The EWG focuses on a wide variety of enforcement and compliance issues involving pollution control and fauna and flora in Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Since 1996, areas of focus have included:

Finding solutions to transboundary environmental enforcement problems.
Improving the ability of the governments to intercept the illegal shipment of substances that destroy the earth's ozone layer.
Working with the North American Wildlife Enforcement Group (NAWEG) on enhancing enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and other domestic wildlife laws.
Identifying tracking and compliance problems in the transboundary shipments of hazardous waste.
Promoting the use of Environmental Management Systems that encourage their users to improve environmental performance and move "beyond compliance."
Facilitating an intergovernmental dialogue and public discussion on the development and use of indicators to evaluate enforcement and compliance efforts.