The authors note that the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) is one of the trade agreements that dedicates a complete chapter (Chapter 17) to environment protection. The accord establishes a Submission Mechanism for Matters related to the Enforcement of Environmental Legislation. The ‘Public Communication’ mechanism seeks to encourage citizen participation, allowing individuals and Non-Governmental Organizations to seek the enforcement of any environmental law when the Party has not enforced properly their own environmental provisions. Although the Submission Mechanism is not a CITES mechanism per se, the authors propose, it undoubtedly can contribute to the protection of the species listed in the Appendices. The authors concisely discuss the Environmental Submission Process, its characteristics, its weaknesses and strengths, and the types of submissions that are submitted to the Secretariat for Environmental Matters.