MEXICO-USA-CANADA HEALTH FRAUD TASK FORCE:
JOINT STRATEGIES TO COMBAT HEALTH FRAUD

Whereas, health fraud is a critical problem which can induce death or serious injury and which can cause consumers with serious medical problems to delay or discontinue appropriate medical treatment; and

Whereas, health fraud often results in consumers wasting large sums of money on useless, unproved, deceptively advertised and marketed products, treatments and/or devices; and

Whereas, cross-border health fraud has become a serious problem, where fraudulent health products and treatments that originate in one country are marketed to residents of another country; and

Whereas, cross-border health fraud is a particular problem for residents living near the Mexico-United States-Canada borders; and

Whereas, for the past several years a Mexico-USA-Canada Health Fraud Task Force ("Task Force"), including officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, and members of the National Association of Attorneys General, representing the United States; the Secretaria de Salud and the Procuraduria Federal del Consumidor, representing Mexico; and the Therapeutic Products Program of Health Canada and the Competition Bureau of Industry Canada, has been meeting semi-annually to exchange ideas and information.

Now therefore, in order to establish a more formal framework for continuing and broadening such cooperation and to build on the success of the Task Force in identifying and addressing health fraud issues of mutual concern, the member agencies of the Task Force listed below hereby adopt the following joint strategies to combat health fraud:

To the extent compatible with their laws, enforcement policies and other important interests, each agency intends to:

1. share information describing current trends in health fraud and strategies for addressing emerging problems;

 

2. cooperate in the detection of cross-border health fraud;

 

3. inform counterpart agencies as soon as practicable of significant investigations and proceedings involving health fraud occurring or originating in the jurisdiction of such agencies;

 

4. consider counterpart agency requests to investigate domestic activities having harmful cross-border effects;

 

5. consider coordinating related enforcement activities with counterpart agencies in appropriate cases;

 

6. undertake to coordinate import surveillance activities and share information that would maximize surveillance efforts;

 

7. work to develop and disseminate joint consumer and business education messages about health fraud;

 

8. seek to promote cooperation among federal, state, provincial, and local law enforcement agencies of all three countries, and, as appropriate, seek to include such agencies in cooperative efforts to combat health fraud; and

 

9. develop further strategies to achieve: coordinated compliance and enforcement; joint consumer and business education; trilateral communication and information exchanges; and the building of partnerships to combat health fraud.

This document is prepared in the English, Spanish and French languages, each text being equally authentic.