What’s New in CEC Publications?

Assessing Latin American Markets for North American Environmental Goods and Services -- designed for a large range of firms from small environmental engineering firms to large equipment manufacturers -- features such critical information as what makes multinational or North American partnerships successful, where markets are expanding, and what sources of financing are available to North American firms wishing to pursue opportunities in Latin America.

NAFTA Effects: A Survey of Recent Attempts to Model the Environmental Effects of Trade: An Overview and Selected Sources. This publication, the first of the Environment and Trade Series, reviews current theoretical understandings about the impact of trade, trade liberalization and trade agreements on the environment, and the state of knowledge about modeling the environmental effects of trade.

NAFTA Effects: Potential NAFTA Environmental Effects: Claims and Arguments, 1991-1994. This publication, the second in the Environment and Trade Series, is designed to identify the major claims and arguments made by governments, academics, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and others in Canada, the United States and Mexico suggesting that there are potential direct and indirect environmental effects of the NAFTA.

Dispute Avoidance: Weighing the Values of Trade and Environment Under the NAFTA and the NAAEC. This publication, the third of the Environment and Trade Series, closely examines past, present and potential environmental trade disputes in North America in order to identify ways to avoid or resolve such disputes. The report also looks at trade policies and dispute resolution systems already in place under NAFTA and GATT, and cites possible improvements.

Building a Framework for Assessing NAFTA Environmental Effects: Report of a Workshop held in La Jolla, California, on April 29 and 30, 1996. This publication, the fourth of the Environment and Trade Series, makes available in one publication the presentations and supporting documents from the CEC’s first public meeting of its NAFTA Effects Project. In addition to presenting original research from top experts in Mexico, the United States and Canada, the La Jolla report includes a summary of the workshop and valuable contact information.

Status of PCB Management in North America. Despite risks associated with poly-chlorinated byphenyls (PCBs), these toxics remain in use and continue to build up in the North American environment. In response, NAFTA countries are developing PCB management plans that, to various degrees, have begun to address public health concerns as well as environmental protection. This publication compares current regulations, inventories and disposal services in the three NAFTA countries in order to examine regional incentives and disincentives for PCB management.

Status of Pollution Prevention in North America. As environmental protection becomes increasingly more sophisticated, companies and governments in North America are moving away from traditional “end-of-pipe” pollution control methods in favor of changes to production that eliminate or reduce waste and pollution from the outset. In this report, three experts discuss current strategies and incentives for pollution prevention in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The report is part of CEC efforts to develop specific recommendations on pollution prevention techniques and strategies in North America.

Putting the Pieces Together: the Status of Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers in North America. Pollution inventories have become an important tool for increasing public understanding of the types and quantities of toxic chemicals in the environment while encouraging industry to prevent pollution and to assume responsibility for chemicals they use and manufacture. This paper, the first of two documents on pollutant releases and transfers in North America, looks at regional programs in North America including the U.S. Toxics Release Inventory, Canada’s National Pollutants Release inventory and a new project in Mexico, the Registry of Emissions and Pollutant Transfer.

CEC Secretariat Report on the Death of Migratory Birds at the Silva Reservoir (1994-95). This report was prepared at the request of nongovernmental organizations from the United States and Mexico. The report targets the winter 1994-95 mass mortality of migratory waterbirds in the Presa de Silva (Silva Reservoir), located in Guanajuato State. The report includes recommendations for preventing future mass mortalities and offers lessons for the management of bird habitats in other areas of North America.