The Portuguese Health Regulatory Authority (ERS), in compliance with Law No. 93/2021 of 20 December, provides both internal and external whistleblowing channels to whistleblowers, ensuring conditions of security, secrecy and confidentiality of identity, or anonymity, as well as the confidentiality of the identities of third parties referenced in the respective disclosures, and preventing, at all times, access to any information contained in or arising from such reports by unauthorised persons.
Under the aforementioned Law, whistleblower protection is granted to any natural person who reports or publicly discloses an infringement, based on information obtained in the context of the performance of their professional activities within or for ERS. For the purposes of the Law, the following may be considered whistleblowers: (1) ERS employees; (2) service providers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers or any other persons acting under the supervision and direction of ERS; (3) members of ERS governing bodies; and (4) ERS volunteers or interns, whether remunerated or not.
Furthermore, a natural person shall not be prevented from qualifying as a whistleblower merely because the report or public disclosure of a potential infringement is based on information obtained within a professional relationship with ERS that has since ceased, or during a recruitment process, or at any other stage of pre-contractual negotiations concerning a professional relationship that has, or has not, subsequently materialised.
The whistleblower has the right to be informed of the handling of the report and must be notified of developments in the follow-up process, unless they expressly request otherwise or such notification would compromise the protection of their identity.
Acts or omissions qualifying as infringements may concern a wide range of matters, including: (i) public procurement; (ii) financial services, products and markets, and the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing; (iii) product safety and compliance; (iv) transport safety; (v) environmental protection; (vi) radiation protection and nuclear safety; (vii) food and feed safety, animal health and animal welfare; (viii) public health; (ix) consumer protection; (x) privacy and personal data protection, as well as network and information systems security; (xi) violent crime, in particular serious and organised violent crime; and (xii) economic and financial crimes falling within the scope of Law No. 5/2002 of 11 January.
Reports concerning acts or omissions that do not fall within the matters listed above shall be immediately archived.
For further clarification, please refer to:
Whistleblower Protection Policy
Law No. 93/2021 of 20 December
Internal or External Whistleblowing Channels
Online Reporting
Reports submitted via email shall be processed in accordance with the procedure established by ERS and shall ensure strict confidentiality in the handling of the data.
In-Person Reporting
Reports submitted in person shall be conducted on a previously scheduled date with the ERS Whistleblowing Officer at ERS headquarters.
Postal Reporting
Reports submitted by post shall be addressed to the ERS Whistleblowing Officer at ERS headquarters.
Notice
Whistleblowing reports must be submitted in Portuguese and shall be accompanied by all relevant supporting evidence available to the whistleblower, as well as any further information they may provide.
