| Mexico City, 23/11/2000 – The former Executive Director of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NACEC), Victor Lichtinger, has been appointed as Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources for Mexico. The announcement was made on Wednesday by Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox.
Lichtinger became the first Executive Director of NACEC in 1994, and played a major role in the design and early development of the organization. Under his leadership NACEC began to take shape as an active organization responsive to the needs of civil society, and emerged as a credible rallying point for cooperation among the three NAFTA partners in addressing environmental issues of common concern.
Current NACEC Executive Director Janine Ferretti welcomed yesterday's announcement. I look forward to working with him again, said Ferretti, his former NACEC colleague. I know he brings a deep commitment to the environmental agenda, and this will be good for both Mexico and all of North America.
NACEC was created by the NAFTA environmental side accord to build cooperation between Canada, Mexico and the United States in addressing the opportunities and challenges that continent-wide free trade presents in the protection of the North American environment.
The NACEC Council, the organization's governing body, is composed of the environment ministers (or equivalent) of each of the NAFTA countries.
Lichtinger will take office 1 December 2000. | 
