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Published in Fall 2003
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Committee to review NAFTA's environmental side accord
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A six-member, independent committee appointed by the Council of the CEC—composed of the environment ministers, or equivalent, for Canada, Mexico and the United States—will review the operations and effectiveness of NAFTA's environmental side accord, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC).
The committee, announced in October, is expected to prepare a report of its finding by the spring of 2004—10 years after the implementation of the NAAEC. The agreement was signed in 1993 to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and promote the effective enforcement of environmental law. Its provisions also created the CEC.
The report will therefore examine the CEC and its programs, evaluate how the organization has addressed the environmental impacts of NAFTA, and also provide recommendations to the Council on charting a path for the CEC over the next decade.
The Ten-year Review and Assessment Committee (TRAC), chaired by Pierre Marc Johnson, a lawyer and former Premier of Quebec, issued a call for public comments shortly after the appointment. Interested parties were asked to comment on past activities of the CEC as well as make suggestions for future work.
David Runnalls, president of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, told Inter Press News that the review should "come to the conclusion very rapidly that the CEC needs some more muscle and some more teeth. How it gets there, I don't know, but that does mean much more input on the trade policy of the three countries."
Council chose the six members of the TRAC based on their knowledge of trade and the environment or related fields, their familiarity with the NAAEC and the CEC, and their experience in business, academia, or nongovernmental organizations.
To contact TRAC with your comments, you may write to TRAC@ccemtl.org. This e-mail address will be accessed by TRAC members only.
| The Ten-year Review and Assessment Committee |
- (Chair) Pierre Marc Johnson is a medical doctor, lawyer and a former Premier of Quebec. He is a counsel lawyer for Heenan Blaikie, a law teacher at the McGill Law School, and was a member of the founding board of directors of the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
- Robert J.D. Page is Vice President for Sustainable Development at TransAlta Corporation, a power generation company based in Calgary, Alberta. He is a former dean at the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, where he remains an adjunct professor of environmental science.
- Daniel Basurto is a lawyer and founding partner of the firm Basurto, Santillana y Arguijo, S.C., through which he has counseled domestic and foreign companies on compliance with Mexican environmental legislation. He is also a former member of the Joint Public Advisory Committee
of the CEC.
- Blanca Torres is a professor and researcher at the College of Mexico (El Colegio de México). She is a member of National System of Researchers (Sistema Nacional de Investigadores) of the Mexican Academy of Sciences (Academia Mexicana de Ciencias). She is a specialist in Mexican foreign policy and Mexico-US relations, with a current focus on environmental issues.
- Jennifer A. Haverkamp is a former Assistant US Trade Representative for Environment and Natural Resources at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), where she oversaw negotiations of environmental components of trade agreements. She now works as an independent consultant, based in Washington, DC.
- John F. Mizroch is the president and CEO of World Environment Center, a not-for-profit organization that encourages corporate environmental leadership. He is a former executive director of the Environmental Export Council and advisor to the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.
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