International cooperation activities of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor)

17/12/2018 | 06:16 AM

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The main goals of the international activities of Rospotrebnadzor include:


a) ensuring sanitary-epidemiological wellbeing and health protection of population of the Russian Federation ;

b) prevention and control of communicable diseases, as well as prevention of non-communicable diseases associated with exposure to harmful factors of the environment;

c) ensuring protection of rights and interests of Russian consumers in the developing global market and raising level of financial literacy among population;

d) assistance to other countries in overcoming public health problems by strengthening communications with specialized departments and by participation in care programs conducted under the aegis of the UN;

e) food safety control and prevention of food-borne diseases.

Rospotrebnadzor intensifies bilateral interactions with foreign countries in the area of providing sanitary-epidemiological wellbeing. For instance, there were signed several memorandums with specialised departments of CIS member states on cooperation in the field of communicable disease control (memorandums with the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan).

Rospotrebnadzor continues to implement a three-year program in the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia aimed at strengthening activity of the sanitary and epidemiological surveillance services. It also finances south-ossetian experts trainings at the premises of Rospotrebnadzor’s scientific research institutes.

The cooperation of Rospotrebnadzor with the European Union develops dynamically through regular contacts with the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO). The main objective of such interaction is to coordinate actions on public health protection in Europe and to narrow the gap between Russian and the EU points of view on a wide range of issues concerning food safety and standard harmonization. Furthermore, the special attention is paid to the expansion of collaboration between Rospotrebnadzor and DG SANCO in the sphere of consumers’ rights protection in accordance with the signed Memorandum on the Mutual Understanding and the jointly developed strategy of its implementation implying a number of measures on exchange of experience in the area of the legislative regulation of relations in the consumer market with the participation of consumers.

Rospotrebnadzor has longstanding and successful cooperation with Norway which is based on regular working contacts with experts of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. These relations aimed at strengthening mutual understanding to fight communicable diseases, improve surveillance strategy for tick-borne diseases, prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance etc.

One of the priority lines of the international activity of Rospotrebnadzor is to maintain professional contacts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (USA). This interaction is based on the Protocol of Intent to combat communicable and non-communicable diseases. It determines the key tasks of bilateral cooperation between Rospotrebnadzor and CDC, such as influenza spread control, effective prevention of diseases, enhancing of regular information exchange including data preventive measures and the epidemiological situation in Russia and the USA.

An important role in the international activity of Rospotrebnadzor plays interaction with China. The dialogue with the Chinese partners on the sanitary and epidemiological well-being, communicable diseases control and food safety is carried on both in bilateral format and within the framework of the SCO. Between Rospotrebnadzor and the competent authorities of the PRC have been established reliable mechanisms of collaboration in the sphere of providing public sanitary and epidemiological well-being, as well as contractual relations allowing to solve effectively sanitary protection problems on adjoining territories both in daily activity process and in case of emergency.

The last years show positive development of bilateral relations between Rospotrebnadzor and the Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. One of the most effective mechanisms of such cooperation was implementation of the special program aimed at capacity building of Vietnamese laboratories to fight tropical diseases. Currently the Memorandum of cooperation between Rospotrebnadzor and the Ministry of Health of Vietnam in the area of sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing forms the basis of Russian-Vietnam expert contacts to prevent, investigate and control communicable diseases outbreaks, provide food safety and sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing of tourist zones in Vietnam etc.

Important role plays interactions of Rospotrebnadzor with Mongolia. Memorandum of understanding and cooperation between Rospotrebnadzor and Main Directorate of specialized inspection of Mongolia in the area of sanitary protection of territories was signed in Moscow in April, 2013. Two-year program of implementation of the above mentioned document is now being carried out by the parties.

Furthermore, in recent years, interaction with another key country of Asian-Pacific Region – Japan – has considerably developed. The collaboration of Rospotrebnadzor with Japanese experts is devoted to exchanging experience and information on radiation safety. The particular importance is assigned to sharing data on the results of radionuclide level monitoring in Japanese goods imported to the Russian Federation after the Fukushima-1 accident in March 2011. The purpose of this interaction is public health safety providing in Russia and Japan without imposing unjustified obstacles in the way of foodstuff and industrial commodity trade between the countries.

Thus, the further development of the international activity of Rospotrebnadzor will contribute to:

§  consistent strengthening of the collaboration between the member states of the CIS in the humanitarian and social spheres;

§  intensification of the Eurasian integration within the framework of the Customs Union and the Common Free Market Zone of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan by holding joint activities for sanitary protection of border territories;

§  further strengthening cooperation in sanitary and epidemiological area in the Asian-Pacific Region by means of interaction with the People’s Republic of China, Japan and other key states of the Region;

§  providing of stable interaction with the USA aimed at building transparent relations in the sphere of health protection and effective responding to emerging threats to public health.​