| Montreal, 3/04/2002 – The North American Task Force on Dioxins, Furans and Hexachlorobenzene was established by the North American Working Group on the Sound Management of Chemicals to prepare a North American Regional Action Plan on Dioxins, Furans and Hexachlorobenzene, as called for by Council Resolution 99-01 of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America (CEC). Both the SMOC Working Group and its task forces operate under the CEC's Sound Management of Chemicals initiative Council Resolution 95-05), which is part of the CEC's Pollutants and Health Program.
The Task Force sponsored a consultation workshop of North American stakeholders on 23-24 October 2001 in Mexico City. The purpose of this consultation workshop was to seek stakeholder's views on the key elements to be included in the development of a North American Regional Action Plan (NARAP) on Dioxins, Furans and Hexachlorobenzene. This consultation workshop followed a government-to-government experts workshop that the Task Force held with the CEC's sponsorship on 19-20 June 2001 in Washington, D.C. to brief Task Force members and participants on the scope and status of science pertaining to Dioxins, Furans and Hexachlorobenzene and research efforts underway in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Topics addressed included environmental and human health effects and risks to population; formation mechanisms, sources, transport and exposure pathways; inventories and source reduction activities; research efforts and capacity building issues.
Presentations and other meeting material from the June and October 2001 workshops are available on CD-ROM from the CEC Secretariat. To receive a copy, contact Ms. Erika Hercules, Tel : 514-350-4362; fax: 514-350-4319; e-mail: ehercules@ccemtl.org.
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.
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