Countries of the Andean Community approve regulations to protect telecommunications users

This is a machine translation of the original Andean Community (CAN) press release published in Spanish.

The countries of the Andean Community: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, approved the Decision that establishes the update of various guidelines for the protection of the rights of users in the field of telecommunications and that includes aspects such as personal data, security, transparency, rights and duties of consumers, as well as the obligations of operators or providers.

Other topics considered are related to confidentiality, intimacy, integrity and inviolability of communications, access to an open internet, network neutrality and international roaming services.

Decision 897 was adopted during the 155th Period of Extraordinary Sessions of the CAN Commission on Thursday, July 14, in which the Vice Minister of Foreign Trade and representative of the Pro Tempore Presidency of Ecuador, Daniel Legarda, the Vice Ministers of Foreign Trade of Bolivia, Benjamín Blanco, from Colombia, Andrés Cárdenas, from Peru, Ana Cecilia Gervasi and the Secretary General of the Andean Community, Jorge Hernando Pedraza.

The head of the agency highlighted the rule that updates Decision 638 of the year 2006, for which it had the fundamental support of the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), which provided cooperation in order to have the input and study that served basis for the analysis and work carried out by the Andean Committee of Telecommunications Authorities (CAATEL), and said that this is a new milestone reached by the CAN, since it benefits 112 million citizens of the four Member Countries and promotes the updating of the Andean legal acquis, with a view to having an integrated and harmonized regional market in telecommunications.

Regulation was approved to promote the reactivation of Andean tourism

During the CAN Commission, Decision 898 was also adopted, which seeks to promote the reactivation of the tourism sector, promoting the consolidation of multi-destinations towards prioritized markets, generating sources of employment, growth of tourist flows and contributing to the reduction of gaps with the communities. .

The initiative called "Andean Paths" promoted by Ecuador as PPT and that will be presented to the Community Initiatives Fund (FIC), will allow the visibility of Andean heritage and identity jointly.

Other Topics Addressed

The Andean countries also approved the 2022 Budget of the CAN General Secretariat and the 2022 and 2023 Budget of the CAN Court of Justice.

In addition, the Secretariat made a presentation on possible actions from the Andean Community regarding the current situation of the commercialization of fertilizers in the region. The general director, Diego Caicedo, who made the presentation, detailed the proposal to establish a working group within the framework of the Andean Agricultural Committee for the development of recommendations for joint actions, to propose viable mechanisms for the acquisition of fertilizers and to elaborate regional regulations. that establishes the agile and efficient requirements and procedures for the registration of fertilizers.

Finally, the General Secretariat of the CAN presented the Declaration of the Andean Digital Agenda approved in April of this year by the four countries, and Ecuador gave an account of the proposal to create a Working Group on Gender and Trade.

Lima, July 14, 2022

Access the approved Decisions: https://www.comunidadandina.org/normativa-andina/decisiones/