| Montreal, 14/02/2002 – By notice posted today, the Secretariat of North America's Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is seeking information from the public for use in preparation of a factual record on Mexico's alleged failure to effectively enforce its environmental law with respect to a shrimp farm operated by Granjas Aquanova, S.A. de C.V., in the state of Nayarit, Mexico, that allegedly has caused severe damage to wetlands, water quality, fisheries and to the habitat of a number of protected species. The notice has been posted on the CEC's web site <http://www.cec.org>. The Secretariat will accept information until 30 June 2002.
The alleged failure to effectively enforce environmental law was asserted in the Aquanova submission (SEM-98-006), filed on 20 October 1998, by Grupo Ecológico "Manglar". The Submitters contend that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce provisions of its General Law on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection, the Forestry Law, Mexican Official Standards NOM-062-ECOL-1994 and NOM-059-ECOL-1994, the Law of National Waters and its Regulations, the Fisheries Law and its Regulations, and the Federal Criminal Code, in connection with the activities of Granjas Aquanova.
On 4 August 2000, in light of the submission and Mexico's response, the Secretariat recommended that a factual record be prepared. On 16 November 2001, the Council instructed the Secretariat to prepare the factual record.
Under Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (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. A factual record seeks to provide detailed factual information to allow interested persons to assess whether a Party has effectively enforced its environmental law with respect to the matter raised in the submission.
Under Article 15(4) and 21(1)(a) of the NAAEC, in developing a factual record, the Secretariat shall consider any information furnished by a Party and may ask a Party to provide information. The Secretariat also may consider any relevant technical, scientific or other information that is publicly available, submitted by the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) or by interested nongovernmental organizations or persons, or developed by the Secretariat or independent experts. In accordance with Article 15(7) of NAAEC, the Council may, by a two-thirds vote, make the final factual record publicly available.
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.
Please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page for more information. |
