Vessel Pollution in Pacific Canada
Submission ID: SEM-23-007
Party concerned: Canada
Date filed: November 2, 2023
Submission Status: Open
Latest Update: April 12, 2024
Under Article 24.27(4), the Secretariat received a response from the concerned government Party and began considering whether to recommend a factual record under Article 24.28(1).
Summary of the matter addressed in the submission:
The submission asserts that Canada is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws, particularly Section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act, to prevent pollution of the marine environment by cruise ships and other vessels along its Pacific coast.
In submission SEM-23-007 (Vessel Pollution in Pacific Canada), the Submitter asserts that Canada is failing to uphold its obligations to protect the marine environment by allowing the continued operation of open-loop exhaust gas cleaning systems (often called “scrubbers”) that remove pollutants from ships’ exhaust emissions and the continued discharge of wastewater used to clean the systems directly into Canadian waters. The Submitter alleges that these systems capture harmful pollutants, like sulfur dioxides, heavy metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, to comply with international air emission obligations for the shipping sector, and that those pollutants are discharged directly into the water, harming marine and coastal ecosystems. The submission states that these discharges threaten vital ecosystems and endangered species, particularly discharges from cruise ships operating in the sensitive Canadian and transnational waters of the Salish Sea, Kwakwaka’wakw Sea and Great Bear Sea.
Names and citations of the environmental laws in question:
The Fisheries Act, the Canada Shipping Act, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) as well as other international instruments.
Submitter(s):
Stand.earth, Represented by Benjamin Isitt
Submission Timeline
The Secretariat began reviewing the submission under Articles 24.27(2) and (3) of the USMCA.
Submission - Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 30/10/2023
Acknowledgement - Communication to Submitter(s) authored by Secretariat on 03/11/2023
Annex - Other document authored by Submitter(s) on 30/10/2023
Annex - Other document authored by Submitter(s) on 30/10/2023
The Secretariat requested the Submitter(s) to correct minor errors of form.
The Submitters corrected the minor errors of form.
Submission - Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 15/11/2023
Annex - Other document authored by Submitter(s) on 15/11/2023
Annex - Other document authored by Submitter(s) on 15/11/2023
Annex - Other document authored by Submitter(s) on 15/11/2023
The Secretariat notified the Submitter(s) that the submission did not meet all the Article 24.27(2) and (3) criteria, and that the Submitter(s) has 60 days to submit a revised submission.
Determination - Secretariat Determination under Article 24.27(2) and Article 24.27(3) of the CUSMA/USMCA authored by Secretariat on 04/12/2023
The Secretariat received a revised submission and began to analyze it.
Submission - Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 10/01/2024
Acknowledgement - Communication to Submitter(s) authored by Secretariat on 11/01/2024
The Secretariat determined that the submission met the criteria of Article 24.27(2), and requested a response from the concerned government Party in accordance with Article 24.27(3).
Determination - Secretariat Determination under Article 24.27(2) and Article 24.27(3) of the CUSMA/USMCA authored by Secretariat on 12/02/2024
Under Article 24.27(4), the Secretariat received a response from the concerned government Party and began considering whether to recommend a factual record under Article 24.28(1).
Party Response - Response from the Party under Article 24.27(4) of the CUSMA/USMCA authored by Canada on 12/04/2024