Joint Order no. 357/2006, of 28 April

Presidência do Conselho de Ministros e Ministérios das Finanças e da Administraçao Pública, da Justiça, da Economia e da Inovação, das Obras Públicas, Transportes e Comunicações e da Saúde (Presidency

Joint Order

Regulation (EC) no. 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 27 October 2004, on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws (Regulation on consumer protection cooperation) has established a network of public authorities responsible for the enforcement of laws that protect consumer interests, in order to reinforce administrative cooperation as regards the enforcement of this legislation in dealings with intra-Community infringements, increasing mutual confidence and transparency among administrations.

The regulation aims to contribute towards the smooth functioning of the internal market, the quality and consistency of enforcement of the laws that protect consumers' interests and the monitoring of the protection of consumers' economic interests. Pursuant to paragraph 1 of article 4 of the regulation, Member States must designate a single liaison office, that is, the competent authority of each Member State, responsible for coordinating the enforcement of the Regulation in that Member State, as well as the competent authorities with specific responsibilities to enforce the laws that protect consumers' interests.

The regulation applies directly in all Member States, thus it is now necessary to appoint, under paragraph 1 of article 4, the single liaison office as well as the competent authorities that shall guarantee the implementation of the objectives of the regulation in Portugal.

Therefore, the Government, through its Ministers of State and for Finance, for Justice, for the Economy and Innovation, for Public Works, Transport and Communications, for Health and for Parliament Affairs, hereby orders the following:

a) To designate the Instituto do Consumidor (Consumer Institute) as the single liaison office;

b) To designate as competent authorities with specific responsibilities to enforce the national laws adopted by virtue of the application of regulations and of the transposition of directives comprised in the annex to Regulation (EC) no. 2006/2004 the national authorities identified in the annex to this order, of which it is an integral part.

6 April 2006. - The Minister of State and for Finance, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos. - The Minister for Justice, Alberto Bernardes Costa. - The Minister for the Economy and Innovation, Manuel António Gomes de Almeida de Pinho. For the Minister for Public Works, Transport and Communications, Paulo Jorge Oliveira Ribeiro de Campos, Deputy Secretary of State for Public Works and Communications. - The Minister for Health, António Fernando Correia de Campos. - The Minister for Parliament Affairs, Augusto Ernesto Santos Silva.

Annex

List of competent Portuguese authorities within the scope of article 4 of Regulation (EC) no. 2006/2004 of 27 October

Community laws referred in Regulation (EC) no. 2006/2004

Community laws referred in Regulation (EC) no. 2006/2004	National laws	Competent authority
Council Directive 84/450/EEC, of 10 September, concerning misleading advertising (as amended by Directive 97/55/EC of 6 October)	Advertising Code, approved by Decree-Law n.º 330/90, of 23 October	Instituto do Consumidor (Consumer Institute); Comissão para Aplicação de Coimas em Matéria Económica e de Publicidade (Commission for the Imposition of Fines in Economic or Advertising Matters).
Council Directive 85/577/EEC, of 20 December, on contracts negotiated away from business premises	Decree-Law no. 143/2001, of 26 April	Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica (Food and Economic Safety Authority).
Council Directive 87/102/EEC, of 22 December, on consumer credit (as amended by Directive 98/7/EC, of 16 February).	Decree-Law no. 359/91, of 21 September (as amended by Decree-Law no. 101/2000, of 2 June)	Instituto do Consumidor (Consumer Institute).
Council Directive 89/552/EEC, of 3 October, on the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (as amended by Directive 97/36/EC of 30 June)	Law no. 32/2003 of 22 August, and Advertising Code, approved by Decree-Law n.º 330/90, of 23 October.	Instituto da Comunicação Social (Institute for Social Communication); Instituto do Consumidor (Consumer Institute); Entidade Reguladora da Comunicação Social (Regulatory Authority for the Media).
Council Directive 90/314/EEC, of 13 June, on package travel, package holidays and package tours.	Decree-Law no. 209/97 of 13 August (as amended by Decree-Law no. 12/99 of 11 January).	Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica (Food and Economic Safety Authority).
Council Directive 93/13/EEC, of 5 April, on unfair terms in consumer contracts (as amended by Commission Decision 2002/995/EC, of 9 December).	Decree-Law no. 446/85 of 25 August (as amended by Decree-Law no. 220/95, of 31 January).	Instituto do Consumidor (Consumer Institute); Ministério Público (Public Prosecutor's Office); Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários (Stock Market Commission).
Directive 94/47/EC of the European Parliament and the Council, of 26 October, on the right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis.	Decree-Law no. 275/93, of 5 August (as amended by Decree-Law no. 180/99 of 22 May).	Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica (Food and Economic Safety Authority).
Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 20 May, on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts (as amended by Directive 2002/65/EC, of 23 September).	Decree-Law no. 143/2001, of 26 April)	Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica (Food and Economic Safety Authority)
Directive 97/55/EC of European Parliament and of the Council, of 6 October, concerning misleading advertising so as to include comparative advertising.	Advertising Code, approved by Decree-Law n.º 330/90, of 23 October.	Instituto do Consumidor (Consumer Institute); Comissão para a Aplicação de Coimas em Matéria Económica e de Publicidade (Commission for the Imposition of Fines in Economic or Advertising Matters).
Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 16 February, on indication of the prices of products.	Decree-Law no. 138/90, of 26 April (as amended by Decree-Law no. 162/99, of 13 May).	Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica (Commission for the Imposition of Fines in Economic or Advertising Matters).
Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 25 May, on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees.	Decree-Law no. 67/2003, of 8 April	Instituto do Consumidor (Consumer Institute); Ministério Público (Public Prosecutor's Office).
Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 8 June, on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce.	Decree-Law no. 7/2004, of 7 January.	ICP-ANACOM (residual central supervision entity). Competent sector bodies: Comissão Nacional de Proteccão de Dados Pessoais (National Commission for Personal Data Protection); Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários (Stock Market Commission); Banco de Portugal (Bank of Portugal); Instituto de Seguros de Portugal (Portuguese Institute of Insurance); Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social (Regulatory Authority for the Media); Instituto do Consumidor (Consumer Institute).
Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 6 November, on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use (as amended by Directive 2004/27/EC of 31 March 2004).	Directive 2004/27/EC of 31 March is currently being transposed. Decree-Law no. 72/91 of 8 February	According to the draft presented: INFARMED.
Directive 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 23 September, concerning the distance marketing of consumer financial services.	Directive yet to be transposed to national law.	According to the draft presented: Instituto de Seguros de Portugal (Portuguese Institute of Insurance); Banco de Portugal (Bank of Portugal); Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários (Stock Market Commission); Instituto do Consumidor (Consumer Institute).
Regulation (EC) 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 11 February, on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights.	Applies directly.	Instituto Nacional da Aviação Civil (National Civil Aviation Institute)
Directive 2005/29/EC, of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 11 May, concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices.	Transposition work being carried out - 12 June 2007.	The following indication may result from national laws: Instituto do Consumidor (Consumer Institute); Ministério Público (Public Prosecutor's Office); Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica (Food and Economic Safety Authority).