THE SECRETARY GENERAL,

    In exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Articles 114 and 118 of the Charter and Articles 4, 8, and 12 of the General Standards to Govern the Operations of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, and

CONSIDERING:

    That the countries of the region place the greatest importance on the expansion of their foreign trade within their strategies for economic development,

    That to carry out this objective requires information programs which utilize a highly specialized technology for processing and transmitting data and for communications, which differentiates it from other technical cooperation activities,

    That currently the General Secretariat, through the Foreign Trade Information Service (SICE), offers computerized information on the import/export markets of the United States, and

    That in the future the General Secretariat contemplates the expansion of the service to provide information on other markets and supply sources of the products of the member states to potential importers.

RESOLVES:

    To create a Department for Foreign Trade Information under the Executive Secretariat for Economic and Social Affairs.

I. RESPONSIBILITIES

1.    Function as the sole program for the General Secretariat for foreign trade information.

2.    Administer a data bank with relevant information to facilitate trade relations between the member countries and other regions.

II. FUNCTIONS

1.    Advise the Executive Secretary on matters related to trade information.

2.    Coordinate the relations of the Department with other areas of the General Secretariat.

3.    Provide information on foreign trade to the public and private sectors of the member states.

4.    Plan, coordinate, and carry out training courses for users of the information system.

5.    Collaborate with the member states in the organic structuring of their national mechanisms for dissemination of trade information.

6.    Identify new fields of information, evaluate the suitability of incorporating them into the system, and develop the corresponding new data bases.

III. AMENDMENTS AND REPEALS

This Executive Order supersedes all present norms, regulations, and practices of the General Secretariat to the contrary.

IV. EFFECT

This Executive Order shall take effect on the date on which it is signed.

Joao Clemente Baena Soares
Secretary General

Date: May 28, 1991
Original: Spanish