Canada–Chile Commission for Environmental Cooperation 2012 to 2013 annual report: chapter 3

Report on Submissions on Enforcement Matters

Under the Agreement, any NGO or person can assert that a Party to the Agreement is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law by presenting a submission on enforcement matters (SEM).[1] If the SEM meets, among other things, initial screening criteria as to its purpose, and it contains sufficient information, it is then forwarded to an independent committee (the Joint Submissions Committee) to determine whether the submission merits requesting a response from the Party, and in light of any response, whether the preparation of a factual record against the Party is warranted. If the Council agrees with the recommendation of the Joint Submissions Committee, the Party that is not the subject of the complaint will commission an expert in environmental matters to prepare the factual record on the submission. The Council shall make the factual record public at the request of either Party.

No submissions were submitted or open in 2012.

**********************

An online registry of petitions is available at:

www.ec.gc.ca/can-chil/default.asp?lang=En&n=D3DE2C48-1

If you would like an electronic copy of the document, please use the “contact us” section of the website: www.ec.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=DA294545-1

[1] Article 14 of the Agreement stipulates that any Canadian citizen or organization that submits a request under the Canada-Chile Agreement must agree not to also submit the issue to the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). It should be kept in mind that, given Canada’s large volume of trade with the United States and Mexico, Canadians are more familiar with the NACEC and are therefore more likely to submit a request to under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). To consult submissions against Canada under the NAAEC, visit: www.cec.org/Page.asp?PageID=1226&SiteNodeID=210&BL_ExpandID=156