necessary cross-checks and verifications across the supply chain. The system will further strengthen Panama’s capacity to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
This assistance is provided under an EU-funded project supporting the implementation of the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) and related international instruments. Panama has been a Party to the PSMA since November 2016.