| Montreal, 31/12/2001 – The Secretariat of North America's Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has recommended to the CEC Council that a factual record be developed in response to allegations that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law in regard to the Molymex plant in Cumpas, Sonora, Mexico.
The allegations were made in a citizen submission (SEM-00-005) filed with the CEC on 6 April 2000 by the Sonoran Academy for Human Rights (Academia Sonorense de Derechos Humanos) and Domingo Gutiérrez Mendívil.
The submission alleges that Mexico has failed to effectively enforce effectively the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecologico y la Proteccion al Ambiente) in relation to the operation of the company Molymex, S.A. de C.V. (Molymex) in the town of Cumpas, Sonora, Mexico. Molymex produces molybdenum trioxide. According to the submission, its operations violate environmental law, allegedly causing harm to human health and the environment.
On 18 January 2001, Mexico filed a response to the submission, explaining why the PartyMexico considers that it has not failed to enforce the environmental law invoked in the submission and asserting disagreeing with the submitters' claim that Molymex has not violated the air pollution standard for SO2. The PartyMexico claims that the Secretariat concluded it is clear from the information provided with its response makes clear that a factual record is not warranted.
The Secretariat concluded that a factual record is warranted to address several questions raised in the submission that in light of the Mexican response, merit additional review. In particular, the Secretariat concluded detailed review is warranted left unanswered, including questions in regard to its Mexico's enforcement with respect to Molymex of environmental impact assessment obligations, zoning for industrial land use and limits on SO2 in ambient air.
The CEC Secretariat informed the Council of its determination that a factual record is warranted on 20 December 2001 and is now, 5 business days later, able to provide public notification of the determination and to place the rationale for the determination in the public registry. The full text of the submission, Mexico's response and the Secretariat's factual record recommendation are available on the CEC web site, at http://www.cec.org/citizen.
Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) provides that the CEC Secretariat may consider a submission from any person or nongovernmental organization asserting that a Party to the NAAEC is failing to effectively enforce an environmental law. Where the Secretariat determines that the NAAEC Article 14(1) criteria are met, it may then proceed with a process that can lead to the development of a factual record on the matter.
The CEC was established under the NAAEC to address environmental issues in North America from a continental perspective, with a particular focus on those arising in the context of liberalized trade. The CEC Council, the organization's governing body, is composed of the environment ministers of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page for more information.
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