Invitation to attend two meetings of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation on 7 and 8 May in Anchorage, Alaska

The focus of the joint meeting on 7 May with SMOC and JPAC will be to discuss the issue of contaminants and their impact on human health and how the CEC can best contribute to the a better understanding of these matters. Another focus will be on how these issues impact indigenous peoples.

On 8 May, the public is invited to participate in a round table discussion with JPAC on the CEC 1999-2001 Program Plan. This exchange, along with the results of JPAC's own deliberations and the interactions with the public, will form a basis for the Committee's annual report and advice to Council, as well as its input into the next iteration of the Program Plan.

Following the round table discussion, the public is invited to attend the JPAC deliberations as observers. Several issues will be discussed, such as the Sound Management of Chemicals Program, the Involvement of Remote Communities in the CEC Program, the CEC Draft Public Participation Guidelines, and the Next Council Session of June 1999 in Banff, Alberta. At the end of the day, the observers will have the opportunity to make comments.

Individuals who cannot attend this session are invited to send written comments on these or other issues. Please contact the JPAC Coordinator Manon Pepin on how to transmit your comments.

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was created in 1994 by the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) to facilitate cooperation and public participation to foster conservation, protection and enhancement of the North American environment for the benefit of present and future generations, in the context of increasing economic, trade and social links between Canada, Mexico and the United States. The CEC consists of a Council of cabinet-level officials—composed of Canadian Environmental Minister Christine Stewart, Mexican Secretary of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries, Julia Carabias, and US EPA Administrator, Carol M. Browner—a Secretariat and a Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC).

JPAC is composed of fifteen members, five from each of the three countries, who are appointed by their respective governments. It acts as a single, transnational body. Its members act independently and their responsibility is to provide the Council with their advice on all matters within the scope of the NAAEC.