CEC Council addresses enforcement, environment and trade, among other issues, in Toronto

At its third regular session, the CEC's Council of Ministers - Canadian Environment Minister Sergio Marchi, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol M. Browner and Mexican Secretary of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries Julia Carabias - agreed to develop principles to help guide governments in North America in maintaining legislation and regulations according to the highest possible environmental and public health standards. The CEC will develop such principles as a standard that the public will be able to use to evaluate new laws, rules and regulations.

The Council met on August 1-2 in Toronto, Canada. Besides issuing a series of announcements on new and continuing CEC programs, the ministers met with representatives from nacec.environmental nongovernmental organizations, business groups and government agencies during a public session that had as its theme, "Building a North American Community."

Public concern that governments may be lowering environmental standards, often as the result of budget cuts, has encouraged the CEC to look closely at its role in implementing the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). As a result, the ministers began a series of initiatives that are designed to avoid a reduction of effective environmental standards as well as to ensure appropriate enforcement of existing standards.

"Enforcement cooperation among our three countries will help all of us implement our environmental laws more effectively and thereby improve the quality of life for our citizens," said Browner.

The ministers signed a resolution establishing the North American Working Group on Environmental Enforcement and Compliance Cooperation to develop regional enforcement strategies.

Also on enforcement issues, the ministers unanimously agreed to proceed with the development of a factual record on issues surrounding the development of a pier and port facility on the island of Cozumel in Mexico (see Citizen Submissions Update, page 3).

On environment and trade issues, the ministers for the first time called for a meeting with trade ministers as well as a meeting of high-level environment and trade officials to look for common ground on ways to make trade and environment policy complimentary in North America. They said that such an unprecedented process would help North American officials prepare for the World Trade Organization's (WTO) December ministerial meeting in Singapore.

Other Council actions included:

• An agreement to cooperate on air quality monitoring and modeling, a step that will help promote regional strategies to improve North America's air. "Ensuring compatible and comparable data is a crucial first step if we are to develop regional management strategies," said Marchi.
• The creation of a North American environmental technology clearinghouse, which will help the private and public sectors make environmentally and economically sound choices when investing in environmental technology and services.
• The beginning of a migratory bird conservation network through the identification of three Important Bird Areas in North America (see story, page 9).
• New efforts to protect Monarch butterfly habitats by establishing protected areas and other conservation efforts throughout North America. "For the first time, agreements on the Monarch butterfly incorporate a North American vision to protect the species along the length of its migratory route," said Carabias.

Copies of the Council's final communiqué, issued on August 2, are available from nacec.the CEC by telephone at (514) 350-4338 or on the Internet, at http://www.cec.org.