| Montreal, 19/07/2007 – The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) received Mexico’s response to submission SEM-06-006 (Los Remedios National Park) on 16 July 2007. In the submission, received by the Secretariat on 9 November 2006, the organization Asociación Fuerza Unida Emiliano Zapata en Pro de las Áreas Verdes, A.C. (the “Submitter”) asserts that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws with respect to the protected nature area called “Los Remedios National Park” in Naucalpan, Mexico State.
According to Mexico’s response, the Decree repealing the park’s protected status calls on state authorities to continue to ensure the integrity of the site. Mexico stresses that it has effectively enforced its environmental laws when it denied—three times—an environmental impact authorization for a company seeking to develop real estate within the protected nature area.
Under Article 14(3)(a) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), Mexico requests that the Secretariat not continue to process the submission because, it asserts, the matter is subject to several appeals pending resolution. It further requests that the information provided in regard thereof be kept confidential.
The CEC citizen submission mechanism allows citizens to play an active "whistleblower" role in matters relating to environmental law enforcement. Pursuant to NAAEC Article 14, any citizen or nongovernmental organization may file a submission where it believes that a NAFTA partner is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law.
The Secretariat of the CEC will now analyze the submission in light of Mexico’s response. It will then notify the Council as to whether or not the submission warrants the preparation of a factual record pursuant to NAAEC Article 15(1).
For more information, please visit the CEC's Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters page.
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