CEC invites public comment on draft SMOC strategy document

This final review of the strategy document and the associated public comment period are formal steps in the process of providing advice and recommendations to the CEC’s Council of Ministers regarding this initiative. The considered input from the North American public, special interest groups, industry representatives, academic institutions, aboriginal representatives and other local governments is an important element of this process and is being actively solicited.

The CEC’s SMOC program was authorized under Council Resolution 95-05, and is led by representatives of the three North American countries and implemented by a trilateral working group. The program’s mandate is to prevent pollution and reduce risk through cooperative actions for the sound management of chemicals, particularly of persistent, toxic substances. This is imperative in order to protect and improve the environment of North America. It is also important to integrate the CEC program with other rapidly emerging national and global toxic substances management protocols that can further the work.

The CEC SMOC Working Group Strategy until 2020 under the Puebla Priority Areas builds on a 2004 draft SMOC Future Directions paper and responds to the CEC Council’s Puebla Declaration (June 2004), which included a call for results-oriented strategic plans in three new priority areas. The CEC SMOC Working Group Strategy describes the role of the CEC Secretariat and stakeholders in SMOC activities, identifies SMOC Working Group results and performance indicators, and describes the work of SMOC under the three Puebla priority areas. The strategy identifies opportunities for horizontal integration with other work within the CEC, outlines how planned “strategies for catalyzing cooperation” might assist SMOC goals, and describes the future direction of the SMOC initiative.

The public comment period ends on 17 May 2006 at 17:00 EST. Comments on the draft CEC SMOC Working Group Strategy until 2020 under the Puebla Priority Areas should be sent in writing, by electronic mail, or by fax using the coordinates below. Comments received will be posted on the CEC web site (unless otherwise directed by the submitter) in their original language.