| Montreal, 19/09/2001 – The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has dismissed a citizen submission that alleges failure on the part of Mexico in its enforcement of environmental laws with respect to a civil dispute arising from contamination of groundwater in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
The submission (SEM-01-003) was filed by the company Mercerizados y Teñidos de Guadalajara, S.A. on 14 June 2001. It claims that, in a civil trial, Mexico refused to treat a technical opinion issued by the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente-Profepa) as valid evidence. The Profepa opinion related to damages caused to Mercerizados by groundwater contamination that the submission says was caused by the firm Dermet, S.A. de C.V., a producer of pesticides and fungicides in the city of Guadalajara. The submission asserts that in so doing, Mexico failed to enforce effectively Article 194 of the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente-LGEEPA), and its commitments concerning procedural guarantees and private access to remedies under Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC).
The CEC today informed the Submitters that the submission does not meet the criteria of Article 14(1) of the NAAEC. In its consideration of the matter, the CEC found that, contrary to an assertion made by the Submitters, the final decision by the courts regarding the civil suit brought by Mercerizados against Dermet, did in fact ascribe probative value to the technical opinion issued by Profepa. The suit was not successful because the plaintiff (Mercerizados) failed to launch court proceedings within the statute of limitations. Further, the CEC concluded, this delay in launching the suit does not appear to have been the result of a failure by Mexico to enforce environmental law.
Given that the facts on which the submission is based do not support the assertion that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law, the CEC has determined to dismiss the submission. In accordance with section 6.2 of the Guidelines, however, the Submitter may provide the Secretariat with a submission that conforms to the criteria of Article 14(1) of the NAAEC, within 30 days of receipt of the determination.
Under Article 14 of NAAEC, the Secretariat 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 the NAAEC Article 14(1) criteria are met, it may then proceed with a process that can lead to the development of a factual record on the matter. In accordance with Article 15(2) of NAAEC, the Secretariat shall prepare a factual record if the Council, by a two-thirds vote, instructs it to do so.
The CEC was established under 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 (or equivalent) of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
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