c. maritime matters, including salvage; or
d. telecommunications transport networks and telecommunications transport services (this exception does not apply to measures covered by Chapter I (Telecommunications)).
For greater certainty, Article G-03 does not apply to any current or future foreign aid program to promote economic development, such as those governed by the Energy Economic Cooperation Program with Central America and the Caribbean (Pacto de San José) and the OECD Agreement on Export Credits.
Annex III. Schedule of Chile
Chile takes an exception to Article G-03 for treatment accorded under all bilateral or multilateral international agreements in force or signed prior to the date of entry into force of this Agreement.
For international agreements in force or signed after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, Chile takes an exception to Article G-03 for treatment accorded under those agreements involving:
a. aviation;
b. fisheries;
c. maritime matters, including salvage; or
d. telecommunications transport networks and telecommunications transport services (this exception does not apply to measures covered by Chapter I (Telecommunications)).
For greater certainty, Article G-03 does not apply to any current or future foreign aid program to promote economic development, including export credit practices in conformity with the interest rate provisions of the OECD Agreement on Export Credits.
Canada-Chile Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
Preamble
Preamble
The Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Chile:
Convinced of the importance of the conservation, protection and enhancement of the environment in their territories and the essential role of cooperation in these areas in achieving sustainable development for the well-being of present and future generations;
Reaffirming the sovereign right of States to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and development policies and their responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction;
Recognizing the global nature of the environment;
Acknowledgments the growing economic and social links between them, including the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA);
Recalling that Canada and Chile share a commitment to pursue policies which promote sustainable development, and that sound environmental management is an essential element of sustainable development;
Reconfirming the importance of the environmental goals and objectives of the CCFTA, including enhanced levels of environmental protection;
Emphasizing the importance of public participation in conserving, protecting and enhancing the environment;
Noting the existence of differences in their respective natural endowments, climatic and geographical conditions, and economic, technological and infrastructural capabilities;
Reaffirming the Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment of 1972 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 1992;
Recalling their tradition of environmental cooperation and expressing their desire to support and build on international environmental agreements and existing policies and laws, in order to promote cooperation between them;
Recognizing the desire to build on progress made through the cooperative activities of the Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Cooperation between the Department of the Environment of Canada and the Department of Industry Canada and the National Commission on the Environment of Chile;
Convinced of the benefits to be derived from a framework, including a Commission, to facilitate effective cooperation on the conservation, protection and enhancement of the environment in their territories; and
Desiring to facilitate the accession of Chile to the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation;
Have Agreed as follows:
Part One. Objectives
1. Objectives
The objectives of this Agreement are to:
(a) foster the protection and improvement of the environment in the territories of the Parties for the well-being of present and future generations;
(b) promote sustainable development based on cooperation and mutually supportive environmental and economic policies;
(c) increase cooperation between the Parties to better conserve, protect, and enhance the environment, including wild flora and fauna;
(d) support the environmental goals and objectives of the CCFTA;
(e) avoid creating trade distortions or new trade barriers;
(f) strengthen cooperation on the development and improvement of environmental laws, regulations, procedures, policies and practices;
(g) enhance compliance with, and enforcement of, environmental laws and regulations;
(h) promote transparency and public participation in the development of environmental laws, regulations and policies;
(i) promote economically efficient and effective environmental measures; and
(j) promote pollution prevention policies and practices.
Part Two. Obligations
Article 2: General Commitments
1. Each Party shall, with respect to its territory:
periodically prepare and make publicly available reports on the state of the environment;
develop and review environmental emergency preparedness measures;
promote education in environmental matters, including environmental law;
further scientific research and technology development in respect of environmental matters;
assess, as appropriate, environmental impacts; and
promote the use of economic instruments for the efficient achievement of environmental goals.
2. Each Party shall consider implementing in its law any recommendation developed by the Council under Article 10(6)(b).
3. Each Party shall consider prohibiting the export to the territory of the other Party of a pesticide or toxic substance whose use is prohibited within the Party's territory. When a Party adopts a measure prohibiting or severely restricting the use of a pesticide or toxic substance in its territory, it shall notify the other Party of the measure, either directly or through an appropriate international organization.
Article 3: Levels of Protection
Recognizing the right of each Party to establish its own levels of domestic environmental protection and environmental development policies and priorities, and to adopt or modify accordingly its environmental laws and regulations, each Party shall ensure that its laws and regulations provide for high levels of environmental protection and shall strive to continue to improve those laws and regulations.
Article 4: Publication
Each Party shall ensure that its laws, regulations, procedures and administrative rulings of general application respecting any matter covered by this Agreement are promptly published or otherwise made available in such a manner as to enable interested persons and the other Party to become acquainted with them.
To the extent possible, each Party shall:
(a) publish in advance any such measure that it proposes to adopt; and
(b) provide interested persons and the other Party a reasonable opportunity to comment on such proposed measures.
Article 5: Government Enforcement Action
1. With the aim of achieving high levels of environmental protection and compliance with its environmental laws and regulations, each Party shall effectively enforce its environmental laws and regulations through appropriate governmental action, subject to Article 37, such as:
(a) appointing and training inspectors;
(b) monitoring compliance and investigating suspected violations, including through on-site inspections;
(c) seeking assurances of voluntary compliance and compliance agreements;
(d) publicly releasing non-compliance information;
(e) issuing bulletins or other periodic statements on enforcement procedures;
(f) promoting environmental audits;
(g) requiring record keeping and reporting;
(h) providing or encouraging mediation and arbitration services;
(i) using licenses, permits or authorizations;
(j) initiating, in a timely manner, judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative proceedings to seek appropriate sanctions or remedies for violations of its environmental laws and regulations;
(k) providing for search, seizure or detention; or
(l) issuing administrative orders, including orders of a preventative, curative or emergency nature.
2. Each Party shall ensure that judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative enforcement proceedings are available under its law to sanction or remedy violations of its environmental laws and regulations.
3. Sanctions and remedies provided for a violation of a Party's environmental laws and regulations shall, as appropriate:
(a) take into consideration the nature and gravity of the violation, any economic benefit derived from the violation by the violator, the economic condition of the violator, and other relevant factors; and
(b) include compliance agreements, fines, imprisonment, injunctions, the closure of facilities, and the cost of containing or cleaning up pollution.
Article 6: Private Access to Remedies
Each Party shall ensure that interested persons may request the Party's competent authorities to investigate alleged violations of its environmental laws and regulations and shall give such requests due consideration in accordance with law.
Each Party shall ensure that persons with a legally recognized interest under its law in a particular matter have appropriate access to administrative, quasi-judicial or judicial proceedings for the enforcement of the Party's environmental laws and regulations.
Private access to remedies shall include rights, in accordance with the Party's law, such as:
(a) to sue another person under that Party's jurisdiction for damages;
(b) to seek sanctions or remedies such as monetary penalties, emergency closures or orders to mitigate the consequences of violations of its environmental laws and regulations;
(c) to request the competent authorities to take appropriate action to enforce that Party's environmental laws and regulations in order to protect the environment or to avoid environmental harm; or
(d) to seek injunctions where a person suffers, or may suffer, loss, damage or injury as a result of conduct by another person under that Party's jurisdiction contrary to that Party's environmental laws and regulations or from tortious conduct.
Article 7: Procedural Guarantees
1. Each Party shall ensure that its administrative, quasi-judicial and judicial proceedings referred to in Articles 5(2) and 6(2) are fair, open and equitable, and to this end shall provide that such proceedings:
(a) comply with due process of law;
(b) are open to the public, except where the administration of justice otherwise requires;
(c) entitle the parties to the proceedings to support or defend their respective positions and to present information or evidence; and
(d) are not unnecessarily complicated and do not entail unreasonable charges or time limits or unwarranted delays.
2. Each Party shall provide that final decisions on the merits of the case in such proceedings are:
(a) in writing and preferably state the reasons on which the decisions are based;
(b) made available without undue delay to the parties to the proceedings and, consistent with its law, to the public; and
(c) based on information or evidence in respect of which the parties were offered the opportunity to be heard.
3. Each Party shall provide, as appropriate, that parties to such proceedings have the right, in accordance with its law, to seek review and, where warranted, correction of final decisions issued in such proceedings.
4. Each Party shall ensure that tribunals that conduct or review such proceedings are impartial and independent and do not have any substantial interest in the outcome of the matter.
Part Three. Canada-Chile Commission for Environmental Cooperation
Article 8: The Commission
The Parties hereby establish the Canada-Chile Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
The Commission shall comprise a Council, a Joint Submission Committee and a Joint Public Advisory Committee. The Commission shall be assisted by the National Secretariat of each Party.
Section A: The Council
Article 9: Council Structure and Procedures
The Council shall comprise cabinet-level or equivalent representatives of the Parties, or their designees.
The Council shall establish its rules and procedures.
The Council shall convene:
(a) at least once a year in regular session; and
(b) in special session at the request of either Party.
Regular sessions shall be chaired alternately by each Party.
4. The Council shall hold public meetings in the course of all regular sessions. Other meetings held in the course of regular or special sessions shall be public where the Council so decides.
5. The Council may:
(a) establish, and assign responsibilities to, ad hocor standing committees, working groups or expert groups;
(b) seek the advice of non-governmental organizations or persons, including independent experts; and
(c) take such other action in the exercise of its functions as the Parties may agree.
6. All decisions and recommendations of the Council shall be taken by mutual agreement, except as the Council may otherwise decide or as otherwise provided in this Agreement.
7. All decisions and recommendations of the Council shall be made public, except as the Council may otherwise decide or as otherwise provided in this Agreement.
Article 10: Council Functions
1. The Council shall be the governing body of the Commission and shall:
(a) serve as a forum for the discussion of environmental matters within the scope of this Agreement;
(b) oversee the implementation and develop recommendations on the further elaboration of this Agreement and, to this end, the Council shall, within three years after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, review its operation and effectiveness in the light of experience;
(c) oversee the functions assigned to the National Secretariats within the scope of this Agreement;
(d) address questions and differences that may arise between the Parties regarding the interpretation or application of this Agreement;
(e) approve the annual program of work and budget of the Commission; and
(f) promote and facilitate cooperation between the Parties with respect to environmental matters.
2. The Council may consider, and develop recommendations regarding:
(a) comparability of techniques and methodologies for data gathering and analysis, data management and electronic data communications on matters covered by this Agreement;
(b) pollution prevention techniques and strategies;
(c) approaches and common indicators for reporting on the state of the environment;
(d) the use of economic instruments for the pursuit of domestic and internationally agreed environmental objectives;
(e) scientific research and technology development in respect of environmental matters;
(f) promotion of public awareness regarding the environment;
(g) global environmental issues, such as the long-range transport of air and marine pollutants;
(h) exotic species that may be harmful;
(i) the conservation and protection of wild flora and fauna and their habitat, and specially protected natural areas;
(j) the protection of endangered and threatened species;
(k) environmental emergency preparedness and response activities;
(l) environmental matters as they relate to economic development;
(m) the environmental implications of goods throughout their life cycles;
(n) human resource training and development in the environmental field;
(o) the exchange of environmental scientists and officials;
(p) approaches to environmental compliance and enforcement;
(q) ecologically sensitive national accounts;
(r) eco-labelling; and
(s) other matters as it may decide.
3. The Council shall strengthen cooperation on the development and continuing improvement of environmental laws and regulations, including by:
(a) promoting the exchange of information on criteria and methodologies used in establishing domestic environmental standards; and
(b) without reducing levels of environmental protection, establishing a process for developing recommendations on greater compatibility of environmental technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures in a manner consistent with the CCFTA.
4. At the request of the Council, either National Secretariat, or both, shall prepare a report on any environmental matter related to the cooperative functions of this Agreement.
5. The Council shall encourage: