Executive Summary

Brazil’s healthcare products regulatory agency Anvisa has signed a technical co-operation agreement with the national economic protection council (CADE), in an explicit move to strengthen Anvisa’s activities in the area of market competition. The move to broaden the agency’s core product quality and safety roles is notable too in that it is a further example of Anvisa’s stated intention to increasingly respond to the country’s industrial and supply interests (www.clinica.co.uk, 18 December 2012). The agreement builds on and formalises the relationship that both bodies already have with regard to Anvisa’s “market regulation” roles, said the agency. The joint activities that will be covered by the agreement include market research collaborations, information sharing, training programmes and “joint technical visits”.