Decision 596
Creation of the Andean Community’s Council
of Environmental and Sustainable Development
Ministers
THE ANDEAN
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, IN
AN EXTENDED MEETING WITH THE COMMISSION,
HAVING
REVIEWED: Article 128 of the Cartagena
Agreement, coded through Decision 563,
Decisions 391, 435 and 471 of the Commission
and Decision 523 of the Andean Council of
Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
WHEREAS: The
Cartagena Agreement establishes that Member
Countries will develop joint actions to
allow for the further exploitation of their
natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable
and for the preservation and improvement of
the environment;
During the 10th
Meeting of the Andean Council of Ministers
of Foreign Affairs, in March 2003, the
Foreign Affair Ministers jointly reflected
on the current state of affairs of
integration and of the new strategic bases,
highlighting sustainable development; and
specifically, biodiversity and energy
alliances, as a potential for the
development of Member Countries;
The Member
Countries of the Andean Community have
assumed various joint commitments,
associated with the preservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity,
through Decision 523, relative to the
“Regional Biodiversity Strategy for Andean
Tropical Countries”, and to environmental
management and sustainable development,
through the “Andean Plan to Follow Up on the
Sustainable Development Summit of
Johannesburg”;
It is
convenient for the joint commitments and
actions to be coordinated at the highest
political and sectorial level, given the
importance acquired by environmental affairs
in the agenda of the Andean sub-regional
integration;
The Ministers
of Environmental Affairs of the Andean
Community, meeting in Cuenca, Ecuador, on
June 9 and 10, 2004, resolved to submit to
the Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs, the bases for the proposal to
create the Andean Community’s Council of
Ministers of Environmental and Sustainable
Development Affairs;
The General
Secretariat presented Proposal 130 for the
consideration of the Andean Council of
Ministers of Foreign Affairs’ expanded
meeting with the Principal Representatives
to the Commission;
DECIDES:
Article 1.-
To create the Council of Ministers of
Environmental and Sustainable Development
Affairs of the Andean Community.
Article 2.-
The Council of Ministers of Environmental
and Sustainable Development Affairs of the
Andean Community will be comprised of the
highest environmental and sustainable
development authorities of each Member
Country, its duty being to assist the Andean
Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and
the Andean Community Commission and other
organizations of the Andean Integration
System (SAI), in the definition,
harmonization, coordination and approval of
community policies in the environmental and
sustainable development field. Furthermore,
it will be responsible for coordinating the
work of the Andean Committee of
Environmental Authorities (CAAAM) and of the
Andean Committee on Genetic Resources.
Article 3.-
In the undertaking of the duties set forth
in Decisions 391 and 435, the Andean
Committee of Environmental Authorities (CAAAM)
and the Andean Committee on Genetic
Resources, will take into consideration the
guidelines established by the Council of
Ministers of Environmental and Sustainable
Development Affairs of the Andean Community,
further supporting it and keeping it
informed on matters relative to their work,
at least once each year.
Given in the
city of Quito, Republic of Ecuador, on July
11, 2004.
