| Montreal, 5/05/2003 – The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) today submitted the final factual record for the Aquanova submission (SEM-98-006) to the CEC Council.
The submission by Grupo Ecológico "Manglar" contends that a shrimp farm operated by Granjas Aquanova, S.A. de C.V. in the state of Nayarit, Mexico, has caused severe damage to wetlands, water quality, fisheries and the habitat of a number of protected species.
The group says 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.
The submission was filed in October 1998. Council instructed the Secretariat to prepare a factual record on 16 November 2001. Council may now, by a two-thirds vote, make the final factual record available to the public.
Under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), members of the public may submit a claim alleging a NAFTA partner has failed to effectively enforce its environmental law. The development of a factual record is the last step in the citizen submission process and requires the approval of two-thirds of the CEC Council.
Please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page for more information. | 
