With a permit costing RD$4,000 and renewals required every five years, it is not surprising that close to 15,000 articles sold in pharmacies and food stores have not obtained or renewed the legal registration, according to a report in Diario Libre. They include products whose legal registration expired up to 50 years ago. Registration is valid for five years under the General Health Law (42-01). The law establishes that merchandise without legal permits can be confiscated and the owners risk penalties of 10 minimum salaries and even custodial sentences.
The Risk Controls in Food and Drink department, part of the General Directorate of Environmental Health (DIGESA), under the Ministry of Public Health, is in charge of issuing as well as monitoring health and sanitary certificates. A total of 34,570 products have valid permits. The Public Health Ministry has identified 14,345 products still on the market despite having expired permits. Nonetheless, Deputy Minister of Environmental Health, Dr. Roberto Berroa said that there could be hundreds of thousands more products on sale without the proper permits. In turn, many products with valid permits could no longer be on sale.