CARLOS SALINAS DE GORTARI, Constitutional
President of the United Mexican States, in the exercise of the power
conferred upon me by section I of article 89 of the Political Constitution
of the United Mexican States, and as prescribed by articles 9, 21, 28, 31,
33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, and 43 of the Organic Law of the Federal Public
Administration, and
Various strategies and lines of action
have been provided in the 1989-1994 National Development Plan that tend
toward the ecological code of laws and protection of natural resources,
inasmuch as the irrational use thereof has placed the ecosystems at risk.
There is a large number of animal and
vegetable species in our country that are unique on the planet and many of
them are threatened or in danger of extinction; their conservation shall
have high priority.
Mexico is recognized as one of the places
of greater biological diversity on the planet. Some recent estimates
indicate that between 8% and 10% of the plant and vertebrate terrestrial
animal species gather within the nation. Perhaps there might be a minimum
of five hundred thousand species of all the groups in the territory.
In addition to its great biological
wealth, the nation has a scientific tradition in the areas devoted to the
study and research of biological resources, as well as a group of
scientists recognized worldwide. Mexico has been a source of a large
quantity of plants grown that represent the food supply of our country and
of many other countries.
Starting with this intellectual common
property, the nation has developed a series of advances and projects of
great value that form a point of departure and a solid base on which to
lay the foundation of a national program for the study, conservation, and
rational use of Mexico's biological resources.
The conservation of biodiversity is of
vital importance for the maintenance of the nation's hydric resources
through its hydrological basins.
Moreover, our nation has made a great
investment in the knowledge of its biological diversity and its experience
in this regard can be attested starting with the development of projects
such as the Flora de Veracruz (Flora of Veracruz), Flora Mesoamericana (Mesoamerican
Flora), and the Consejo de la Flora de Mexico (Board of Flora of Mexico),
among other things.
Broad programs must be implemented for
the development of trained personnel to in order to know, use, and
conserve Mexico's biodiversity through a national effort of coordination
and agreement.
This requires having a biodiversity
information center in Mexico, by incorporating border technology in the
field like satellite images, for example, since no institution presently
has the capacity to gather this information.
Biodiversity constitutes a patrimony of
great economic, aesthetic, and cultural value for Mexico. Its conservation
is a fundamental condition for the permanence of life itself on earth
which our own survival as a species is contingent upon.
The consequences that possible climatic
changes can bring about on biodiversity patterns in Mexico must be studied
so that, in such case, they can be mitigated.
As a result of human activity, extinction
rates of species have increased between 1,000 and 10,000 times, with
regard to naturally existing rates. This can erode biological groups that
provide the necessary variance for future diversification processes.
Not only must tropical zones and humid
jungles, where over tow thousand five hundred usable products have been
detected, be conserved, but arid zones and coastal, marine ecosystems
which have a great biological diversity, must also be conserved.
This biodiversity wealth must be
incorporated as part of the national culture, therefore, much attention
must be given to carrying out dissemination programs on the existing
biodiversity in Mexico.
We must develop processes to give added
value to Mexico's natural resources and explore the economic value in
detail of the economic models that take into account the depletion of
natural resources.
The costs and benefits of the use of
natural resources such as loss of soil, overexploitation, and
deforestation, which reaches rates of between 2% and 4.5% annually in
tropical rain forests, must be incorporated into Mexico's accounting.
Biotechnology has great potential to
generate economic wealth and development within this sector in Mexico.
Notwithstanding the nation's great
resources and natural elements, the alterations caused by human actions
constitute an undeniable threat to this patrimony. The loss of this wealth
not only implies the erosion of the nation's biological diversity, but
also the destruction of a great amount of resources that could be of use
for mankind.
Our country is in a favorable situation
to carry out a program of major importance to protect biological diversity
it has and, at the same time, take advantage of the enormous potential of
directly using its natural resources, therefore, I have considered it
appropriate to issue the following:
AGREEMENT WHEREBY
THE NATIONAL COMMISSION IS CREATED FOR THE KNOWLEDGE AND USE OF
BIODIVERSITY
ARTICLE FIRST.-
The Intersecretarial Commission is hereby created on a permanent basis for
the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity whose purpose shall be to coordinate
the actions and studies related to the knowledge and preservation of
biological species, as well as to promote and develop scientific research
activities for the exploration, study, protection, and use of biological
resources tending toward the conservation of the nation's resources and
generate criteria for its defensible handling.
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ARTICLE SECOND.-
The Commission shall consist of the Chief Federal Executive Office Holder,
who shall have the capacity President thereof, and the holders of the
secretaries of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Public Credit, Energy, Mines
and Parastate Industry, Commerce and Industrial Development, Agriculture
and Hydraulic Resources, Urban Development and Ecology, Public Education,
Health and Fishing. In his absence, the Chief Federal Executive Office
Holder shall be substituted by the Secretary whom he himself shall
determine; the representatives themselves shall designate their own
substitutes who shall have a level that shall not be inferior to that of a
Subsecretary.
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ARTICLE THIRTH.-
The International Commission shall have a National Coordinator designated
by the President of the Republic, proposed by the members of the
Commission itself.
The Secretary of Urban Development and
Ecology shall hold the position of Technical Secretary of the Commission
itself.
The President of the Commission, through
the Technical Secretary, may convene other Federal Public Administration
agencies and entities when, by virtue of his office and pursuant to the
matters to be dealt with, their participation is deemed advisable.
Likewise, he may invite the authorities of the other federal entities and
municipalities in order to successfully coordinate the actions required to
be carried out on different government levels.
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ARTICLE FOURTH.-
The Commission shall hold a meeting at least once a year, without
prejudice of holding extraordinary meetings when determined by the
President thereof.
ARTICLE FIFTH.-
The Commission may invite the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (National
Autonomous University of Mexico), Instituto Politecnico Nacional (National
Polytechnic Institute), and other universities and research institutions
to participate in its programs, as well as various members of the
scientific community, groups, and institutions whose specialty or purpose
is related to its activities. Moreover, within the scope of establishing
the National Planning System, representatives shall be invited from the
social and private sectors related to scientific research and the
processes of exploitation, use, and conservation of biological resources.
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ARTICLE SIXTH.-
The Commission shall discharge the following duties:
I. Generate,
compile, and handle information for establishing a program on the nation's
biological inventories that contribute elements to know the distribution
of the various species of flora and fauna qualitatively and quantitatively
in Mexico, both by zones and regions.
II.
Synthesize the information relative to the nation's biological resources
in a data bank that must be kept updated permanently.
III. Promote
the development of projects concerning the potential and use of
conventional and non-conventional biological resources.
IV. Advise
governmental agencies, as well as social and private sectors on technical
and applied research aspects regarding the use and conservation of
biological resources.
V. Promote
the regional and nationwide dissemination of the nation's biological
wealth, the various forms of use and exploitation for mankind, as well as
to carry out the broadest dissemination in reference to the measures
proposed to prevent the deterioration and destruction of these resources.
VI. Approve
the internal regulations, annual work programs, a budget of expenditures
of the Commission itself, and the general lines of advance thereof.
VII. The
others necessary for complying with their purpose.
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ARTICLE SEVENTH.-
The National Coordinator of the Commission shall be in charge of the tasks
of drawing up annual programs that shall be submitted to the core of the
Commission itself.
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ARTICLE EIGHTH.-
The National Coordinator of the Commission shall prepare and submit the
budget of expenditures to said Commission that shall consist of the
contributions made by the agencies comprised thereof, in compliance with
budgetary availabilities thereto, in conformity with the authorized
programs.
The National Coordinator shall have a
group of administrative, operative support, in charge of the progress,
management, administration, and assignment of the Commission's resources,
and he shall adhere to the guidelines approved annually by said
Commission. In order to reach its objectives, the Commission shall also
promote the contribution of financial and material resources by the social
and private sectors, by entering into the applicable agreements.
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ARTICLE NINTH.-
The Technical Secretary of the Commission shall discharge the following
duties:
I. Submit the
proposed bylaws of the Commission itself for the Commission's approval.
II. Submit
the priorities of the research programs for consideration by the
Commission, as well as a report of the National Coordinator's activities.
III.
Follow-up on the agreements made in the Core of the Commission and
periodically report thereto on the compliance and execution thereof.
IV. Gather
the information that enables the Commission to monitor the execution of
the programs and actions agreed upon by the Commission.
V. Convene
the meetings of the Commission.
VI. The
others assigned thereto by the Commission.
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ARTICLE TENTH.-
For the performance of his duties, the National Coordinator of the
Commission shall be assisted by the following technical groups:
I. Technical group of Analysis of
Properties, Prospective Analysis, and Work Program Performance Analysis.
II. Technical Group of Project and
Proposal Analysis.
The bylaws of the Commission shall
determine the form of integration and functioning of the technical groups,
as well as the institutions, researchers, and technicians it deems
advisable to incorporate for the performance of its activities. Each group
shall operate under the responsibility of a director.
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ARTICLE ELEVENTH.-
For the development of its activities, The Commission may establish
regional centers of an operative nature throughout Mexico, which shall
carry out their actions on a coordinated basis, as prescribed by the
Commission's bylaws.
For better performance of its duties, the
regional centers shall subject themselves to the instructions and
guidelines determined by the National Coordinator of the Commission, in
conformity with the applicable programs.
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TRANSITORY
FIRST.- This
agreement shall go into effect on the day subsequent to the publication
thereof in the Federal Official Gazette.
SECOND.- The
National Commission shall issue its bylaws within the 90 days subsequent
to the establishing thereof.
Given in the Residence of the Federal
Executive Power in Mexico City, Distrito Federal on the thirteenth day of
the month of March of nineteen hundred and ninety-two.- Carlos Salinas de
Gortari.- Paraph.- The Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Fernando
Solana Morales.- Paraph.- The Secretary of Finance and Public Credit,
Pedro Aspe Armella.- Paraph.- The Secretary of Energy, Mining, and
Parastate Industry, Fernando Hiriart Balderrama.- Paraph.- The
Secretary of Commerce and Industrial Development, Jaime Serra Puche.-
Paraph.- The Secretary of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources,
Carlos Hank González.- Paraph.- The Secretary of Urban Development and
Ecology, Patricio Chirinos Calero.- Paraph.- The Secretary of
Public Education, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León.- Paraph.- The
Secretary of Health, Jesús Kumate Rodríguez.- Paraph.- The
Secretary of Fishing, Guillermo Jiménez Morales.- Paraph.
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