| Montreal, 20/09/2001 – The Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) invites the public to its Regular Session, to be held on 22-23 October 2001, at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.
On 22 October, following the opening reports, the public is invited to participate in a plenary session on the CEC's proposed Program Plan for 2002-2004. This document spans a range of issues, from harnessing the power of the market to achieve environmental benefits, to the conservation of biological diversity, the reduction of environmental hazards to children, and addressing regional priorities to improve the environmental law and policy.
These exchanges with the public, along with the results of JPAC's own deliberations, will help JPAC develop an advice to the environment ministers of Canada, Mexico and the United States on the CEC programs.
On 23 October, the public is invited to attend the JPAC deliberations as observers. Several issues will be discussed, such as the terms of reference for the new JPAC mandate on access to environmental information in North America, issues related to citizen submissions under NAAEC Articles 14 and 15, as well as a follow-up on administrative matters. At the conclusion of the meeting, observers will have an opportunity to make comments.
Registration is free and on a first-come, first-served basis. The agenda and the CEC proposed Program Plan for 2002–2004, as well as the registration form may be found on the CEC web site at <http://www.cec.org>. To confirm your attendance at these meetings, please return the registration form to Jocelyne Morin (see below). Once participants have registered, they will receive any documents relevant to these meetings.
Persons who cannot attend this session are invited to send written comments on the Program Plan document to Manon Pepin, the JPAC Liaison Officer at <mpepin@ccemtl.org> or by fax to (514) 350-4314. Please keep your comments brief; specific recommendations would be greatly appreciated. In order to ensure equal consideration to all respondents, such comments should not exceed 1000 words.
As a second advice on this should be discussed during the JPAC regular session of 30 November in San Diego, please be sure to send your comments no later than 15 November 2001.
The CEC was established by Canada, Mexico and the United States to build cooperation among the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners in implementing NAAEC, the environmental side accord to NAFTA. The CEC addresses environmental issues of continental concern, with particular attention to the environmental challenges and opportunities presented by continent-wide free trade.
JPAC is a 15-member, independent, volunteer body that provides advice and public input to Council on any matter within the scope of NAAEC.
For more information on these meetings, please contact:
Jocelyne Morin
E-mail: jmorin@ccemtl.org
Phone: (514) 350-4366
Fax: (514) 350-4314
P.S.: Please feel free to pass this message on to others who may be interested in participating.
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