Brazil's Anvisa Looks to Streamline Registration Procedures for Drugs, Devices

Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has signed a technical cooperation agreement with two other Brazilian agencies designed to sustain the country's economic growth and health by streamlining registration procedures for medical products.

The agreement, announced on 10 April 2013, brings together Anvisa with the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC) and the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Under the terms of the inter-ministerial agreement, Anvisa and the other parties will streamline the exchange of information on procedures for registering drugs and devices, and also implement policies to encourage foreign investment in Brazil. 

The agreement falls within the Greater Brazil Plan launched by President Dilma Rousseff in 2011, which includes a focus on innovation and the growth of Brazil's pharmaceutical and medical device industries. A Joint Technical Committee composed of the Secretary of Production Development at MDIC, the Secretary of Science, Technology and Strategic Inputs at the Ministry of Health and the CEO of Anvisa was established to implement the terms of the agreement.