In general, the technical regulations are established in accordance with international guidelines and are applied in the same way to both domestic products and imports.

Imported products must also comply with the mandatory technical regulations of the country of origin

Panama replaced COPANIT in 2006 with the Dirección General de Normas y Tecnología Industrial (Directorate-General of Standards and Industrial Technology – DGNTI), part of the MTI, is the only national entity responsible for informing about technical regulatory changes.

Technical regulations, by sector, February 2007
Classification by sector or subject-matter
Number of regulations

Notified to WTO
Food technology
59

24
(sugar and its derivatives)
(18)

(12)
Quality, discharge and use of water and other liquids
7

2
Metrology (calibration, weights, etc.)
7

2
Hygiene and industrial safety
3

3
Building materials
3

2
Agriculture (pesticides)
2

0
Fuels derived from petroleum
1

0
System components (gas cylinders)
1

0
Chemical products for industrial use
1

1
Source: WTO