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OAS Conducts First Virtual Course on Consumer Safety

The Organization of American States (OAS) today launched its first virtual course on market product safety surveillance, a subject that Secretary General José Miguel Insulza described as "intimately linked with the vision the Organization has of democracy and the exercise of citizenship."

During the opening session, held at Organization headquarters in Washington, DC, the head of the OAS asserted that citizens play various roles in society, among them that of consumers. “That is a role in which we are all involved and cannot but play." he said. For that reason, he added, protecting the health and security of consumers buying new products is part of "our vision of citizenship and the quality of democracy."

Secretary General Insulza underscored that this subject "is included in the Charter of the Organization of American States, which in fact talks about matters of consumers among other topics the Organization, dedicated to democracy, ought to be concerned with."

He also emphasized the importance of collaboration among the Member States of the Organization on this issue and in particular through the course being presented today, and held in the framework of the Consumer Safety and Health Network, coordinated by the OAS in partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Addressing representatives of the Member States of the OAS present at the event, Secretary General Insulza said, "I hope we can develop this Network with you, because in the end, as with all OAS activities, the central actors are the countries, the Member States, and the Organization will always prioritize this participation and that of civil society."

Other participants in the opening session were Inez Tenenbaum, Chairwoman of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission; Socorro Gross-Galiano, Assistant Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO); Hubert Linders, representative of Consumers International; and Viviane Rios Balbino, alternate representative of the Brazilian Mission to the OAS. Present were Jean Michel Arrighi, OAS Secretary for Legal Affairs; Mauricio Cortes Costa, OAS Executive Secretary for Integral Development; and Ana Evelyn Jacir de Lovo, Director of the OAS Department of Special Legal Programs, who offered welcoming remarks.

Tenenbaum emphasized the achievements of the Commission she heads, including the establishment of new safety standards for the manufacturing of baby cribs, among others, and shared some of her goals for 2011, one of which is the launching of a database that generates greater interaction with the consumer.

For his part, Linders, the Consumers International representative, spoke about the role that consumers play as safety inspectors. “What I think as representative of Consumers International is that the role consumers can play alongside the system that we are trying to create here is important, since in the end the consumers are the best inspectors”.

The Assistant Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Gross-Galiano, stressed the importance of good regulation as “the difference between life and death”. “Consumer safety is a subject of enormous relevance in today’s world,” one in which the Consumer Safety and Health Network represents “a very valuable opportunity”. “We assume an important responsibility in a key area for the health of our brothers and sisters in the region,” she said.

Finally, the representative of the Brazilian Mission to the OAS, Rios Balbino, noted that the government of her country “is very pleased to participate in the efforts of the Network” and highlighted its rapid development since its creation.

The course, titled, “The Management of Market Product Safety Surveillance Systems,” will take place today, Monday, February 28, through Friday, March 4, 2011, at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC and will be broadcast on the Internet here. The post-graduate course relies on the financial support of the governments of Brazil, the United States, the regional government of Cataluña, and the academic leadership of Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. The general objective of the Network is to ensure the safe consumption of goods and services, and to protect the health of consumers on the continent.

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

Reference: E-549/11