Bill 196 (Anteproyecto de Ley 196), which amends Law 51 of June 28, 2017 on road freight transport, was introduced on October 1, 2026 by Deputy Rogelio Ricardo Revello Tem (circuit 3-1) and Deputy Augusto Efraín Palacios Muñoz (circuit 4-1). It has been assigned to the Communications and Transportation Committee and is pending adoption (prohijamiento), the earliest stage of the legislative process.

Its article 1 amends article 6 of Law 51 of 2017 so that cargo leaving bonded warehouses, free zones, ports, special economic zones, airport zones and other premises under the control of the National Customs Authority may only be moved by authorized national carriers.

Articles 6-B through 6-D, which the bill adds to Law 51 of 2017, prohibit transshipments, changes of vehicle or carrier, and documentary modifications intended to insert a non-authorized operator or to evade cargo traceability, and require the Land Transit and Transportation Authority, the National Customs Authority, the National Border Service, the National Police and the National Migration Service to carry out joint enforcement, with information sharing and electronic interoperability.

The direct beneficiaries would be Panamanian freight carriers, who would gain exclusive access to that cargo in the cases set out in the bill and a framework of reciprocity vis-à-vis foreign operators; for international carriers, the text restricts operations within the territory to reciprocity and to cargo bound for their country of origin. In commercial terms, lower-priced return freight can put pressure on the rates Panamanian carriers compete with. In a country that operates as a logistics hub, with the Colón Free Zone, the ports and the free zones as nodes, a rule of this kind could reshape which companies provide the domestic haulage of that cargo and, with it, the sector's cost structure; that effect would depend on the final text and on the regulations.

The bill is not law and is not in force. It must be adopted by the Communications and Transportation Committee and pass three debates before moving to the Executive Branch. Its article 6 sets a six-month deadline for the regulations and its article 8 provides that it would take effect the day after its promulgation. Nexo Capital will follow its adoption and its eventual progress.