Forwarded message from (NAFTA) Commission for Economic Cooperation
This is a moderately long posting but it is important in that it presents
a snapshot on how a regional trading agreement (North American Free Trade
Agreement: NAFTA) and regional health and environmental issues are not
only interlinked but "inter-laced" at the policy level.
Sam Lanfranco, ListHost/Admin CLICK4HP, CANCHID
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Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2001 12:52:51 -0400
From: Info CEC <[log in to unmask]>
CEC executive director stresses children's health, environment links
Mexico City, 22 June 2001 -- Janine Ferretti, executive director of the
Commission for Environmental Cooperation's (CEC) Secretariat, yesterday
spoke to a group of health and environmental protection experts at
Mexico's First National Workshop on Children's Health and the Environment.
The workshop, which ends tomorrow, focuses on improving cooperation among
institutions working on health and environment issues and was jointly
organized by the CEC and Mexico's Secretariat of Health and Secretariat of
Environment and Natural Resources.
Last year, the CEC Council, composed of the environment ministers of
Canada, Mexico and the United States, signed a resolution setting in
motion a North American agenda on children's health and the environment.
Through a variety of activities, the CEC is bringing together members of
the health and environment communities to identify and address some of the
major environmental hazards impinging on the health of children in North
America.
The was established under NAAEC to address environmental issues in North
America from a continental perspective, with a particular focus on those
arising in the context of liberalized trade. The CEC Council, the
organization’s governing body, is composed of the environment ministers
(or equivalent) of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Janine Ferretti's speaking notes are below. More information about the
CEC's work on children's health and the environment can be found at:
<http://www.cec.org>.
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
Mexico's National Workshop on Children's Health and the Environment,
21-22 June 2001
Speaking notes for Janine Ferretti
Secretary Frenk, Secretary Lichtinger, distinguished participants, it is a
great pleasure and honor to be with you here today for this First National
Workshop on Children's Health and the Environment. I would first like to
congratulate you on the important announcement you have just made. As we
learn more about the implications that a degraded environment can have for
human health--and in particular the impacts on children--the benefits of
forging stronger links between health and environment become increasingly
clear. Thus, I commend you for having taken this important and
forward-looking step.
I would also like to congratulate you on the convening of this workshop.
Looking at the impressive list of participants who will be working
together over the next 1 1/2 days, I am confident that this event will
provide an excellent foundation for a coordinated national approach to
achieving the twin goals of protecting the environment and safeguarding
children's health.
Children's environmental health is an issue that concerns all of us. We
value our children and thus want to ensure that they are born into a
healthy environment and are able to reach their full potential as healthy,
capable adults. It is also of concern to all of us because of the fact
that we each have important roles to play. Protecting children's health is
not only the task of health care professionals and public health policy
makers, nor is solely up to those of us who work on environmental
protection. It is a challenge that requires strong and sustained
collaboration between these two sectors. In addition, it requires the
involvement of a broad range of other individuals and groups, from parents
to corporate leaders, from teachers to farmers, from scientists to public
interest groups, just to name a few. The organization of this workshop is
a concrete step towards establishing those important partnerships and
engaging the key stakeholders that will need to be involved as the
children's environmental health agenda in Mexico unfolds.
The development of appropriate policies, effective decision-making
processes and sound programs at the national level is the backbone of any
country's efforts to protect the health of its children. However, the need
to protect the environment and concerns about children's health do not
stop at national borders. In North America we share common ecosystems and
have increasing economic and social ties among the three countries.
Substances that can harm children's health can be transported long
distances across national borders by wind, water and in goods traded in
commerce. Recognizing these linkages, the CEC has identified children's
environmental health as a priority area for trilateral collaboration.
Last year the CEC Council, comprised of the top environmental officials of
the three North American countries, passed a Council Resolution calling
for the development of a cooperative agenda to reduce human-made threats
to children's health, with an initial focus on asthma and other
respiratory illnesses and the effects of lead and other toxic substances.
Increasing public awareness, and providing parents and communities with
information on environmental threats to their children's health, were also
recognized as priority needs.
One of the recent and exciting developments in the CEC's children's
environmental health initiative is the establishment of an Expert Advisory
Board, comprised of three high-caliber experts from each country. This
Board will advise Council on issues of children's health and the
environment in North America. We are fortunate to have two of Mexico's
nominees to this prestigious Board here with us in this workshop. We look
forward to formally announcing the formation of this body soon, and to
their active involvement in shaping the North American agenda for action
on children's environmental health.
The existing work program of the CEC gives us a solid basis for taking on
the challenging mandate of reducing environmental threats to children's
health. The CEC's Sound Management of Chemicals (SMOC) program has a
successful track record in addressing priority chemicals, including some
of the 'dirty dozen' targeted in the recently signed Stockholm Convention
on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Through the SMOC initiative, the
Parties work together to develop and implement North American Regional
Action Plans on substances of common concern. The regional action plan on
DDT was a particularly notable achievement, with Mexico eliminating the
use of DDT by replacing it with alternative methods of malaria
control--and achieving this two years ahead of schedule.
Mercury is another substance that is being targeted for regional action.
Because it can adversely affect neurological development, mercury is a
substance that is of particular concern for children as well as for women
of childbearing age. One of the key challenges related to mercury is the
lack of public awareness about the dangers it can pose. Despite its risks,
this highly toxic and persistent metal is being used in children's
jewelry, ornaments and for medicinal purposes. These are unnecessary,
preventable risks that can be addressed, in part, through better education
and awareness. As part of the mercury regional action plan, we look
forward to working with Semarnat, the Secretaria de Salud and other
partners here in Mexico, and their Canadian and US counterparts, to
develop a public awareness raising campaign on the risks posed by mercury
and how to avoid them.
Another area of work related to reducing toxic threats to health and the
environment is the CEC's Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR)
project. For the past five years, the CEC has been tracking data on
industrial sources of toxic chemicals and putting this information into
the hands of citizens, communities, companies and policy makers through
the publication of the annual Taking Stock reports. Currently the analyses
are limited to data from Canada and the United States, however we look
forward to including data from Mexico as it becomes available. Earlier
this year at a tri-national meeting held here in Mexico City, the Mexican
government renewed its commitment to put in place a mandatory reporting
system and to make the data publicly accessible. This will be an important
achievement for Mexico, and will make it possible for us to obtain, for
the first time, a truly continental picture of the sources and handling of
industrial pollutants in North America. Many of the substances tracked
through PRTRs, such as carcinogens and developmental toxins, are of
particular concern to children's health.
The CEC is also actively engaged in air quality issues. The effects of
poor air quality on children's health are a recognized and widespread
problem. Asthma rates have reached epidemic proportions in some parts of
North America, and other respiratory problems plague large numbers of
children throughout the continent. The CEC is working to facilitate
collaboration among air quality officials in the three countries, and to
compile continent-wide data on air pollutants of common concern. We are
also looking to build on existing scientific work to gain better insight
into the links between air quality and asthma in children. The effects on
children's health of air pollution associated with traffic at the major
border crossings is another issue that deserves further attention.
It is well known that preventing pollution is more effective and often
cheaper than cleaning up after the fact. Recognizing the value of a
preventive approach, the CEC has been actively engaged in pollution
prevention, particularly here in Mexico. Through an innovative revolving
loan program organized as a joint venture between the CEC and the Mexican
Foundation for Technology Innovation and Transfer in Small and Medium
Sized Enterprises (FUNTEC), a number of small businesses have benefited
from low interest loans to finance pollution prevention improvements at
their facilities. The results have been impressive, from both a financial
and an environmental standpoint. The participating facilities improved
their bottom line while achieving reductions in their use of toxic
chemicals and their energy and water consumption.
One of the questions that we may wish to explore during this workshop is
whether this model could be extended to other small businesses. For
example, a number of micro-industries and artisans here in Mexico are
using lead. This can contribute to local environmental contamination and
cause exposure of workers and their families, as well as potential
exposures via goods traded in commerce. We all know that lead is a
substance that is particularly damaging to children, given its ability to
cause learning disabilities and other ill effects. Would a project aimed
at making it financially feasible for micro industries to reduce their use
of lead be an effective strategy for reducing this toxic threat to
children's health, while at the same time fostering sustainable economic
development?
These are just some of the possible areas for collaborative work to reduce
environmental threats to children's health. I look forward to hearing the
outcomes of your deliberations over the coming 1 1/2 days, so that we can
identify key opportunities for working together to tackle some of the
challenging environmental issues that threaten the health of children.
In closing, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to participate
in this auspicious occasion, and wish you a successful workshop.
Commission for Environmental Cooperation 393, rue St-Jacques Ouest, Bureau
200 Montréal (Québec) Canada H2Y 1N9 Tel: (514) 350-4300; Fax: (514)
350-4314 E-mail: [log in to unmask] Web site: http://www.cec.org
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