(Versión en español)
Author: Carlos Sagrera, MSc.
ISCO Representative Latin America (Spanish Speaking)
In follow-up to the regulatory actions and Mexico’s National Contingency Plan of December 2023 (ISCO Newsletter N°930 – March 2024), the Government of Mexico confirmed the creation of the Inter-Ministerial Commission to Prevent and Respond to Pollution by Oil and Harmful Substances (HNS) in Mexican Marine Zones.
In this case, it is understood that this Commission has a permanent character and is in charge of designing an organisation with a unified command, which is essential to update the measures necessary to provide for adequate and timely intervention to protect the marine environment from serious pollution, as well as the participation of the various agencies and other institutions of the Federal Public Administration, so that they cooperate with each other within the scope of their current powers to implement actions in response to pollution by hydrocarbons and other HNS in the Mexican Marine Zones.
The Commission is composed of the Ministry of the Navy (SEMAR), which holds the Presidency; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT); the Ministry of Energy (SENER); the Ministry of Health (SALUD); the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRICULTURA). The National Coordination of Civil Protection (CNPC), the National Centre for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED), the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC), the Federal Attorney’s Office for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA), the National Agency for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection in the Hydrocarbons Sector (ASEA), the Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP), the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH), the Mexican Institute for Research in Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture (IMIPAS), and the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (COFREPIS), are organisations that also participate on a permanent basis with voice, but without vote.
Its functions are very interesting and necessary, very different from those established for example in Mexico’s NCP, which has a Technical Council, an Executive Secretariat and a Technical Advisory Council, all of which aim at immediate response at the local and regional level (https://digaohm.semar.gob.mx/PROMAM/anexos/Plan_Nacional_de_Contingencia.pdf).
In this case, the Inter-Ministerial Commission meets at least 4 times a year and must: elaborate and approve the ‘National Programme’ of contingencies to combat and control spills of hydrocarbons and potentially HNS in the Mexican Marine Zones, which includes the interrelation of the different agencies, entities and institutions, whether public or private, with the aim of preventing and combating incidents due to spills of hydrocarbons and HNS in the Mexican Marine Zones; to promote and coordinate the necessary actions for the fulfilment of the Mexican State’s commitments, related to national and international regulations, to cooperate in the fight against pollution or spills of hydrocarbons and HNS in the Mexican Marine Zones; to promote the training, on issues related to the object of the present decree, of the members and guests who work as public servants of the different agencies and entities that form part of the Commission; to act as a coordinating body between the authorities of the three levels of government in matters of combating and controlling oil and HNS spills in the Mexican Marine Zones; to create the sub-commissions and working groups it deems necessary for the fulfilment of its object; to issue and approve the bases for operation and functioning of the commission. It is also established that the budget generated by this decree will be covered by the budget approved by the Chamber of Deputies in the State expenditure budget.
It is therefore a Commission which, as with the NCP, is led by SEMAR and which allows for a technical body with the organisations involved at Federal level, so that regulatory issues can be dealt with at international level and thus be promoted at the political level the ratification of IMO Conventions pending for Mexico in the field of pollution prevention, such as the 2003 Protocol to the Fund Convention, the 2001 Bunker Convention and all the Conventions in the HNS framework (1996 and the 2010 Protocol, as well as the extension of the OPRC/HNS of 2000) and even Annex VI of MARPOL (www. imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/StatusOfConventions.aspx)
Finally, it gives it the power to regulate at the national level these same agreements and other key activities such as specialised prevention and response organisations (OSROs), which will allow for greater efficiency and professionalism in these tasks in Mexico.
Dr. Edward Peters (Executive Director of CIGoM – https://cigom.org/) who provided us with information on the approval of this decree, indicated that: ‘The creation of this Commission coincides with the high number of incidents that have occurred in recent months mainly in the region known as the Campeche Sound in the Gulf of Mexico; spills, explosions and other failures, including human losses have been frequent, calling into question the safety procedures, maintenance and obsolescence of the infrastructure. Little has been said about the pollution that these events cause to the marine environment, with complaints from affected fishermen and criticism from environmental organisations in the media and social network’. Good timing then for this confirmation and the eventual dynamic that will be given to the pending issues indicated and the follow-up at Federal level of the Prevention and Response to oil spills and HNS in Mexican Marine Zones, a model that could eventually be replicated in other Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, with similar risks and gaps.
The DOF Decree of 22/07/2024 can be found at the official link:
https://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5734205&fecha=22/07/2024#gsc.tab=0
