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OAS Permanent Council Hears Reports on Prioritization of Mandates

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today heard reports from its committees on the progress of the process of prioritization of mandates of the organization, and a report on the operation of the Consumer Safety and Health Network of the Americas, at a regular meeting held at the headquarters of the organization in Washington, DC.

The Chair of the Council and Permanent Representative of Mexico to the OAS, Ambassador Joel Hernández, recalled that in February this year, the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, presented the document A Strategic Vision of the OAS containing his proposals to "strengthen the capacity of the OAS to respond to the needs of Member States." On May 2, the Council approved a process and schedule of activities, and subsequently called on all its Standing Committees and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) to develop "a proposal to prioritize mandates, taking into account" the Strategic Vision presented by the Secretary General.

During today's session, working groups of the Standing Committees on Hemispheric Security, Legal and Political Affairs, Inter-American Summits Management and Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities (CISC), Administrative and Budgetary Affairs (CAAP), and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), reported on the status of the process of prioritization of mandates in each of their areas. Ambassador Hernandez summarized the reports saying that "some committees have already been able to review and evaluate the mandates, others are still in the process of doing so, and all have to face the next stage, which is the substantive one, of the prioritization of mandates."

Following a proposal by the Chair, the Council decided to "produce a document that establishes a procedure for the next stage," which will be considered by the body in its meeting on December 19.

At the same regular meeting and responding to a request from the Permanent Representative of Peru to the OAS, the Council heard a report on the operation of the Consumer Safety and Health Network of the Americas, presented by the Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Intellectual Property Protection (INDECOPI) of Peru and member of the Network’s Technical Advisory Group, Hebert Tassano, who emphasized that the institution has contributed to "the strengthening of monitoring and control capacities concerning the safety of the products our citizens consume." "The Network has enabled us to articulate, at the regional, sub regional, and national level all the information we can obtain for the protection of consumers," through their alerts, he said.

"The Consumer Safety and Health Network, which is promoted by the OAS," said Tassano, "plays a very effective role." In addition to its low costs, the project "allows us to organize the inputs of the various consumer reporting agencies" in the hemisphere, and "provide greater consumer welfare and, no doubt, in many cases, save lives," he said.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

The audio of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-450/12