Priscila Rangel
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - A study by the Ministry of Justice's Department of Consumer Protection and Defense (DPDC) revealed that only 10% of Brazilian municipalities have consumer protection agencies, such as the Procon. According to the study, 295 of 1,668 of the municipalities in the Southeast have such an agency, making this the region with the highest percentage in the country, 18%. In the South, 12% of the municipalities have Procons, while the North is the region with the lowest percentage, 2%.

The Procon is the agency responsible for responding to consumers' problems and seeking solutions, as well as providing consumer guidance, information, and education and acting to reconcile the two sides in disputes. "The Procon, has to be close to the citizens, especially in the interior, because it functions as a first-aid to citizenship. It is the population's first access to the mechanisms of the judicial system," affirms Ricardo Morishita, director of the DPDC.

The study also showed that 234 mayor's offices expressed interest in having a Procon. 80 of them are in the Northeast region and 24, in the North. To encourage the creation of these organs, the DPDC is reformulating the Guide to the Municipalization of Consumer Protection, which offers orientations to mayor's offices that intend to implant Procons.

Among the innovations included in the new Guide are the possibility of various municipalities joining to create a single Procon and the creation of Municipal Funds for the Defense of General Rights, with resources derived from public civil suits and eligible for use on projects executed by Procons or consumer protection organizations representing civil society.

Translation: David Silberstein