Contacts
Luis Sanchez-Catafio
Instituto Nacional de Ecologia
Rio Elba No. 20, 4o Piso, Col. Cuauhtmemoc, Del. Deauhtmemoc 06500
Mexico, D.F.
telefon: +52-2-2869392, fax: +52-2-5539498

Name of the System: the Registro de Emisiones y Transferencias de Contaminantes

A. The Rise and Development of the System

Preparations for the RETC implementing finished in 1997. The aims are as follows: to gain source data for governmental activities and for checking emission trends, to stimulate voluntary emission reduction and to meet international obligations ( e.g. section 10 of Rio de Janeiro document, membership in the OECD since 1994 ).

The basic law is the so-called General Act for Ecological Stability and Environmental Protection published in March 1988. On 28th December 1994 the Secretariat for Environment, Natural Resources and Fishery was founded as well as the National Institute of Ecology which is a part of the mentioned secretariat.

The National Coordinating Group was founded to discuss the system. It has 80 members. The group consists of a coordinator and his or her secretary, government officers, industry representatives and NGOs. These subjects are divided to workshops for various questions. The group compiled a proposal of reporting form and preliminary list of substances ( a pilot study was run in 40 firms to assess methodical elements and expenses for data collecting ). A four-month-long experimental data collecting took place in Quaretaro province near by Mexico City in 1996. 186 firms showed interest to participate in the pilot study. The system should come true in whole Mexico in this year.

B. The Structure of the System

The system is directed by the National Institute of Ecology. Data are collected yearly. The group of reporters is not fixed yet. The principle of volume limits and industry branches selection are going to be used probably. And stationary and mobile pollution sources checking is proposed. Data of mobile sources will be estimated or calculated.

120 substances were chosen to a preliminary list for giving reports ( the substances were chosen by compilation of the Canadian and American register). Toxicity, bio-accumulation and persistence of these substances were judged and 114 substances were chosen. Those 6 substances left were included to the list because they cause changes of the climate.

Water-, air- and soil-pollution, recycling, transfers out of the enterprise, generating energy and waste destroying are followed. Underground injections were not included into the RETC. Enterprises should present plans for emission volume reduction and explain the ways which lead to emission volume decrease in the last year.