| Montreal, 28/03/1996 – The Mexican government today responded to a citizen petition filed by three Mexican non-governmental organizations under the environmental side accord to NAFTA alleging irregularities in the enforcement of environmental laws during the approval process of a pier and port facilities in Cozumel, Mexico. In its response, the Mexican government seeks to refute the allegations raised in the petition and expresses concerns over the adequacy of the petition itself.
The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation -- otherwise known as the NAFTA environment commission -- will now review the response to recommend to the CEC Council of Ministers whether or not the case warrants the development of an investigation, or a "factual record."
Under articles 14 and 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental (NAAEC), any person or organization may file a petition with the Secretariat of the CEC alleging that one of the NAFTA countries is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law.
The three Mexican organizations which filed the petition are the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, the Grupo de los Cien and the Natural Resources Protection Committee. The groups claim that the Mexican government issued permits for the construction and operation of a new pier on Cozumel Island without conforming to the legally-required environmental impact study process.
The CEC, which is equally funded by the three NAFTA partners, oversees a wide range of cooperative programs aimed at improving the North American environment. The CEC Council of Ministers is composed of the environment ministers from the NAFTA countries.
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