CIDI/CIDS/RES. 4 (II-O/99)

Hemispheric Network of Officials and Experts in Environmental Law,
Enforcement, and Compliance

THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,

RECALLING the initiative in Chapter III, paragraph 5, of the Plan of Action for the Sustainable Development of the Americas of the Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development, held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia in 1996, in which the Heads of State and Government made a commitment to "cooperate in the establishment of a hemispheric network of officials and experts in environmental law, enforcement, and compliance in coordination with the OAS to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experiences and to provide a focal point, as appropriate, for carrying out cooperative efforts to strengthen law, regulations, and implementation, as well as training in these areas for those states seeking such assistance, taking into account the studies prepared by the Inter-American Juridical Committee";

BEARING IN MIND that resolution CIDI/RES. 66 (IV-O/99) of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development urges member states to cooperate in the establishment of the network; and

NOTING Secretariat document CIDI/CIDS/Inf.5/99 and the work carried out by the Office for Sustainable Development and Environment of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, in cooperation with the Secretariat for Legal Affairs and partner organizations throughout the region, to design a framework for an inter-American network on environmental law consistent with the Santa Cruz commitment,

RESOLVES:

1. To support the proposal to establish a Hemispheric Network of Officials and Experts in Environmental Law, Enforcement, and Compliance.

2. To encourage member states to designate national focal points to the hemispheric network.

3. To call upon the Office for Sustainable Development and Environment to convene, by the end of 1999 and within available resources, a meeting of national focal points which will consider the proposed framework with a view to launching the network, and to submit a report to the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development.