In the context of the current sanitary alert, several bills of law have been filed with Congress, seeking to regulate certain aspects associated to states of emergency and sanitary crises in particular.To such ends, the bills that stand out are:I. Bill prohibiting and penalizing price increases in the face of epidemics or pandemics:On Tuesday 17 March 2020, a bill was filed with the Lower Chamber (Newsletter 13 ...
The spread of the highly contagious coronavirus has reach pandemic status. Over 550,000 cases have been confirmed across more than 175 countries, and the United States now has over 86,000 confirmed cases across all 50 states and four territories. In other countries, the threat of coronavirus has already impacted prison operations — lockdowns have been implemented in Italy and thousands of prisoners were released in Iran ...
The offence of spreading coronavirus From what point exactly is the spreading of COVID-19 a criminal offence? Is it only intentional spreading that is punishable or is negligence also a criminal offence? What is at stake? What are the aggravating circumstances and when do the penalties increase? And can these criminal offences also be committed by a legal entity? The Government of the Czech Republic adopted, as a part of emergency measures due to health threat, Regulation No ...
Significant responsibility for ensuring compliance with directives to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus has been delegated to the law enforcement authorities of the UAE. Last week, the Cabinet promulgated Resolution No. 17 of 2020, requiring all natural and juristic persons to comply with the measures mandated by the concerned authorities to combat Covid-19 ...
On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The $2 trillion bipartisan legislation serves as a third round of federal government support in the wake of the economic fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Among other things, the Act provides significant relief to air carriers and aviation employees. We outline some of the key provisions below ...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced its temporary policy regarding environmental enforcement activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy is retroactive to March 13, 2020, and will apply for the foreseeable future, until seven days after EPA gives notice that the policy will terminate. The policy applies to actions for which EPA has federal enforcement authority ...
We knew this year was going to be an especially bad one for the flu. In its November 2019 issue, Scientific American, one of the country's leading science publications, included a twenty-page article titled "The Influenza Outlook", which highlighted the escalating threat of influenza for the year 2020. Unfortunately, at present, the emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus makes the flu pale by comparison ...
The identification of the food and drink sector as key in the response to the COVID-19 (C19) crisis seems obvious and unquestionable. Scratch the surface though and questions emerge, perhaps unsurprisingly because of the haste with which the emergency legislation was passed. The starting point recognised in the Coronavirus Bill was that the food supply chain involved not just producers but also intermediaries ...
Covid-19 has had an impact on ongoing consumer contracts and their relations with suppliers. The rapid spread of the virus led the authorities to declare State of Disaster in the country, raising concern about the (i) fulfillment of consumer contracts of goods and services and (ii) an eventual price manipulation ...
INVIMA adopts measures aimed at efficiently facing the current health situation related to COVID-19, optimizing the processes that allow the commercialization of products necessary for the prevention of the virus and the evaluation of protocols to prevent it. 1. Declaration of products as Vital Unavailable. Due to the shortage of some supplies in general, the authority has declared that masks, antibacterial gel and disinfecting solutions as Vital Products Not Available ...
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection dictates measures tending to guarantee the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Covid-19 The Ministry of Health and Social Protection has issued Decree 476 of 2020 by which it has decided to make the necessary changes for regulatory requirements to have flexibility in all proceedings related with Pharmaceutical, Phytotherapeutics, Medical Devices, Biomedical Equipment, In-Vitro Diagnostic Reagents, cosmetics and products of Domestic hygie
FDA Takes Action to Increase U.S. Supplies in Response to COVID-19. The FDA took action to increase U.S. supplies to support the U.S. response to COVID-19 by providing instructions to manufacturers importing personal protective equipment and other devices. The FDA is engaging the import trade community during this pandemic to facilitate the entry of needed products, including PPE, into the U.S ...
FDA Warns Consumers About Unauthorized Fraudulent COVID-19 Products.The FDA issued a Consumer Update advising consumers to be beware of fraudulent coronavirus tests, vaccines and treatments. The FDA has seen unauthorized fraudulent test kits for COVID-19 being sold online. Currently, the FDA has not authorized any test that is available to purchase for testing yourself at home for COVID-19 ...
An article establishing a procedure for the procurement of medical supplies was recently introduced. This new provision (Resolution No 53960) amended Resolution No 38941-2006-JD of February of 2006, which is the general procurement regulation for the Social Security Administration (CSS for its initials in Spanish) ...
Restaurateurs and their employees don’t need anything else to worry about these days. It is challenging enough to operate a restaurant in this time of quarantines, curbside and delivery-only options, and social distancing added to the attendant drops in revenue and worries about making sure employees are cared for. Maybe the absolute last thing any restaurant wants to focus on are food safety regulations such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) ...
Seemingly overnight, flights and hotels emptied, and state and local governments began ordering restaurants, gyms, bars, and other “non-essential” businesses to close or to significantly curtail operations. Unemployment skyrocketed, and businesses began calling out for relief. In response, the government has proposed multiple initiatives to help stabilize businesses hit hard by current events, especially those in the hospitality industry, many of which are also franchises ...
The FDA revised its guidance on postmarket adverse event reporting for medical products and dietary supplements during a pandemic to apply the guidance to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The FDA acknowledges that companies, and the agency, itself, may be hit with workforce shortages during a pandemic at the same time that adverse event reporting for products deployed for the pandemic may increase ...
The U.S ...
The FDA issued immediately-in-effect guidance to accelerate the development of certain laboratory tests for the urgent need caused by SARS-CoV-2. The FDA provides recommendations, among others, for serological tests, puts forth a policy for states to take responsibility for tests, and announces enforcement discretion for commercial manufacturers using new commercially developed tests prior to the FDA granting an emergency use authorization, under certain circumstances ...
To help prevent disruptions in the food supply-chain during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA issued a temporary policy for Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) supplier verification onsite audit requirements. The policy states that the FDA will temporarily not enforce FSMA supplier verification onsite audit requirements if other appropriate supplier verification methods are used instead ...
Will the need to seek state aid due to the COVID-19 pandemic encourage sports unions to implement good governance principles? According to press reports, work is underway at the Ministry of Sport on abill to aid the sports sector, including financial support, as sport is one of the sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Cancellation of league matches, events and tournaments is causing heavy losses for all participants in the sector ...
The 22 March Decree was anticipated by two ordinances issued on 21 March 2020 by, respectively, the Lombardy Region1, subsequently amended on 22 March 2020 (the “Lombardy Ordinance”), and the Piedmont Region 2 (the “Piedmont Ordinance”). The ordinances provide for even more stringent restrictions for the regions concerned, and will remain in force until 3 April 2020 (for the Piedmont Region) and 15 April 2020 (for the Lombardy Region) ...
As of Monday, March 23, Virginia Governor Northam announced all public K-12 schools will remain closed through the end of the school year and many – but not all – non-essential businesses will be required to close their doors. By the end of Tuesday (11:59 p.m. on March 24) some non-essential services, including all recreation and entertainment services, are to close ...
Special Report "COVID-19 in Central America" on special measures taken in each country of our region prepared by the multidisciplinary team of Consortium. The information contained in this publication is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information is constantly updated and issubject to change. Last update: Wednesday 1 April ...
