The Dominican Republic was unanimously chosen to lead the work concerning Electronic Commerce and Misleading Advertising within the framework of the XV Ibero-American Forum of Government Consumer Protection Agencies (FIAGC) held via Zoom with the participation of all member countries of that body.
The director of the National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights (Pro Consumidor), Dr. Eddy Alcántara, reported that the Dominican Republic was in charge of preparing the proposals that guarantee the defense of consumer rights in both lines to be discussed with the other signatory countries of the forum.
The event also agreed that Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Peru and the Consumers International organization, which brings together members of consumers from all over the world, will participate in the Electronic Commerce working group.
Regarding the working group on Misleading and Abusive Advertising, the Dominican Republic coordinates it together with Peru, with the participation of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama.
It was explained that once these initiatives are approved, they will be made available to all the signatory countries of the international entity so that the procedures can be used by all of them together with the proposal of the elaboration of an international agreement that seeks to give competition in transnational trade to all those entities to solve the conflicts that are generated in this type of commerce.
In the forum, Pro Consumidor advocated for the implementation of public policies that strengthen and enhance the protection of consumers and users in Ibero-American countries.
It was highlighted in the forum that “a spirit of regional, hemispheric and international cooperation focused on strengthening our organization must be maintained and strengthened.”
Likewise, it was approved to reaffirm the commitment to strengthen the active and articulated participation of all government consumer protection institutions in the different areas of discussion at the multilateral level, specialized in public policy for the defense of consumers and users.
Likewise, join efforts to fully implement the United Nations guidelines for the protection of consumers in Latin America and promote the active participation of the members of the organization in international spaces with the aim of developing initiatives and actions in defense of consumers and users in the different areas of its public policies.
The FIAGC, which includes 22 countries and a universe of more than 640 million consumers, was created within the framework of the Euro-Latin American Dialogue of Consumers for Development and Democracy in 2001.
It was explained that the mission of this international organization is to promote cooperation between government agencies for consumer protection in Ibero-America, through the exchange of information and experiences on issues of common interest, in order to act more effectively in development and improvement of public consumer protection policies in their respective countries.
