Looking to the future

Our mission

 

To facilitate cooperation and public participation to foster conservation, protection 

and enhancement of the North American environment for the benefit of present and 

future generations, in the context of increasing economic, trade and social links 

among Canada, Mexico and the United States.

17 June 2005

Strategic Plan of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation 2005-2010
Commission for Environmental Cooperation

393, rue St-Jacques Ouest, bureau 200

Montreal (Quebec) Canada H2Y 1N9 

info@cec.org

http://www.cec.org
1. NAAEC/context

2. Who we are

3. Our first decade

4. A vision for the future

5. Priorities for the cooperation program

5.1 Information for decision making

 5.2 Capacity building

 5.3 Trade and the environment

 5.4 Other projects

6. Evaluating progress

7. Citizen submission process

8. Public participation

Appendices

n NAAEC objectives (Article 1)

n Puebla declaration 

Contents
4

In North America, more than 425 million people share 

a rich environmental heritage, ranging from tropical 

rain forests to arctic tundra and including deserts and 

wetlands, oceans and rivers, prairies and mountains. 

Together, these natural resources form a complex network of ecosystems that support a unique biodiversity 

as well as sustain our well-being and livelihoods. Since 

1994, Canada, Mexico and the United States have collaborated in protecting North America’s environment 

through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). 

The NAAEC came into force at the same time as the 

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In 

the same manner that NAFTA sought to dismantle 

barriers to trade and investment, the NAAEC seeks to 

build bridges among the three countries to promote 

environmental collaboration. Together, the environmental provisions of both agreements mark the determination of our three countries that economic growth 

and liberalization of trade would be accompanied by 

cooperation and continuous improvement in the environmental performance of each country.

More specifically, the NAAEC is intended to address 

potential trade-related environmental concerns, promote environmental cooperation in the region and 

support the effective enforcement of environmental 

law. The NAAEC was the first international agreement 

to link environmental cooperation with trade relations 

and the first to embed public engagement at the heart of 

its operations. 

In addition to reinforcing the national obligations 

of each country to protect its own environment, the 

NAAEC establishes the Commission for Environmental 

Cooperation (CEC) to facilitate effective cooperation on 

the conservation, protection, and enhancement of the 

North American environment. The CEC partnership is 

unique. Through the CEC, the governments of Canada, 

Mexico and the United States and North American civil 

society work together to pursue what none of the three 

countries could achieve on its own. 

The NAAEC describes in broad terms a number of 

areas of work for the CEC, including:

n a program of cooperative activities on a wide 

range of environmental issues (Article 10);

n the processing of submissions on enforcement 

of environmental laws, including factual records 

when warranted (Articles 14 and 15);

n reports on environmental issues of regional 

importance (Article 13), and periodic assessment 

of the state of the North American environment 

(Article 2); and

n the analysis of NAFTA’s environmental effects and 

the resolution of environmental trade disputes 

(Article 10(6)).

The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation

1
5

The CEC accomplishes its work through the combined 

efforts of its three principal institutions:

 n The Council, composed of cabinet-level environment officials from the three countries, is the CEC’s 

governing body. The Council meets once a year and 

is responsible for setting the CEC’s overall direction, including its budget, and monitoring the progress of its projects against their objectives;

 n The executive director of the Secretariat, in accordance with direction from the Council, submits for 

approval of the Council the annual program and 

budget of the Commission, including provision for 

proposed cooperative activities and for the Secretariat to respond to contingencies. The Secretariat 

provides administrative, technical and operational 

support to the Council, and other support as the 

Council may direct. It also has special responsibilities in the Submissions on Enforcement Matters 

(SEM) Process and the preparation of reports under 

Article 13; and

 n The Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), composed of fifteen citizens (five from each country), 

advises the Council on any matter within the 

NAAEC’s scope and serves as a source of information for the Secretariat. JPAC’s vision is to promote 

continental cooperation in ecosystem protection 

and sustainable economic development, and to 

ensure active public participation and transparency 

in the actions of the Commission.

In addition, both Canada and the United States have 

created National Advisory Committees and the United 

States has also established a Governmental Advisory 

Committee. These committees provide general and 

specific advice to their governments on NAAEC’s 

implementation and the CEC’s operations. In Canada, 

decisions regarding CEC matters are coordinated 

through a Governmental Committee headed by the 

federal environment minister and the environment ministers of those provinces who have signed the Canadian 

Intergovernmental Agreement (CIA), an agreement that 

was negotiated with the provinces and territories to create a mechanism to provide for their participation in the 

NAAEC. Signatory provinces include Alberta, Manitoba 

and Quebec. These provinces assume the obligations set 

out in the NAAEC, in accordance with their respective 

jurisdictions, and have a key role in Canada’s ongoing 

management and implementation of the Agreement.

Who we are 

2
6

The Council will continue to rely on advice and guidance of government officials, any Council-established 

groups or committees, and others to advance the priorities described in this Strategic Plan.

The Council recognizes that the existing working 

groups1

 continue to contribute significantly to the CEC 

work and it is clear their assistance will be needed in 

this transition period in which the Council should 

define the future of these working groups in order to 

have compliance with the Strategic Plan.

The CEC Council operates on the basis of consensus, 

with the exception of specific instances where majority 

votes are called for, such as in connection with citizen 

submissions or Article 13 reports.

The CEC’s institutions rely on the following principles 

in guiding their partnership:

 n Flexibility and mutual support

 n Openness and transparency

 n Accountability

The CEC budget is US$9 million a year, contributed 

equally by the three Parties. This sum is complemented 

with staff time and expertise contributed by each of the 

Parties as well as resources contributed by the CEC’s 

partners in the completion of specific projects. 

1. As of June 2005, the Council-established working groups which have been created prior to this Strategic Plan are: the North American Working Group on the Sound 

Management of Chemicals; the Biodiversity Conservation Working Group; the North American Working Group on Environmental Enforcement and Compliance 

Cooperation; the North American Air Working Group; and the Environment and Trade Officials Working Group.
7

The CEC celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2004. An 

independent ten-year review emphasized the valuable 

contribution that the CEC had made and pointed to 

several notable achievements. It found that, over its first 

decade, the CEC has:

n helped create a North American environmental 

community that provides the moral and scientific 

authority for the three governments to address 

issues of continental importance.

n achieved substantial results on key North American 

issues such as chemicals management and set the 

basis for progress on the conservation of continental biodiversity. 

n built substantial environmental capacities, largely in 

Mexico but also in the United States and Canada. 

n advanced our understanding of trade-environment 

linkages and has provided useful information 

on the North American environment to a range 

of audiences.

n successfully promoted citizen engagement on 

environmental issues and increased government 

accountability regarding the enforcement of environmental laws. 

We have learned a great deal from our work over the 

course of our first decade. The CEC’s efforts in assembling and analyzing environmental information on a 

North American scale continues to bring new attention 

and understanding to critical issues facing all three 

countries. Our successful collaboration on protecting 

biodiversity and managing toxic chemicals demonstrates 

that common approaches are effective in addressing 

shared problems. We also know that the CEC, working 

with partners, needs to invest more systematically in 

strengthening North American environmental management capacities. We have determined that freer trade 

and a healthy environment can be mutually supporting, 

provided countries establish and enforce appropriate 

environmental laws and policy. Civil society’s contribution to our work reaffirms the imperative of public participation in environmental management. 

We have also learned that stronger results will come from 

more focused and concerted action. The CEC has thus 

narrowed its priorities and streamlined its work program 

to address those critical matters on which the CEC can 

make a real difference. This strategic plan presents what 

the CEC wants to achieve over the course of the next five 

years and how it plans to do so. It also clarifies the roles 

of the CEC’s bodies regarding that program.

Our first decade

3
8

In June 2004, Canada, the United States and Mexico 

signed the Puebla Declaration, which sets out the Parties’ vision for the CEC for the next decade, a vision of: 

 ... an organization that is a catalyst for action by 

the Parties and others to ensure our air is cleaner, 

our water purer, and our plant and animal species 

better conserved and protected, as our countries’ 

economic relationship grows. We also see the organization as a forum through which we can discuss 

and facilitate regional action on our common global 

commitments. Over the next ten years, we want the 

CEC to be known for concrete results and for quality information and analysis, which have policy-relevance to the three countries

The Puebla Declaration emphasizes several important 

attributes that the CEC will pursue over the course of 

the next decade:

 n The CEC as a catalyst: as a small organization 

with a broad mandate, the CEC needs to work 

in partnership with various levels of government 

and stakeholders. Its role is to encourage and 

facilitate action by the Parties and by stakeholders 

through its work. 

 n The CEC as a forum to facilitate regional action: the 

CEC focuses on issues that are regional in scope 

and a high priority for each Party. Canada, Mexico 

and the United States face many common environmental issues and, in some cases, have made the 

same international commitments. The CEC can 

help the three countries coordinate their national 

approaches to these issues, leading to more effective action. 

 n The CEC as a producer of concrete results: the CEC 

will provide timely and policy-relevant recommendations to achieve concrete results in the areas 

that the Council defines.

 n The CEC as a provider of scientifically rigorous 

information: the CEC will foster the greater comparability, compatibility and accessibility of highquality information at a North American scale to 

support environmentally suitable decisions based 

on sound science.

4

A vision for the future
9

The CEC’s cooperative program directly engages the three 

countries in a united effort to contribute to protecting the 

North American environment. This program promotes 

and facilitates cooperation among the Parties and provides 

the tools and information to allow citizens, governments 

and industry alike to protect our common environment 

better as our continental economy grows. The Parties have 

chosen three broad priorities for the CEC’s cooperative 

program over the next five years. These are:

 1. Information for decision-making

2. Capacity building

3. Trade and the environment

To advance our three priorities, Canada, Mexico and 

the United States have embraced specific five-year goals 

and objectives, and formulated long-term cooperative initiatives to meet them. Building on the CEC’s 

experience to date, these initiatives comprise a focused, 

integrated and coherent effort to produce visible and 

concrete results. While individual projects in the CEC’s 

cooperative program may change from year to year, the 

objectives will remain the same for the life of this strategic plan. Underpinning our agenda is a quality assurance framework that supports the credibility of CEC 

information products and services and the integrity of 

its processes.

We intend to pursue these mutually supporting priorities 

as a comprehensive effort. Capacity building is a built-in 

feature in projects under all three priorities; information 

projects will also contribute to the achievement of the 

trade and the environment objectives. We will design and 

manage the various projects under the priorities so as to 

strengthen these relationships.

5

Priorities for the cooperative program
10

5.1 Information for decision-making

To resolve environmental problems that are North 

American in scope, decision-makers at all levels in all 

three countries need the best information in order to 

set objectives, implement solutions and monitor the 

effectiveness of their choices. 

To help manage cross-boundary issues, the CEC will 

work to increase the comparability, reliability and 

compatibility of national and subregional information. The CEC has already begun to develop and link 

multinational databases and information networks in 

such areas as pollutant releases, ecological integrity, 

and trade-environment relationships. The CEC will 

continue this work and will also develop common 

standards and methodologies to integrate various information-related activities and reporting mechanisms 

being used in North America. The CEC will continue 

to ensure that its science and information products are 

of high quality. As well, the CEC will build on national 

efforts by focusing on trans-border issues that the 

Council has identified as priority concerns.

The CEC’s long-term goal for this priority is to support 

better decision-making by providing information on 

the key environmental challenges and opportunities 

facing North America. 

Specifically, over the next five years, the CEC’s information objectives are to:

 1. Strengthen the capacity of North American decision-makers to understand continental environmental issues of common concern.

 2. Establish an environmental information and 

knowledge framework for North America.

 3. Develop the information needed to describe the 

state of the North American environment and to 

identify emerging trends and issues.

 4. Make environmental information more widely 

available to facilitate local, national and regional 

action.

The CEC will pursue these objectives through several 

mutually-reinforcing initiatives:

n the development of an information systems strategy including the development and application of 

a quality assurance framework;

n the development over time of an online North 

American environmental atlas depicting environmental protection, conservation, biodiversity and 

other information on a continental scale;

n the continued synthesis of North American air 

emissions and monitoring information;

n the annual publication of Taking Stock, the 

CEC’s well-known report on North American 

pollutant releases and transfers, including 

more thorough integration and comparison of 

Mexican information;

n the improvement of monitoring information on 

persistent toxic substances in the North American 

environment; and

“We want the CEC to be an organization recognized for its credible, balanced and timely information on the North 

American environment, and want to ensure that this information is available and accessible to all interested parties.”

Puebla Declaration
11

n the periodic publication of state of the environment 

reports and indicators, based in large part on the 

preceding work.

The CEC will focus initially on the theme of air quality, building from the momentum of recent and current 

work. Over time, these initiatives, taken together, will 

enable the Parties and others to make increasingly betterinformed decisions on a variety of other North American 

environmental concerns, including invasive species, toxic 

substances and wildlife conservation.

5.2 Capacity building

Since its early days, the CEC has played an important 

role in strengthening the capacity of government, industry and civil society for sound environmental decisionmaking across North America. It has done this through 

initiatives whose primary purpose has been to foster 

progress in shared concerns such as the sound management of chemicals, pollution prevention, conservation 

of biodiversity, and the coordination of pollutant release 

and transfer registries. 

Still, there is need to develop stronger institutions 

and to share environmental knowledge with a wider 

range of stakeholders in society. In this vein, the 

Parties aim to: 

n develop model approaches that can be adapted to 

other settings;

n focus on improving compliance with existing environmental laws;

n emphasize institutions rather than individuals;

n address both environmental conservation and 

protection issues;

n work with the private sector and communities, 

as well as with government; and

n identify practical, short-term, targets but in the 

context of a long-term perspective.

Specifically, the CEC’s goal is to strengthen the capacities 

of the three countries to manage environmental issues of 

common concern. Its objectives over the next five years—

focusing on Mexico—are to cooperate to:

 1. Strengthen capacities, where needed, to improve 

compliance with wildlife laws. 

 2. Improve private sector environmental performance through model environmental compliance 

approaches. 

 3. Strengthen capacities to conserve species and habitat of common concern by, among others, creating 

capacity building for planning, monitoring and 

management, with the participation of all relevant 

stakeholders.

 4. Strengthen the Parties’ abilities to assess and manage chemicals of concern.

As a first step, Mexico will formulate an assessment of its 

environmental management capacity needs, priorities, and 

opportunities for cooperation in North America.

“We recognize the different capacities of the Parties and the continuing, urgent need to focus on institutional capacity 

building in order to ... gradually strengthen the capacity for sound environmental management across North America.”

Puebla Declaration
12

For its part, the CEC will pursue the objectives through 

three multi-year initiatives in Mexico:

n training for wildlife enforcement officers and other 

stakeholders, as appropriate; 

n the promotion of better environmental management in selected industries and regions; and 

n the development of processes to secure ecological 

integrity and promote ecosystem and species 

management.

While these initiatives focus mostly on Mexico, they 

will benefit all three countries: more effective Mexican 

enforcement of its wildlife laws, for example, will help 

protect migratory species that the three countries share; 

for their part, Mexican pollution prevention projects 

will reduce the risk that toxic substances pose to all 

three countries. The CEC’s Clean Electronics Pollution 

Prevention Partnership will involve and benefit all three 

countries.

5.3 Trade and the environment

Promoting a better understanding of trade and environment relationships is one of the main reasons the CEC 

was established. Since its creation, the CEC has developed methodologies to analyze these relationships and 

has acquired expertise in this area. The CEC has also 

helped to build positive links between environmental 

goals and trade. For example, the CEC’s assistance to 

coffee growers in establishing a North American market 

for shade-grown coffee—a practice that conserves critical 

species habitat—is an example of harnessing the power of 

markets to facilitate sustainable development and trade. 

As the North American economy becomes increasingly 

integrated, there continues to be a need to anticipate 

and address environmental concerns associated with 

increased trade, such as the spread of harmful exotic 

species, and to decouple economic growth from negative environmental impacts.

The CEC’s goal is to promote policies and actions that 

provide mutual benefits for the environment, trade, and 

the economy. Its objectives are to:

n Enhance North American trade in green products 

and services, with a view to improving environmental protection, promoting sustainable use of 

biodiversity, removing trade barriers and utilizing 

market-based approaches.

n Increase the capacity of the three countries to 

identify and address trade-related environmental 

concerns to achieve mutual benefits for trade 

and the environment and improve collaboration 

among the three countries in these areas. 

n Broaden understanding of trade and environment 

linkages and thereby promote policy coherence, 

both at the domestic and regional levels in 

North America.

n Improve regional and national coordination, 

including coordination between the CEC and 

NAFTA Free Trade Commission through ongoing 

collaboration of trade and environment officials.

“We want to build on the CEC’s recognized expertise on trade and the environmental linkages, and to address specific 

trade and environmental issues more effectively.”

Puebla Declaration
13

To meet these objectives, the CEC will undertake the following initiatives over the next five years. It will:

n Continue documenting the environmental effects of 

trade liberalization in North America; improve the 

capacity of the CEC and the Parties to analyze and 

understand NAFTA’s environmental effects; and 

support informal exchanges between Canada and 

the United States and with Mexico as appropriate, 

on methodologies for conducting environmental 

reviews of trade agreements, with a view to using 

such methodologies to better assess the environmental effects of NAFTA.

n Promote the North American renewable energy 

market.

n Promote North American markets for green products and services.

n Promote and facilitate training, compliance assistance and enforcement to expedite and facilitate the 

movement of legal materials while stopping shipments of illegal materials that could present threats 

to human health or the environment.

n Reduce the environmental and economic harm 

caused by Invasive Alien Species (IAS) through the 

development of guidelines for the three countries 

to use when conducting risk assessments of both 

pathways for IAS and high-risk species and through 

other cooperation aimed at the prevention, detection, and eradication of IAS.

n Promote better use of market-based approaches to 

support environmental protection, conservation, 

and the sustainable use of biodiversity. 

5.4 Other projects

In addition to the initiatives described above, the CEC 

will continue its highly successful collaboration on the 

sound management of chemicals, focusing on the control of specific toxic chemicals and the strengthening of 

North American capacity for environmental monitoring.

The CEC will complete a number of existing projects in 

2005. These include various biodiversity-related activities, work on disclosure of environmental information, 

and work on children’s health and the environment. 

Efforts to forge partnerships with other institutions are 

producing results. For example, the CEC is collaborating 

with the World Bank to assist Mexico in implementing 

the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). As well, the World Bank and the Parties are 

providing financial support to the CEC’s monitoring of 

POPs and heavy metals in maternal cord blood.
14

The CEC’s monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework provides specific and timely information to measure progress in each of the priorities outlined above. 

The CEC Council will continue to meet annually to 

review progress and take corrective action, if required. 

The results of the work accomplished will be tracked 

on the basis of project indicators and regular project 

evaluations. Such tracking will be facilitated by CEC 

initiatives meeting the test of being SMART: Specific, 

Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. 

These characteristics not only make measuring progress easier, but also support better-informed decisions 

regarding priorities, program management and budget 

allocation.

Under Articles 14 and 15 of the NAAEC, the Submissions on Enforcement Matters (SEM) process allows 

any person or nongovernmental organization (NGO) 

residing in North America to make a submission to 

the CEC asserting that a partner country is failing to 

effectively enforce its environmental laws. A submission can trigger an investigation by the CEC Secretariat, 

with Council’s approval, and the publication of a factual 

record. This process contributes in important ways to 

greater transparency, accountability and environmental 

protection. The CEC will continue to process citizen 

submissions in an objective, rigorous and transparent 

manner and will prepare factual records where warranted. As stated in the Puebla Declaration, the CEC 

Council commits “to exploring ways for each Party to 

communicate how matters raised in factual records may 

be addressed over time.”

6 7

Evaluating progress Citizen submission process
15

Public participation is one of the keys to the CEC’s 

success. More so than any other trade-related 

international organization, the CEC encourages the 

public to be involved in its activities. Over the next five 

years, the CEC will seek to increase the involvement 

of the constituencies engaged in its work by engaging 

a broad and balanced spectrum of other levels of 

government, environmental groups, academics, the 

private sector, indigenous and local communities, civil 

society and others.

The Joint Public Advisory Committee will continue 

to play a key role in promoting active public participation and greater transparency in the actions of the 

Commission. 

8

Public participation
16

Article 1: Objectives

The objectives of this Agreement are to:

 (a) foster the protection and improvement of the 

environment in the territories of the Parties for the 

well-being of present and future generations;

 (b) promote sustainable development based on cooperation and mutually supportive environmental 

and economic policies;

 (c) increase cooperation between the Parties to better 

conserve, protect, and enhance the environment, 

including wild flora and fauna;

 (d) support the environmental goals and objectives 

of the NAFTA;

 (e) avoid creating trade distortions or new trade

barriers;

 (f) strengthen cooperation on the development and 

improvement of environmental laws, regulations, 

procedures, policies and practices;

 (g) enhance compliance with, and enforcement of, 

environmental laws and regulations;

 (h) promote transparency and public participation 

in the development of environmental laws, 

regulations and policies;

 (i) promote economically efficient and effective 

environmental measures; and

 (j) promote pollution prevention policies 

and practices.

Appendix 1

NAAEC Objectives
17

Puebla, Mexico, 23 June 2004—We, the environment 

ministers of Canada, Mexico and the United States, members of the Council of the Commission for Environmental 

Cooperation (CEC or “the Commission”), met for our 

annual regular session on 22 and 23 June 2004.

The year 2004 marks the tenth anniversary of the North 

American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation 

(NAAEC) and the North American Free Trade Agreement and is an occasion to assess our work. We see 

this as an opportunity to review our progress, re-affirm 

our commitment to the CEC, and set directions for the 

future. The report of the independent Ten-year Review 

and Assessment Committee has provided an important 

basis for our deliberations. 

Looking forward, our vision of the CEC is of an organization that is a catalyst for action by the Parties and others 

to ensure our air is cleaner, our water purer, and our 

plant and animal species better conserved and protected, 

as our countries’ economic relationship grows. We also 

see the organization as a forum through which we can 

discuss and facilitate regional action on our common 

global commitments. Over the next ten years we want 

the CEC to be known for concrete results and for quality 

information and analysis, which have policy relevance to 

the three countries. 

We recognize the value of the CEC’s work on environment, economy and trade; biodiversity conservation; 

pollutants and health; and law and policy. Looking 

forward, we commit to grounding the CEC’s work program, starting in 2005, in results-oriented strategic plans 

for three priorities: information for decision-making, 

capacity building, and trade and environment. These are 

priorities that the CEC is uniquely positioned to help the 

three countries address together—and separately—for 

the benefit of North America.

We want the CEC to be an organization recognized for 

its credible, balanced and timely information on the 

North American environment, and want to ensure that 

this information is available and accessible to all interested parties in order to provide governments, the private sector, and citizens alike with information to address 

the key environmental challenges and opportunities 

facing the region. We support strengthening the CEC’s 

information-gathering activities, databases, and communications, and making linkages with other information 

systems, such as the Global Earth Observation System 

of Systems.

In developing the strategic plan for information, we will 

build a knowledge base related to contaminants, the 

integrity of our ecosystems, and our ability to ensure 

environmental security at our borders. We will focus on 

information that is key to providing answers regarding 

the state of our North American environment, and will 

develop and use information technologies that will help 

us access and share this information.

We recognize the different capacities of the Parties and 

Appendix 2

Puebla Declaration: Eleventh Regular Session of the CEC Council
18

the continuing, urgent need to focus on institutional 

capacity building in order to sustain targeted results. 

We acknowledge that this is especially important for 

Mexico, and want the CEC to assist those concerned in 

the three countries—governments, the private sector, 

environmental organizations, academia, indigenous and 

local communities, and others—in gradually strengthening the capacity for sound environmental management across North America.

In developing a capacity-building strategic plan, we will 

focus on priorities such as our abilities to assess and 

manage chemicals of concern, undertake pollution prevention, participate in biodiversity conservation, and 

improve our enforcement efforts.

We want to build on the CEC’s recognized expertise on 

trade and environmental linkages, and to address specific 

trade and environmental issues more effectively. We 

will enhance the positive working relationship that has 

been developed with our trade counterparts to ensure 

trade and environment policies are mutually supportive. 

We will continue our work with the NAFTA Free Trade 

Commission, under the Article 10(6) Working Group, to 

develop a strategic plan on trade and environment.

As we work to develop the plan, we will consider, among 

other priorities, areas which could include: establishing 

key elements to enhance markets for renewable energy; 

addressing issues related to trade pathways for invasive 

species; trade and enforcement of environmental laws, 

including enforcement of domestic laws that address 

transboundary trade in environmentally sensitive goods 

and materials; environmental procurement practices; 

market-based approaches to connect North American 

ecoregions; and sharing, as appropriate, information on 

methodologies for conducting environmental reviews of 

trade agreements with a view to better assessing the environmental effects of NAFTA.

The NAAEC and the CEC have been a bold ten-year initiative in building a continental framework for trilateral 

environmental cooperation within the context of increasing trade and economic ties amongst our three countries. 

We recognize the significant progress accomplished and 

the invaluable contribution of the Secretariat and the 

Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), as well as the 

efforts of the CEC’s working groups. We know it is critical to streamline the work of the CEC and to focus our 

work on generating concrete, measurable results that will 

make a difference to the environment in North America. 

We recognize that there will be a transition period as we 

adjust the work program and apply new approaches to 

achieve our goals.
19

While we are focusing on the CEC’s work around three 

main themes, it is also important to identify and keep 

abreast of emerging issues, particularly those which have 

special relevance for North America. We continue to 

support the CEC’s Article 13 work to identify emerging 

issues, and to provide recommendations to the Parties 

for addressing these issues.

We continue to be supportive of the process for submissions on enforcement matters, and commit to exploring 

ways for each Party to communicate how matters raised 

in factual records may be addressed over time.

As we move to the next ten years in the life of the 

CEC, we look to a skilled Secretariat to help us achieve 

our vision for the organization. We are committed to 

strengthening the relationship amongst all parts of the 

CEC—the Council, the Secretariat and JPAC. We seek 

to grow the constituencies engaged in the work of the 

CEC by including a broad and balanced spectrum of 

other levels of government, including local governments, 

environmental groups, academics, the private sector, 

indigenous and local communities, civil society, and others. We envision a strong role for the CEC in promoting 

partnerships across this spectrum. We will continue to 

place great value on advice from JPAC, which reflects the 

diversity and innovative views of its members.

We have important work ahead, and we are confident 

that our strong commitment to the CEC will contribute to a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable North 

American environment for future generations.
Commission for Environmental Cooperation

393, rue St-Jacques Ouest, bureau 200

Montreal (Quebec) Canadá H2Y 1N9 

info@cec.org

http://www.cec.org