| Montreal, 9/08/2000 – The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has dismissed the Submission on Enforcement Matters (SEM-00-005) filed by Academia Sonorense de Derechos Humanos, A.C. (the Sonoran Academy of Human Rights) and Mr. Domingo Gutiérrez Mendivil. The submission alleges failure on the part of Mexico to effectively enforce environmental law concerning the Molymex company of Cumpas, Sonora, Mexico, which produces molybdenum trioxide.
The submission asserts that Molymex's operations violate air quality and environmental impact requirements of Mexico's General Law on Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente--LGEEPA). The submitters claim that the contaminants released by Molymex have caused irreversible damage to the health and environment of the Cumpas community.
Under Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) the CEC may consider a submission from any person or nongovernmental organization asserting that a Party to NAAEC is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. Where the Secretariat determines that NAAEC Article 14 criteria are met, it may then proceed with a process that, with the agreement of the CEC Council, can lead to the development of a factual record on the matter.
The CEC dismissed the Molymex submission because it did not meet the requirement of Article 14(1)(e) that the matter be previously submitted in writing to the relevant Mexican authorities.
The submitters filed a revised submission 31 July 2000 which is currently under review by the CEC Secretariat to determine whether it meets the criteria of Article 14.
The CEC was established under the NAAEC to address environmental issues in North America from a continental perspective, with a particular focus on those arising in the context of liberalized trade. The CEC Council, the organization's governing body, is composed of the environment ministers of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
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