Who can present a communication?
Any person of a Party may send communications that assert that one of the signatory countries of the Treaty is not complying with the effective application of its environmental legislation.
What parameters must the communication meet?
The communication can be in English or Spanish and must include information necessary to support your claim. Once presented to the Secretariat, if it meets the requirements, a response will be requested from the country.
Taking into account the response generated by the part, the Secretariat can recommend to the Environmental Affairs Council the need to develop a Factual Record. The Council for Environmental Affairs is made up of high-level representatives from each country. Only one vote of any of the members of the Council is needed to complete the file. The Fact Record is a report that compiles detailed information related to the communication received.
What does the completion of a factual record depend on?
The Environmental Affairs Council will consider the completion of a Factual Record in accordance with the requirements established in the Environmental Chapter (17) of the Treaty and the Environmental Cooperation Agreement.
Communications related to the Application of Environmental Legislation. It is one of the citizen participation mechanisms contemplated by the TPC Panama United States.
Based on the response received from a public communication, the Secretariat will prepare a report where it can suggest to the Environmental Council the opening of a Factual Record. The Final File of Facts must be considered by the Environmental Council in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Chapter (17) and the Environmental Cooperation Agreement (ACA).
The Secretariat for Environmental Enforcement Matter (SEEM) is a body created within the framework of the Trade Promotion Treaty between Panama and the United States of America (TPC-Panama-United States), with two main objectives, the attention of Environmental Communications of the Public and attention to Fact Files.