Coordination between Ministries of Public Health and Industry to safeguard the health of citizens and mainstream formalities for exporting

The Minister of Public Health, Wa2el Abu Fa3oor, convened two days ago a large meeting at the Ministry and which included the Minister of Industry Hussein Hajj Hassan, in addition to key stakeholders in the industrial sector.  Abu Fa3oor noted that the aim of this meeting is to organize joint work between the two Ministries and identify a coordination mechanism to support the industrial sector.  Abu Fa3oor added that there is no conflict in the mandates of both Ministries but rather a complementarity of responsibilities and a desire to coordinate so as to have productive results.  Abu Fa3oor announced that a meeting will be held in the coming few days to identify a joint mechanism which would allow them to support the industrial sector through ensuring all that is needed to safeguard the health of Lebanese citizens.
Hajj Hassan noted for his part the urgent need for a plan of action that would address the concerns of the Lebanese industries especially in term of licensing, industrial certification, and export licenses.  He noted that an agreement was reach to create a committee to include the Ministry of Industry DG as well as a team from the Ministry of Public Health and representatives of the pharmaceutical sector to address issues relate to water usage in the industry, mainstreaming the registration of medicines in public social security and private insurances , the issue of ensuring fair terms of trade in pharmaceutical industries and other issues concerning Lebanon and its foreign trade partners so as to improve the opportunities of Lebanese pharmaceutical companies to export.
Source: Al-Diyar 6 June 2014