Macao Consumer Council and DECO signed co-peration agreement
The Macao SAR Government Consumer Council and Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection (DECO) formed a partnership and signed a work agreement on 21st June at the Lisbon Congress Centre in Portugal.
For the purpose of safeguarding consumer rights, the Macao Consumer Council and DECO signed a work agreement to facilitate work between the two parties through staff training, information exchange, co-organized activities, and reports sharing, etc.; for the rapid development of exchange in all aspects between China and Portugal, the agreement will establish a mechansim for handling consumer disputes for consumers in China, Portugal and Macao in stages. The Macao Consumer Council becomes a case referral platorm between consumer organizations in the Mainland and Portugal, and it is stated in the agreement that the two parties promise to make case referral within 15 days of receipt of complaint cases, the consumer organizations in Portugal will also assist Mainland consumers when consumer disputes arise while staying in Portugal.
The convenient measure of case referral between consumer organizations in China and Portugal will increase confidence of residents in the Mainland, Portugal, and Macao comprehensively and encourage more frequent excahnges, it also helps to reach the goal of the Macao SAR Government to establish “One Platform”.
“One Platform” encourages developments of consumer rights protection work in China and Portugal
The work agreement makes good use of Macao’s “One Platform” status to push forward the development of consumer organizations in both places, the Macao Consumer Council will honour the promises established in the agreement in stages, endeavor to carry out deep-level co-operation with consumer organizations in both places, for the ultimate goal of having the scope of service of “One Platform” to be extended to the whole country and even more consumer organizations in Portuguese-speaking countries.
Co-operation between Greater Bay Area and Portugal as first project
The “Memorandum of Co-operation for Consumer Protection in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area” signed between 9 cities in the Greater Bay Area and 2 special administrative regions in April assigns the Macao Consumer Council as the platform for case referring between cities in the Area and Portuguese consumer organizations, therefore, the Council will implement the related work after the signing of this work agreement.
DECO has been established for over 40 years and first worked with the Macao Consumer Council in the 90’s, DECO shared experiences with the Council and provided suggestions on the revision of “Consumer Protection Law” and on the “Regulations of Consumer Arbitration Centre”. The Council proposed the signing of a work agreement with DECO in April and sugguested the role of Macao Consumer Council as a service platform between consumer organizations in China and Portugal.
Vong Hong Neng, President of the Executive Committee of Macao Consumer Council, Vasco Rodeia Torres Colaço, President of DECO, and Jorge Manuel Morgado Fernandes, member of the board of DECO, represented the two parties to sign the agreement. Witnesses at the signing ceremony included Edmund Ho Hau Wah, vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Eurico Brilhante Dias, Secretary of State for Internationalization at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, Xu Zhi Da, chargé d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Portugal, Leong Vai Tac, Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR, Cheong Chou Weng, President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, and Luís Castro Henriques, President of Aicep Portugal Global.