| Montreal, 29/10/2002 – A citizen submission, alleging that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law with respect to the "El Boludo" mining project, has been resubmitted with new information to the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).
The original submission (SEM-02-004) was filed by Arcadio, Leoncio, Fernanda and Milagro Pesqueira Senday on 23 August 2002. It claimed that the company, Minera Secotec, S.A. de C.V., has exploited the low-grade placer gold deposit of the "El Boludo" project in Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico, without complying with several conditions of the environmental impact authorization. The submitters claimed that Mexico is failing to enforce the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente--LGEEPA), under paragraphs III and IV of Article 15 of the LGEEPA Hazardous Waste Regulations and the Mining Law and its Regulations.
On 19 September 2002, the CEC informed the submitters that the submission did not meet the criteria of Article 14(1) of the NAAEC. In its consideration of the matter, the CEC found that, while the submission appeared to meet some of the criteria contained in Article 14(1)(a)-(f), it plainly did not meet the requirements of Article 14(1)(c), (d) and (e) because it did not provide sufficient information to allow the Secretariat to review the submission, including the documentary evidence on which it is based. The Secretariat informed the submitters that, in accordance with section 6.2 of the Guidelines, the submitters may provide the Secretariat with a submission that conforms to the criteria of Article 14(1) of the NAAEC, within 30 days of receipt of the determination.
On 10 and 24 October 2002, the submitters filed new information to support their submission, which is currently under review by the CEC Secretariat to determine whether it meets the criteria of Article 14.
Under Article 14 of NAAEC, the Secretariat may consider a submission from any person or nongovernmental organization asserting that a Party to NAAEC is failing to effectively enforce its 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. In accordance with Article 15(2) of NAAEC, the Secretariat shall prepare a factual record if the Council, by a two-thirds vote, instructs it to do so.
The CEC was established under 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 (or equivalent) of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page for more information.
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