| Montreal, 14/01/2004 – The Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) of North America held its last regular session for 2003 on 4 December, in Miami, Florida, and also participated in the CEC Round Table on "An Unwelcome Dimension of Trade: The Impact of Alien Invasive Species in North America." The content of this bulletin draws from discussions at those meetings and other sources, as cited.
Limiting the scope of factual records and review of the operation of CEC Council Resolution 00-09 related to Articles 14 and 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC)
JPAC provided its recommendations to the environment ministers on limiting the scope of factual records and reviewing the operation of CEC Council Resolution 00-09 related to Articles 14 and 15 of the NAAEC, supported by specific reasons, following a call for public comments, a public meeting and a report from the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) commissioned by JPAC. (The following points are summarized from JPAC Advice to Council 03-05.)
On the matter of limiting the scope of factual records, JPAC strongly recommends that Council refrain in the future from limiting the scope of factual records presented for decision by the Secretariat. Related to the issue of what constitutes "sufficient" information to support an allegation of failure to enforce as raised in Council Resolution 03-05 on the Ontario Logging submission, JPAC made a series of observations, concluding that, "in setting the bar for sufficient information too high, the Council may render it prohibitively difficult for citizens to participate in the process."
In addition, further related to this matter is an emerging perception of Council members being in conflict of interest by differentiating their role—when they are acting as a Council and when they are acting individually as Parties. JPAC was specifically asked by the public to raise this issue with Council. JPAC considers this to be of sufficient concern as to warrant further analysis and will develop an opinion on how best to proceed to address this matter and will advise Council accordingly.
Concerning Council Resolution 00-09, it is JPAC's considered opinion that Council's decision to define the scope of factual records and subsequently delay conducting a review of this resolution appear to, "[j]eopardize the commitment […] to increase transparency and public participation in the citizen submissions process," and "[v]iolate the object and purpose, or "spirit," of Council Resolution 00-09, which as we all recall was a hard-fought compromise designed to allow the process to move forward and re-establish public confidence.
Finally, JPAC wishes to state clearly that, under its own authority and as set out in Article 16 of the NAAEC, it can choose to conduct a public review on any matter related to the implementation of Articles 14 and 15. By agreeing to operate under the rules established by Council Resolution 00-09, JPAC has not ceded this authority.
Invasive Species in North America
Following the December public meeting where parliamentarians, experts and policy makers provided information and exchanged views on the ecological and economic impacts of invasive species in North America and discussed options for a CEC role in promoting best approaches for prevention and control, JPAC provided advice to the environment ministers, based on the premise that "serious problems currently exist and enormous problems lie ahead if cost effective solutions for prevention and control are not soon introduced" and that "the impacts of invasive species are severe and potentially devastating at many levels-economic, environmental and social" (JPAC Advice to Council 03-06).
NOTING that the CEC is ideally positioned to foster trilateral policy and science-based solutions, JPAC recommends that Council do the following:
- Make this issue a very high priority for the CEC and champion action on this urgent issue;
- Direct the Secretariat to focus trilateral efforts on developing the appropriate tools to determine acceptable levels of risk and scientific uncertainty and develop policies to support and promote an understanding within the North American constituency of the 'cost of doing nothing' at this stage in our common understanding of the impacts of invasive species;
- Encourage the NAAEC Article 10(6) working group to include the issue of invasive species on the agenda for the proposed joint meeting of trade and environment ministers;
- Promote the importance of harmonizing national, regional and local inventories and databases within North America;
- Instruct the Secretariat to continue the very productive strategy of engaging experts, industry and policy makers in future work; and
- Further instruct the Secretariat to increase efforts at educating and communicating information to the public.
Next JPAC Meeting
JPAC's next regular session will be held on 12 March in Oaxaca, Mexico, in conjunction with the CEC symposium on the Effects of Transgenic Maize in Mexico on 11 March at the same location.
The CEC was established by Canada, Mexico and the United States to build cooperation among the North American Free Trade Agreement partners in implementing NAAEC, the environmental side accord to NAFTA. The CEC addresses environmental issues of continental concern, with particular attention to the environmental challenges and opportunities presented by continent-wide free trade.
JPAC is a 15-member, independent, volunteer body that provides advice and public input to Council on any matter within the scope of NAAEC.
All JPAC and CEC official publications can be found on the CEC web site at <www.cec.org> or contact Manon Pepin, the JPAC Liaison Officer at <mpepin@ccemtl.org>.
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