INECE Cooperation with Environment Canada on Compliance Promotion Indicators
At the invitation of Environment Canada, the Secretariat participated in an internal Environment Canada workshop entitled "Performance Measures for Compliance Assurance: Indicators for Compliance Promotion and Enforcement" on March 25-26. The intent of the workshop was to develop indicators, collect information that would allow senior officials to measure the effectiveness of compliance tools and identify additional information for Environment Canada's Compliance, Analysis and Planning data warehouse. The workshop presented an excellent balance of case studies, multidisciplinary perspectives and actual indicator development exercises. For background information on the CAP database, please visit http://www.inece.org/americas/EnvironCanada.htm.

Pacific Rim Environmental Criminal Enforcement Conference
The INECE Secretariat participated in the Pacific Rim Environmental Criminal Enforcement Conference and in the opening of the Pacific Rim Environmental Enforcement Resource Center. The Secretariat introduced law enforcement officials ranging from customs agents, police officers, investigators, and prosecutors to INECE and its Asia, South America, and Central American regional networks, compliance and enforcement indicators projects and training and capacity building projects, and explored opportunities for the development of enforcement cooperation projects. In addition to participating in the conference, the Secretariat held side meetings with representatives from Interpol and customs organizations. The Interpol representative, based on the numerous synergies between organizations, has suggested formalizing the relationship with INECE on topics such as information sharing, training, and other forms of cooperation, in a memorandum of understanding.

New INECE Central America Pesticides Forum Released
The INECE Secretariat recently completed the development of currently developing a Central American Pesticides Web Forum. The Forum,which a result of a workshop at the 6th International Conference, features documents and information resources specific to the Central American region. The Forum builds upon technology infrastructure within chemical and pesticide offices in seven Central American countries. The Secretariat is coordinating its efforts with EPC member Marco Gonzalez of Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (CCAD) in El Salvador, Carolina Mauri of EcoConsulta in Costa Rica, and the Chemical Information Exchange Network (CIEN). The CIEN project, which is cosponsored by El Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA), the US EPA, and USAID, seeks to build technical infrastructure for chemical and pesticide stakeholders in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Mexico. As part of these efforts, the Secretariat created a training module for use of the forum. Visit the Forum at http://www.inece.org/centralamerica/.

INECE Releases Spanish Translation of International Environmental Inspection Guide on Web Site
The Spanish translation of Conducting Environmental Compliance Inspections: Inspectors Field Manual - International Edition (Inspecciónes de Cumplimiento Ambiental: Manual de Campo del Inspector - Edición Centroamericano" ) is now available through the INECE Web site. The manual provides participants with an approach for effectively conducting environmental compliance inspections and becoming involved in the environmental compliance review and the resolution of any violations found. The manual can be downloaded from http://inece.org/manual/.

New INECE Guide to Citizen Suits and Access to Justice
The INECE Secretariat developed a resource guide to Web sites addressing Citizen Suits and Access to Justice issues to complement our Public Access to Information Forum. The guide provides links to international NGOs working on citizen suits/justice issues, as well as country-specific resources such as local/regional NGOs, laws, case studies and analyses, and government resources. Resource Guide available at http://inece.org/forumspublicaccess_citizen.html.

INECE Contributions to International Compliance and Enforcement Efforts
INECE Secretariat wrote the forwarding remarks for BERCEN's soon to be released a report entitled Current Legal Structure And Resources Available To The Environmental Protection Agencies And Inspectorates In The Countries Of South Eastern Europe. The Report provides an assessment of enforcement program strengths and needs of its eight member countries. The data compiled in the Report will be of value to INECE as it develops and pilots test a set of compliance and enforcement indicators.

The Legal Department at the World Bank and INECE co-sponsored a workshop attended by over 50 persons on "Fostering Environmental Compliance in South America: Constraints and Opportunities." Panelists included Antonio Benjamin, Daniel Sabsay, and Durwood Zaelke. Charles Di Leva of the World Bank moderated the discussion, while EPC member Adriana Bianchi coordinated the meeting logistics. For further details on this meeting, see the Fostering Environmental Compliance in South America: Constraints and Opportunities article in the Americas Regional News section.

Upcoming Events

2003 Executive Planning Committee Meeting: The Spring 2003 EPC Meeting will be held in Washington, DC, USA on May 27th and 28th.

Compliance and Enforcement Workshops In South America: The School of Justices of Rio de Janeiro, Office of the Environmental Attorney General of Rio de Janeiro, The Green Planet Institute, in conjunction with INECE are sponsoring an International Workshop on Environmental Enforcement, May 30, 2003, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Antonio Benjamin, Davis Jones, and Adriana Bianchi worked with the Secretariat to prepare a draft program for the workshop available at http://www.inece.org/southamerica/SAworkshopWB.htm.

Johannesburg Summit: Next Steps Seminar: The International Court of the Environment Foundation invited INECE to speak at the seminar entitled "Johannesburg Summit: Next Steps - The Role of Judiciary in the Implementation and Enforcement of the Environmental Conventions" scheduled for May 9-10 in Rome. Marcia Mulkey has graciously offered to speak on behalf of INECE at the seminar. Ms. Mulkey, who most recently served as the Director of the US EPA's Office of Pesticides Programs, is currently on assignment in Rome developing a product that will support implementation of the International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Ms. Mulkey has been an active INECE participant and instrumental in the development of the INECE Pesticides Forum. See http://www.inece.org/forumspesticides.html.