The Secretariat of the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has released for public comment until 21 December 2012 its draft report on spent lead-acid battery (SLAB) cross-border trade and recycling among Canada, Mexico and the US.
The draft report, due to be finalized and forwarded to the CEC Council early in 2013, makes recommendations for changes in health and environmental standards, data keeping and reporting, and trade enforcement.
30 November 2012: The Secretariat of the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has released for public comment its draft report on spent lead-acid battery (SLAB) trade and recycling in North America.
The Secretariat is calling for comments on the draft report titled “Hazardous Trade? An examination of US-generated Spent Lead Acid Battery exports and secondary lead recycling in Mexico, the United States and Canada,” until 21 December 2012.
According to the draft report, during the 2004-2011 period, US net exports of SLABs to Mexico rose by 449-525% and to Canada 221%. It notes, however, that knowing the exact levels of cross-border movements of SLABs is difficult, given that official border records do not match the shipping or receiving volumes of SLABs from either exporting or importing countries. The report also finds that the regulatory frameworks of Canada, Mexico and the US covering secondary lead smelters, where SLABs are taken for recycling, do not provide equivalent levels of health and environmental protection. The report notes that, apart from permitting, Mexico’s overall regulatory framework pertinent to SLAB trade and recycling has key gaps.
The draft report makes several recommendations to environmental authorities in the three countries, including: raise Canadian and Mexican environmental and health protection levels regarding the secondary lead industry to US levels; close data gaps in Mexico; ensure accurate and comparable information on lead emissions across the three countries; tighten trade compliance; and foster dissemination and adoption of best practices in SLAB recycling.
After considering public input on the draft, the Secretariat expects to forward the final version to the CEC Council early in 2013.
The CEC was created by Canada, Mexico and the US to implement the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the environmental side accord to the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). [CEC Press Release] [CEC Webpage on the Report]