TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL ACTS SERIES 12-1128 

________________________________________________________________________ 

ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION 

Border Area 

 Agreement Between the 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

and MEXICO 

Amending the Agreement of 

August 14, 1983 

Effected by Exchange of Notes at 

Mexico City September 6 and 

November 28, 2012 
 NOTE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

 Pursuant to Public Law 89—497, approved July 8, 1966 

(80 Stat. 271; 1 U.S.C. 113)—

“. . .the Treaties and Other International Acts Series issued 

under the authority of the Secretary of State shall be competent 

 evidence . . . of the treaties, international agreements other than 

treaties, and proclamations by the President of such treaties and 

international agreements other than treaties, as the case may be, 

therein contained, in all the courts of law and equity and of maritime 

jurisdiction, and in all the tribunals and public offices of the 

United States, and of the several States, without any further proof 

or authentication thereof.” 
MEXICO 

Environmental Cooperation: Border Area 

 Agreement amending the agreement of 

 August 14, 1983. 

 Effected by exchange of notes at Mexico City 

 September 6 and November 28, 2012; 

 Entered into force November 28, 2012. 

-z

Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Notifications

would be able to flow efficiently through electronic means

between the designated authorities in the environmental

ministries of the two Governments. Removing the

requirement of duplicate transmission would also allow the

two Governments to process notifications more efficiently,

thereby allowing for the processing time to be brought in

line with the time required by other, similar agreements.

Accordingly, on behalf of the Government of the United

States of America, the Department of State proposes that

paragraphs one and four of Article 3 of Annex III be

amended to read as follows:

1. The designated authority of the country of export

shall notify the designated authority of the country of

import of transboundary shipments of hazardous waste for

which the consent of the country of import is required

under the laws or regulations of the country of export.
Embassy of the United States of America,

Mexico, D. F., September 6, 2012.

- 3

4. The designated authority of the country of import

shall have 30 days from the date of acknowledgment of

receipt of the notification provided in paragraph 1 of this

Article within which to respond to such notifica t ion,

indicating its consent, with or without conditions, or its

objection to the export.

If the foregoing proposal is acceptable to the

Government of Mexico, the Department of State further

proposes that this note, together with the Secretariat of

Foreign Relations of Mexico's note in reply, shall

constitute an agreement between the Government of the

United States of America and the Government of the United

Mexican States amending Annex III of the La Paz Agreement,

which shall enter into force on the date of the Secretariat

of Foreign Relation's note in reply.

The Embassy of the United States of America avails itself

of this opportunity to renew to the Secretariat of Foreign

Relations the assurances of its highest consideration.
6228 La Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores saluda atentamente a la

Embajada de los Estados Unidos de America en Mexico y tiene el honor de

referirse a su Nota No. 3200 fechada el 6 de septiembre de 2012, relativa al

Convenio entre los Estados Unidos Mexicanos y los Estados Unidos de

America sobre Cooperacien para Ia Proteccion y Mejoramiento del Medio

Ambiente en la Zona Fronteriza, del 14 de agosto de 1983 (Convenio de La

Paz).

La Secretaria se complace en comunicar a la Embajada, la

aceptaci6n del Gobiemo de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos a la propuesta del

Gobiemo de los Estados Unidos de America de modificar el Anexo Ill del Convenio

de La Paz, con el propOsito de (1) eliminar el requisito de envier por la via

diplomdfica, de manera simultánea, copia de las notificaciones de los movimientos

transfronterizos de desechos peligrosos y (2) reducir el periodo de tiempo del que

dispone Ia autoridad designada del pais de importaciOn, para responder a las

notificaciones de movimientos transfronterizos de desechos peligrosos

De esta manera, los pArrafos 1 y 4 del Articulo Ill del Anexo Ill del

Convenio de la Paz seran modificados para quedar como sigue:

a1. La autoridad designada del pals de exportaciOn, deberà notificar a la

autoridad designada del pais de impottatiOn, los movimientos

transfronterizos de desechos peligrosos para los cuales se requerira,

conform° a las leyes y reglamentos del pals de exportatiOn, el

consentimiento del pals de importacidn."

"4. La autoridad designada del pais de impottaciOn, tendra 30 dies desde

la fecha de acuse de recibo de la notification dispuesta en el parrafo 1

de este Articulo, pare responder a dicta notification, indicando su

consentimiento, con o sin condiciones, o su objeciOn a la exportation."

Por lo anterior, su Nota de propuesta y la presente Nota de respuesta

constituyen un acuerdo entre el Gobiemo de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos y el

Gobiemo de los Estados Unidos de America para modificar el Anexo Ill del

Convenio de La Paz, el cual iniciartsu vigencia a partir de la fecha de esta Nota.

La Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores aprovecha la oportunidad

para renovar a Ia Embajada de los Estados Unidos de America el testimonio de su

nits alta consideraci6n.

Mexico, D. F., a 28 de noviembre de 2012.

%cos
LS No. 0-2013-000410

Spanish/English

GPG/ALK

U.S. Department of State

Office of Language Services

Translating Division

TRANSLATION

6228

Mexico City, D.F., November 28, 2012

The Secretariat of Foreign Relations presents its compliments to the Embassy of

the United States of America in Mexico and has the honor to refer to Note No. 3200 of

September 6, 2012, concerning the Agreement on Cooperation for the Protection and

Improvement of the Environment in the Border Area (the "La Paz Agreement"), signed

on August 14, 1983.

The Secretariat is pleased to inform the Embassy that the Government of the

United Mexican States accepts the proposal of the Government of the United States of

America to amend Annex III of the La Paz Agreement to (1) remove the requirement that

copies of notifications of transboundary shipments of hazardous wastes be transmitted

simultaneously through diplomatic channels; and (2) reduce the amount of time allotted

to the designated authorities of the importing country to respond to notifications of

transboundary shipments of hazardous wastes.

Consequently, paragraphs one and four of Article 3 of Annex III would be

amended to read as follows:

"1. The designated authority of the country of export shall notify the

designated authority of the country of import of transboundary shipments
-2-

of hazardous waste for which the consent of the country of import is

required under the laws or regulations of the country of export.

The designated authority of the country of import shall have 30

days from the date of acknowledgment of receipt of the notification

provided in paragraph 1 of this Article within which to respond to such

notification, indicating its consent, with or without conditions, or its

objection to the export."

Accordingly, the note from the Embassy of the United States of America and this

note in reply shall constitute an agreement between the Government of the United States

of America and the Government of the United Mexican States amending Annex III of the

La Paz Agreement, which shall enter into force on the date of this note.

[Complimentary close]

[Signature]

[Seal: United Mexican States]