|
6th
INECE Conference Proceedings Available
The
Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, held this
past April in Costa Rica, are available on-line at http://www.inece.org/CRconf.htm
in a fully searchable database, along with the proceedings
from the other five INECE international conferences
held since May 1990. The 6th Proceedings include 53
conference papers and presentations as well as summaries
of plenary discussions, workshops and the case studies
that accompanied the six field visits. Hard copies can
be ordered online http://yosemite.epa.gov/ncepihom/nsCatalog.nsf/SearchPubs?openform&CartID=9001-013008
US
EPA Issues New Inspection Manual
The United States Environmental
Protection Agency has issued a new training manual,
Conducting Environmental Compliance Inspections, International
Edition (2002), which is available on-line at http://inece.org/manual/
 ELI
Releases Study on Transboundary Enforcement
The
Environmental Law Institute, a Washington, DC based
think-tank, recently released Strengthening U.S.-Mexico
Transboundary Environmental Enforcement: Legal Strategies
for Preventing the Use of the Border as a Shield Against
Liability (2002). This report analyzes key legal issues
that arise when pursuing formal enforcement actions
against those that attempt to use the border as a shield.
Underlying the discussion is the recognition that cooperation
and coordination between U.S. and Mexican officials
are of critical importance in transboundary enforcement
efforts. The report focuses on different civil legal
issues that may arise in US courts when transboundary
scenarios are the subject of formal government enforcement
or private lawsuits for damages. A copy of the report
is available at http://www.elistore.org/reports_list.asp?topic=International.
TRAFFIC
International Issues Identification Guide for Traditional
Asian Medicine
TRAFFIC
International and Heathrow Airport CITES Enforcement
Team Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, with financial
assistance from WWF UK, the CITES Secretariat, the UK
Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime, and the
Taiwan Council of Agriculture, recently developed a
Traditional Asian Medicine Identification Guide for
Law Enforcers.
The
guide includes approximately 430 full color images of
traditional Asian medicines that, according to their
packaging, may contain species that are controlled in
international trade. Each medicine includes a written
description that explains the alleged contents of the
medicine. The medicines are indexed for quick reference
by key identifiers that are easy to recognize for the
law enforcer. There is also an explanation of how to
'read' the packaging and identify controlled species
from the ingredients list. The guide is loose-leaf (170
pages) for easier revision, for adding the enforcer's
own notes, and is designed to be photocopied for wider
and cheaper distribution.
The
main audience for the guide is law enforcers based in
countries outside of Asia, which may have to deal with
inspecting imports or domestic sale of traditional Asian
medicines. For more information, contact Crawford Allan,
Global Enforcement Assistance Coordinator, TRAFFIC International
at crawford.allan@trafficint.org
or visit http://www.traffic.org.
 New
History of the Montreal Protocol Includes Enforcement
and Compliance
Protecting the Ozone Layer: The United Nations History,
by Stephen O. Andersen and K. Madhava Sarma, tells the
remarkable story of the Montreal Protocol. The authors
provide a fascinating insider perspective on the history
of science, technology, implementation and compliance
related to the Protocol. The chapters are interspersed
with lively personal perspectives from nearly 60 high-level
participants from around the world and, in a final chapter,
the authors draw on their experience to summarize the
lessons of the successful global efforts to protect
the stratospheric ozone layer. The chapter on implementation
discusses the roles of various multi and bilateral actors
including the multilateral fund, NGO's and professional
networks. The compliance chapter addresses issues of
reporting, the role of the implementation committee,
and how to deal with non-compliance. This book is available
for purchase from EarthPrint at http://www.earthprint.com.
Royal
Institute Releases Report on International Environmental
Crime
Royal Institute for International Affairs, London,
released a report in October 2002 that summarizes the
discussions and conclusions of a workshop on the nature
and control of environmental black markets held at the
Royal Institute of International Affairs, London on
May 27-28, 2002. Thanks to generous support from the
European Commission (DG Environment) and UNEP Ozone
Secretariat, some eighty participants from over thirty
different countries were able to attend.
Rather
than simply collect and repeat what is known about the
extent of the illegal activities in specific jurisdictions,
a traditional indulgence of the regulatory community,
the workshop was intended to provide a more systematic
understanding of the driving forces behind international
environmental crime. Efforts to tackle the smuggling
of environmental contraband have been dogged by an ad
hoc and unsystematic approach where individual enforcement
agencies attempt to headhunt environmental criminals
without reducing the size of the illegal market in which
they operate. The failure of the international war on
drugs suggests that this policy is doomed: as long as
demand and supply pressures that shape profit-making
opportunities remain, other operators will expand their
operations or new operations will enter the international
market. Thus, the workshop raised the need to think
beyond simply increasing enforcement effort to minimize
overall levels of environmental harm by addressing the
demand and supply of the contraband.
The
workshop's agenda is attached as an appendix to this
report, and the background paper prepared for the workshop,
which summarizes what is known about international environmental
crime, is also available
from the Sustainable Development Programmes Web site
at http://www.riia.org/sustainabledevelopment
Individual presentations by speakers at the workshop
are available on CD (in Word and PowerPoint formats);
please email your request to sustainable-development@riia.org.
For
additional publications, see these articles:
|
