The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Costa Rica’s consumer protection authority, the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Commerce, have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote enhanced cooperation in the fight against cross-border fraud.

The agreement is an effort to crack down on telephone and Internet fraud of U.S. citizens that originate in Costa Rica. Current developments to fight cross-border crime here are based on this document that was signed earlier this year.

The memorandum facilitates greater law enforcement coordination in consumer protection matters affecting both nations. This memorandum is a  “best efforts”  agreement — it is not legally binding and does not alter either country’s existing consumer protection laws, the FTC said. The memorandum’s key provisions include:

Scope of Cooperation: The memorandum provides for cooperation in the enforcement of consumer protection laws. In the case of the United States, this means “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” embodied in laws enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (except for antitrust laws). In the case of Costa Rica, it refers to relevant chapters of the law for the promotion of competition and effective consumer protection.

Notification of Enforcement Activities: The Federal Trade Commission and the ministry will use their best efforts to notify each other of consumer protection enforcement activities that might affect the agencies’ mutual interest.

Cooperation and Coordination: The agencies will use their best efforts, where appropriate and consistent with their laws, to assist each other in gathering information and coordinating law enforcement activities.

Exchange of Information: The memorandum encourages the exchange of information for consumer protection law enforcement purposes, provided it does not conflict with existing limitations on information disclosure.

The Federal Trade Commission is working to promote international consumer protection cooperation on a global level. The agency has also signed agreements with Australia, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The commission vote to approve the agreement was 5-0.

The Federal Trade Commission works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them.