Council Resolution 95-01
Montreal, February 8 1995
General Standing Committee
THE COUNCIL:
NOTING that paragraph 5 of Article 9 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (the “Agreement”) authorizes the Council to establish and assign responsibilities to ad hoc or standing committees, working groups or expert groups;
FURTHER NOTING that an informal working group of the Council has handled the many aspects of the implementation of the Agreement until now;
Hereby approves the establishment of a General Standing Committee composed of representatives of each Party to ensure regular communication between the Secretariat and the Parties on all aspects of implementation of the Agreement. Parties’ representatives on the General Standing Committee will act as first points of contact for the Secretariat on Agreement implementation for their respective governments and ensure timely follow up on Secretariat requirements for information and/or action. The General Standing Committee will communicate regularly with the Executive Director or a designated representative of the Secretariat, in person or via conference call, to ensure regular exchange of information and views on the following key issues:
- development and implementation of the annual program and budget, including review of project proposals for use of resources from the Project Implementation Fund described in the annual program and budget;
- preparation of the annual report;
- issues related to the implementation of Articles 14 and 15 of the Agreement;
- cooperative activities undertaken by the Secretariat and the Parties in accordance with the annual program and budget and/or pursuant to the Agreement;
- timing of, nature of, and governmental participation in expert meetings; and
- other issues of mutual interest.
The General Standing Committee is established without prejudice to the ability of the Council to establish additional ad hoc or standing committees, working groups or expert groups to act as subcommittees of the General Standing Committee or to provide advice from non-governmental experts to the General Standing Committee on any of the key issues listed above.
Approved on behalf of Council:
José Luis Samaniego (Mexico)
William Nitze (United States)
Tony Clarke (Canada)
Certified by:
____________________________
Victor Lichtinger
Executive Director
General Standing Committee