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OAS and Spain Sign Agreement on Consumer Security and Health

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the President of the Spanish Agency for Consumption, Food Security and Nutrition (AECOSAN for its initials in Spanish), Pilar Farjas Abadía, signed this week a memorandum of understanding to exchange assistance and information between the two organizations to strengthen the knowledge, protection and defense of consumers.

The memorandum of understanding was signed in the framework of the course “Current Problems concerning the Right to Consumption,” which is being held from August 25 to 28, 2014, as part of the program of Summer Courses at the International University Menéndez Pelayo. The course was inaugurated by the General Secretary of Health and Consumption of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality of Spain, Pilar Farjas Abadía, who participated in the roundtable “The importance of the Administration in the protection of consumers.”

Both authorities highlighted their mutual interest in the protection of consumers and recognized that faced with the risks to the quality and security of transactions of consumers, there is a need to strengthen the institutions dedicated to their protection.

The OAS General Secretariat coordinates the Consumer Safety and Health Network, a specialized forum necessary for progress in the implementation of an Inter-American System of rapid alerts as a tool for the fast and reliable exchange of alerts on unsafe products in the region that will allow for the timely and coordinated adoption of preventive and proactive measures to impede their entry into or promote their withdrawal from markets.

The OAS gathers the countries of the Western Hemisphere to promote democracy, strengthen human rights, and advance toward the achievement of the common interests of its member countries. AECOSAN carries out all tasks related to the protection of health and safety of consumers in the framework of the General Administration of the State, except for those functions attributed by regulation to other State organs with which it maintains constant coordination.

In that sense, both organizations agreed to cooperate in promoting the safety and health of consumers. Likewise, they committed themselves to facilitate the regular exchange of information and training, as well as the promotion of specific projects and joint actions, taking into account and promoting the participation of other organizations in the field.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-346/14