| Mexico City, 29/10/2002 – Victor Lichtinger, Mexico's Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, today acknowledged that the success of pollution prevention measures and the leadership of Mexico's Pollution Prevention Roundtable have encouraged his government to give prevention of pollution precedence over pollution control.
"For a growing number of small and medium-size businesses, pollution prevention is a success in terms of conservation of water, reduction of waste and, of course, cuts to pollution itself," said Lichtinger. "As a result, Mexico is now looking to avoid the production of pollution in the first instance, over attempted controls after it is produced."
The recent annual meeting of Mexico's Pollution Prevention Roundtable was held in Guanajuato, Mexico, from 18 to 21 September. Sponsored by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), the chairs of the Mexican, Canadian and the US roundtables met to discuss the joint efforts being undertaken to promote pollution prevention in North America.
As part of the North American Pollution Prevention Partnership, the meetings aimed to promote regional pollution prevention policies and cleaner production. By sharing information, the partners hope to increase available resources for implementing pollution prevention measures.
Specific projects under consideration included: a) the development of a North American pollution prevention information network; b) the application and testing of guidelines recently developed by the CEC for implementing environmental management systems; c) support for the decentralization of promoting pollution prevention in Mexico; and d) joint work in specific economic sectors, particularly, the manufacture of electronic components.
At the event's inaugural ceremony, Guanajuato Governor Juan Carlos Romero Hicks was joined by Secretary Lichtinger; Undersecretary for Environmental Protection Raúl Arriaga Becerra; Dr. Hernando Guerrero Cázares, director of the CEC Mexico Liaison Office; and Carlos Sandoval, chairman of the Council of Industrial Ecologists and member of the CEC Joint Public Advisory Committee.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the North American Development Bank, the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality, and the Mexican Confederation of Industry Associations (Confederación de Cámaras Industriales de la República Mexicana--Concamin), all participated in the four workshops of the annual meeting.
In addition to its support of the pollution prevention roundtables, the CEC continues to invest in capacity of small and medium-size businesses to implement pollution prevention measures, as well as create financial mechanisms to support roundtable actions.
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 the North American Agreement for Environmental Cooperation (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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