Montreal, 10/02/1998 – The Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation (CEC), Victor Lichtinger, today informed the CEC Council that he will resign,
effective March 1, to pursue other opportunities. CEC Secretariat Director Janine
Ferretti, a Canadian, will be appointed interim Executive Director upon Mr.
Lichtinger's departure and will assume all duties and responsibilities of the
Executive Director.
"I'm very proud of the work accomplished here at the CEC," says
Lichtinger, who recently entered his second-term as Executive Director. "The CEC is
entering a new phase of its development which calls for new ideas and fresh
leadership."
In accepting the resignation, representatives to the CEC Council (composed of
environmental ministers or their cabinet equivalents from Canada, Mexico and the United
States) recognized the important role Mr. Lichtinger has played in the formation and first
years of operation of the CEC Secretariat. They also acknowledged his valuable
contribution to the creation of a non-partisan institution, with the mandate of promoting
stronger environmental protection efforts in the three NAFTA countries.
Mr. Lichtinger, a Mexican citizen, was the first Executive Director of the CEC
Secretariat. He accepted the position in July 1994. Prior to joining the CEC, Mr.
Lichtinger was General Director of ICF Kaiser in Mexico. He has also served as General
Coordinator for Natural Resources and Environment in the Mexican Foreign Affairs
Secretariat, where he organized Mexico's participation in several international
bodies and meetings, including the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development in 1992.
Created by an environmental side accord to NAFTA, the CEC is equally funded by the
governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Based in Montreal, it has an annual
budget of US $9 million. |