Summary of the matter addressed in the submission:
The Submitter asserts that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws with respect to the authorization of an open-pit mining project in the town of Cerro de San Pedro, San Luis Potosí. In submission SEM-07-001 (Minera San Xavier), the Submitter asserts that in April 2006 the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales—Semarnat) violated a Mexican court ruling by authorizing—for a second time— the gold and silver mining project by Minera San Xavier, the Mexican subsidiary of Canadian company Metallica Resources Inc. The Submitter asserts that in 2000 it successfully filed an appeal that led to a judicial decision canceling the original authorization and requiring Semarnat to consider guidelines established by the court. The Submitter asserts that Semarnat failed to comply with the court’s ruling in reauthorizing the project.

The Secretariat acknowledged receipt of a submission and began a preliminary analysis of it under the guidelines.

Submission — Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 31/01/2007

Under guideline 3.10, the Secretariat requested the submitter(s) to correct minor errors of form.

Acknowledgement — Communication to Submitter(s) authored by Secretariat on 6/02/2007

The Submitters corrected the minor errors of form.

The Secretariat began reviewing the submission under Article 14(1).

The Secretariat notified the submitter(s) that the submission did not meet all of the Article 14(1) criteria and the submitter(s) had 30 days to provide the Secretariat with a revised submission that conforms with Article 14(1).

Determination — Secretariat Determination under Article 14 (1) authored by Secretariat on 4/04/2007

The Secretariat received a revised submission and began to analyze it.

Submission — Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 30/04/2007

The Secretariat determined that the submission met the criteria of Article 14(1) and requested a response from the concerned government Party in accordance with Article 14(2).

Determination — Secretariat Determination under Article 14 (1) and 14 (2) authored by Secretariat on 29/06/2007

The Secretariat received a response from the concerned government Party and began considering whether to recommend a factual record.

Party Response — Response from the Party under Article 14 (3) authored by Mexico on 25/09/2007

The Secretariat requested additional information from the concerned government Party under Article 21(1)(b)

Secretariat Information Request — Secretariat Request to the Party for Additional Information under Article 21(1)(b) authored by Secretariat on 7/03/2008

The Secretariat received the requested information from the concerned government Party.

Other Documents — Additional information provided by Party under Article 21 (1)(b) authored by Mexico on 5/06/2008