Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio

The recommendation seeks to prioritise the protection of health, life and integrity of consumers over the fulfilment or validation of formal requirements, and to make irrelevant the defence of the exporter who claims not to know the safety requirements at the export destination.

The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC), with the support of the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the United Nations in Geneva, achieved the unanimous adoption of the "Recommendation to prevent the international circulation of products known to be unsafe" by all the member countries of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at the 7th United Nations Conference, which was held virtually and in situ in Geneva from 19 to 23 October.

The recommendation seeks to prioritise the protection of health, life and integrity of consumers over the fulfilment or validation of formal requirements, and to make irrelevant the defence of the exporter who claims not to know the safety requirements at the export destination.

The Resolution was an initiative developed by the UNCTAD Intergovernmental Group of Experts' working group on product safety, where a long process of drafting, discussion and approval took place. After having obtained the final text of the draft recommendation, Colombia (technically led by the SIC) and Australia (technically led by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) decided to sponsor it and present it to the VII United Nations Conference on Competition and Consumer Protection where, given its relevance, it was unanimously approved by the Member States.

For the SIC it is a great achievement to have this instrument, since, being the national authority of product safety, it constitutes a base with international support of technical level to improve its responsibility to maintain constant surveillance of the market, to identify products that in normal conditions of use can cause damage to people and to protect their rights.