Agenda now available for November 7 JPAC public forum in El Paso
- Discuss citizen submissions on enforcement matters and the cross-border movement of chemicals
- Register now to participate in El Paso or via live webcast
Montreal, 25 October 2011—Don’t miss the upcoming public forum organized by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) on 7 November in El Paso, Texas.
The one-day forum will be an opportunity to discuss the CEC’s citizen submission on enforcement matters (SEM) process and learn more about how North America is addressing the cross-border movement of chemicals.
A morning session will feature the perspectives of citizens who have filed submissions with the CEC alleging that a Party to the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) has failed to effectively enforce its environmental laws. The SEM process was created by the Parties to the NAAEC—Canada, Mexico and the United States—through Articles 14 and 15 of the Agreement.
Representatives from Ecojustice (Canada) and the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (Mexico), along with an attorney formerly with Waterkeeper Alliance (US), will talk about their experiences with the Citizen Submission Process and participate in a discussion with JPAC members about its strengths and weaknesses.
In the afternoon, a panel discussion will address hazardous wastes and potentially harmful chemicals that are crossing North America’s borders and feature some of the work already being done, including the CEC’s Taking Stock Online cross-border transfers database and mapping tool and a new hazardous waste and recyclable materials tracking system developed by enforcement officials in the three countries as the result of a long-standing CEC cooperative project .
Join JPAC in person or online
About JPAC
The Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), composed of 15 citizens (five from each country), makes recommendations to the CEC Council on any matter within the scope of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and acts as a source of information for the CEC Secretariat.
About the CEC
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was established in 1994 by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, a parallel environmental agreement to NAFTA. As of 2020, the CEC is recognized and maintained by the Environmental Cooperation Agreement, in parallel with the new Free Trade Agreement of North America. The CEC brings together a wide range of stakeholders, including the general public, Indigenous people, youth, nongovernmental organizations, academia, and the business sector, to seek solutions to protect North America’s shared environment while supporting sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations
The CEC is governed and funded equally by the Government of Canada through Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Government of the United States of Mexico through the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, and the Government of the United States of America through the Environmental Protection Agency.