Canada-Costa Rica environment agreement: frequently asked questions

• Why did Canada and Costa Rica decide to negotiate a free trade agreement and parallel agreements on the environment and labor?
• What are the key features of the environmental side agreement?
• What are we committed to do?
• What are the benefits to Canada?
• What are the benefits to Costa Rica?
• Are we under the obligation to harmonize our environmental standards?
• What could happen if a country does not effectively enforce its own environmental legislation?
• Does the Agreement create new institutions?

Why did Canada and Costa Rica decide to negotiate a free trade agreement and parallel agreements on the environment and labor?

The decision to negotiate these agreements flows from a willingness of both Parties to strengthen their economic ties while being cognizant of their shared belief that trade liberalization goes hand in hand with improving environmental and labor conditions.

What are the key features of the environmental side agreement?

While recognizing the right of each Party to establish its own domestic levels of environmental protection, environmental development policies, and environmental laws and regulations, Canada and Costa Rica commit, under the auspices of the CCRAEC, to ensure that their laws provide for high levels of environmental protection and to effectively enforce those laws through appropriate government action.

The CCRAEC provides for commitments to ensure that all laws, regulations and administrative rulings covered by the CCRAEC are promptly published or made publicly available. The CCRAEC also calls for the advance publication, to the extent possible, of proposed laws or regulations to allow for public comment. The signatory Parties commit to ensure private access to remedies and that judicial and administrative proceedings are fair, open and equitable.

The Parties commit to ensure the availability of private remedies that allow interested persons to request competent authorities to investigate alleged violations of environmental laws and have access to administrative, quasi-judicial or judicial proceedings for the enforcement of laws or the seeking of redress for another’s violation of those laws.

The initial priorities for cooperative activities will be to strengthen environmental management systems, expand and reinforce the role of the public in environmental policy making, and promote innovation and efficiency in the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources.

The CCRAEC contains provisions relating to transparency and public participation, including a process whereby a person or a non-governmental organization may, by way of a written question to either party, inquire as to the effective enforcement of that Party’s environmental laws and regulations. A summary of both the inquiry and response will be made public.

What are we committed to do?

The broad objectives of the CCRAEC are to foster protection and improvement of the environment, promote sustainable development, strengthen cooperation on environmental management systems, and promote transparency and public participation. In order to achieve these objectives, the Parties are committed to ensure that their laws are effectively enforced, provide for high levels of environmental protection, and when violated, provide for sanctions or remedies in a fair, open and equitable manner. The Parties agree to such a commitment while recognizing their right to establish their own domestic levels of environmental protection, environmental development policies, and environmental laws and regulations. In addition, the Parties are committed to government-to-government coordination in the elaboration of cooperative activities.

What are the benefits to Canada?

The environment in Canada is directly affected by conditions in the broader global commons. Promoting mutually supportive economic and environmental policies and sound environmental management in parallel to free trade agreements helps to protect that global commons by helping ensure that development arising from such agreements is environmentally sustainable. The CCRAEC will help ensure a predictable playing field for trade while at the same time enhancing environmental protection and conservation. It will work towards strengthening the Costa Rican environmental management system through cooperative activities that will also provide opportunities to showcase Canadian environmental expertise, technologies, and services. Costa Rica is an environmental leader in Latin America and Canada can benefit from Costa Rica’s experience as well. The CCRAEC will not only be mutually beneficial to Canada and Costa Rica, but it will also demonstrate a positive environment-trade relationship which will serve as an example of what is possible in the context of further trade liberalization activities in the hemisphere.

What are the benefits to Costa Rica?

The CCRAEC signals Costa Rica’s commitment to environmentally sustainable trade and development. The agreement commits Costa Rica to seeking to achieve high levels of environmental quality by strengthening environmental policies, by effectively enforcing environmental laws and through open, transparent, accountable and equitable processes for developing and implementing environmental laws and policies. The partnership with Canada will provide opportunities to strengthen its environmental institutions and management system and to promote sustainable development through ongoing environmental cooperation activities.

Are we under the obligation to harmonize our environmental standards?

The CCRAEC recognizes the right of each Party to establish its own levels of domestic environmental protection. In addition, the CCRAEC does not empower a Party to undertake environmental law enforcement activities in the territory of the other Party.

What could happen if a country does not effectively enforce its own environmental legislation?

A concerned citizen or a non-governmental organization can submit a question to either Party, regarding the effective enforcement of environmental laws in that country. The question will be officially responded to by the concerned Party, and summaries of both the question and response will be made publicly available.

The CCRAEC also provides that a Party may notify the other Party regarding possible violations of, and failures to effectively enforce, its environmental laws. The notified Party must take appropriate steps to inquire and to respond to the other Party in a timely manner. Each Party also commits to provide to the other Party, upon request, information regarding its proposed or actual environmental measures.

The agreement recognizes that a Party has not failed to effectively enforce its environmental law where it reasonably exercises it discretion or where it decides to allocate resources to environmental matters having a higher priority to respond to an emergency.

Does the Agreement create new institutions?

The implementation and further elaboration of the CCRAEC will be managed through government to government coordination. The Parties will meet biennially, or more frequently as mutually agreed, to review progress and discuss cooperative activities.