| Montreal, 11/09/2007 – On 6 September 2007, the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) issued a determination terminating the process for the SEM-07-003 (Seal Hunting) submission. The submission asserted that the Canadian government is failing to effectively enforce its law with respect to the harp seal hunt that takes place in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and along the Newfoundland and Labrador coast in Canada every year in the spring.
The Seal Hunting submission was filed with the Secretariat by Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental A.C. (CEMDA) and Conservación de Mamíferos Marinos de México (COMARINO) on 26 June 2007. On 13 July, the Secretariat determined that the submission did not meet all the admissibility criteria listed in Article 14(1) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and gave CEMDA and COMARINO 30 days to file a revised submisison. On 23 August, CEMDA, COMARINO and Humane Society International (the “Submitters”) provided the Secretariat with a revised submission alleging that Canada is failing to effectively enforce sections 8, 28 and 29 of the Marine Mammal Regulations adopted under the federal Fisheries Act, which prescribe methods and instruments for killing seals. On 6 September, the Secretariat determined that it cannot examine the revised submission pursuant to NAAEC Article 14(1) because it does not assert a failure to effectively enforce environmental law, and it notified the Submitters that the submissions process is terminated for SEM-07-003 (Seal Hunting).
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 Council, the organization's governing body, is composed of the top environment officials of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The citizen submissions mechanism of the CEC enables the public to play a whistle-blower role on matters of environmental law enforcement. Under Article 14 of the NAAEC, any person or nongovernmental organization may submit a claim alleging that a NAFTA partner has failed to effectively enforce its environmental law. Following a review of the submission, the CEC Secretariat may investigate the matter and prepare a factual record of its findings.
For more information, please visit the CEC's Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters page. |
