ISAF working on a new regime for ‘small-scale medical devices’ and cosmetics

The Pharmaceutical Administration Bureau (ISAF) is conducting research and working on a draft bill for a new regulatory regime for small-scale medical devices and cosmetic products “suited to Macau’s situation, to support the development of the Big Health industry,” the ISAF president, Choi Peng Cheong, said during a meeting of ISAF officials with a delegation of the Macau International Big Health Industry Association.

Addressing the theme of the promotion and continuous development of the Big Health industry, Choi noted that is necessary to update the rules in such fields as well as to “continue to improve the existing drug management regime, promoting the sustainable development of the pharmaceutical sector under the premise of equal emphasis on traditional Chinese and Western medicine.”

The development of the Big Health Industry was a topic started by the government, which is said to have the goal of promoting the sector until 2025, according to the plan drafted in the Second Five-Year Plan for Socio-Economic Development of the Macau Special Administrative Region (2021-2025).

According to the same official, this work includes efforts towards the promotion of the development of economic diversification and cultivating emerging industries, as well as improving the legal regime closely related to socio-economic development and the life of the population.

It is not currently clear which amendments the ISAF proposes to make, but they are related to the use of medical devices most commonly in use in beauty centers and alternative medicine clinics, among others. Likely, such a regime could also include regulations concerning the application and use of traditional Chinese treatments as well as alternative medicine such as acupuncture, cupping therapy, and others, that are very popular in Macau and Asia in general.