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Published in Summer 2001
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Improving the citizen submission process
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In response to public concern over the citizen submission process, a report prepared by JPAC calls for greater transparency and efficiency, writes JPAC chair Liette Vasseur.
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By Liette Vasseur
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The citizen submission process implemented under Articles 14 and 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) was intended to act as a vehicle for public oversight of the enforcement of environmental laws by the NAFTA Parties.
The implemented process, however, seems instead to have presented the Commission's Council and Secretariat with a number of challenges that, in turn, became a source of concern for the North American public.
Over the past few years, at most of JPAC's regular sessions, the public repeatedly referred to the lack of transparency characterizing this process. Unease mounted in 1999 when Council chose to amend the process guidelines, despite a strong call from the public and advice from JPAC not to do so.
JPAC has devoted considerable energy to seeking a solution to what appeared at this time last year as an impasse between the public and Council over lack of transparency in the process. A level of tension had developed that risked undermining the Commission’s credibility. Indeed, JPAC wrote to Council in May 2000 stating: "We find ourselves, almost one year after the 1999 Banff Council Session, with a submission process totally frustrated by the inability of the Parties to resolve an ever-expanding level of confusion surrounding interpretation, conducted in private and with unclear intent."
In June 2000, a bold step was taken. Realizing that transparency and public participation required strengthening, Council adopted a resolution giving JPAC the task of designing a process for public review of issues concerning the citizen submission process. Accordingly, in March 2001, JPAC released a document setting out a process for "Public Review of Issues Concerning the Implementation and Further Elaboration of Articles 14 and 15."
Council further asked JPAC to prepare a report reviewing the public history of submissions and identifying lessons learned. After calling for public comments, in December 2000, JPAC held a workshop in Montreal to assist in the preparation of this important document. The workshop drew out a wide range of views, but representatives of environmental nongovernmental organizations, academia and industry all agreed that transparency and public participation in the submission process must be improved.
As Jacques Gérin, a former chair of JPAC, well versed in the workings of the submission process stated during the workshop: "The only way out of this malaise is for Council to reaffirm with strength and conviction the raison d’être of the process, which is public access and transparency."
Public comments on the draft "lessons learned" document were reviewed in the preparation of the final report. The report’s conclusions focus on promoting vigorous environmental enforcement as a necessary component of expanded free trade; the necessity of an independent, professionally qualified and properly funded Secretariat; and a call for improved transparency, accountability and efficiency.
The report was submitted to Council in advance of its June session, to be held on 27–29 June in Guadalajara, Mexico.
On behalf of JPAC, I would like to thank the public for contributing to the development of this report and express my hope that, as suggested by the title of the document, lessons will be learned and improvements made.
For more information on JPAC’s public review of the citizen submission process, we invite you to consult
(http://www.cec.org/who_we_are/jpac/Art14-15) on the Commission's web site or to contact Manon Pepin, JPAC Liaison Officer, at the Secretariat.
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