The workshop was attended by government representatives from eight countries: Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Peru, as well as national experts in the field.
With the recent designation of the INECC as a Stockholm Convention Regional Center, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has recognized the INECC for its technical and infrastructure capacity.
The strengthened INECC commitment is expected to generate information and proposals on alternatives to compliance with the Stockholm Convention in Mexico, and to coordinate efforts in the Latin America and the Caribbean region to meet the objectives of the Convention.
"This is an excellent opportunity to identify priority regional actions on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and international donors to channel resources to give attention to these issues," said Mr. Nelson Sabogal, Senior Programme Officer with the Secretariat of the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions (UNEP).
The closing of the Workshop was led by Dr. Arturo Gavilán García, Director of Research on Chemical Substances and Ecotoxicological Risk, of the General Direction for Research on Regional and Urban Pollution of INECC ; Mr. Ives Enrique Gómez Salas, Director of the Grey Agenda of the Coordinating Unit of International Affairs of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico; Mr. Nelson Sabogal Antonio Torres; and Mr. Jerome Boutang, Executive Director of the Interprofessional Technical Centre for Studies on Air Pollution (CITEPA).