| Toronto, 2/08/1996 – In a unanimous decision, the Council of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has decided that a factual record will be prepared regarding a submission on enforcement matters concerning the construction and operation of a public harbor terminal in Cozumel, Mexico. The Council’s members are: the Canadian Minister of the Environment, Sergio Marchi; Mexican Secretary for Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries Julia Carabias; and the US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol M. Browner.
The submission was filed in January 1996 by the Group of 100, the Committee for the Protection of Natural Resources and the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, all of which are Mexican environmental nongovernmental organizations. They asserted that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law with respect to the environmental impact assessments of a pier, passenger terminal and other infrastructure for tourist cruises on Cozumel Island, near the Paradise Coral Reef. On June 7, the CEC’s Secretariat advised the Council that a factual record was warranted.
In taking its decision to proceed with a factual record, the Council took into account Mexican initiatives on Cozumel since 1980. The most recent initiative took place on June 5, 1996, when the government declared the area of the Cozumel Reef a national marine park. The government also declared its intention to implement a management plan for the park and to complete an ecological management study of the island, with the full support of the local community.
A factual record contains a summary of the submission that initiated the process, a summary of the response provided by the concerned Party, a summary of any other relevant factual information and the facts presented by the Secretariat with respect to the matters raised in the submission.
In developing the factual record, the Secretariat is directed by the Council to consider whether the Party concerned is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law since the North American Agreement on Environment Cooperation’s (NAAEC) entry into force on January 1, 1994. Relevant facts that existed prior to that date may also be included.
The ability of private individuals to contribute constructively to the CEC’s goal of ensuring effective enforcement of environmental laws through the submissions process is a valuable tool of the NAAEC.
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