General Health Law – legal framework for the health permit

The Ley General de Salud (Ley N.º 5395, of 30 October 1973) is the law that provides the legal basis for the Permiso Sanitario de Funcionamiento described in the corresponding fact sheet of the Ministerio de Salud.

General principle: the law states that the health of the population is a public interest asset protected by the State, and that it is an essential function of the State to safeguard the health of the population.

Role of the Ministerio de Salud: the law grants the Executive Branch, through the Ministerio de Salud, the function of defining the national health policy and coordinating all public and private activities related to health — which is why the Ministerio is the authority that grants the sanitary operating permits to businesses.

Rights and duties of individuals: the law recognizes the right of people to health services, and at the same time establishes the duty of each person to look after their own health, that of their family, and that of the community.

Why a restaurant needs the permit: the law is the legal basis that allows the Ministerio de Salud to require prior authorization for any establishment that handles food or other activities with health risk, before it can operate — that authorization is, in practice, the Permiso Sanitario de Funcionamiento (see the fact sheet for the procedure and costs).

Note: this fact sheet summarizes the general legal framework. The operational details of the process (requirements, costs by risk group, timelines) are in the fact sheet of "Permiso Sanitario de Funcionamiento (PSF) for restaurants", which is based on the regulation that implements this law (Decreto 43432-S).