NAFTA:  Specific Issues

Dispute Settlement
Environment
Immigration
Intellectual property
Investment 
Labor
Mexican trucks

         

NAFTA Dispute Settlement

James R. Cannon, Jr., Resolving disputes under NAFTA chapter 19. Colorado Springs: Shepard’s McGraw-Hill, 1994.
  Reviews the Canadian Free Trade Agreement and North American Free Trade Agreement panels established to review administrative decisions that result in the imposition of antidumping or countervailing duties.

James R. Holbein and Donald J. Musch, eds., North American Free Trade Agreements. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1992.
  The Dispute Settlement volume of this multi-volume looseleaf contains Binational Panel Decisions under the NAFTA. 

Jacob S. Lee, Note, No "double-dipping" allowed: an analysis of Waste Management, Inc. v. United Mexican States and the Article 1121 waiver requirement for arbitration under Chapter 11 of NAFTA, 69 Fordham Law Review 2655 (2001).
 An overview of NAFTA Ch. 11 dispute resolution provisions, with a focus on the Article 1121 waiver, designed to prevent claimants from maintaining an action in two forums simultaneously.

Denis Lemieux and Ana Stuhec, Review of administrative action under NAFTA. Toronto: Carswell, 1999.
  The authors, both Canadian, consider dispute resolution mechanisms under the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the NAFTA. They focus on supranational legal rules created by arbitral panels/tribunals  and the effect that they have on domestic courts and administrative agencies.

NAFTA Claims / Naftalaw.org

http://www.naftaclaims.com

  Information about NAFTA investor-state dispute settlement and copies of NAFTA claims documents, maintained by Todd Weiler, assistant professor at the University of Windsor Law School.

North American Free Trade Agreement: U.S. experience with environment, labor, and investment dispute settlement cases (GAO-01-933 July 20, 2001).
  GAO report to the House Ways and Means Committee, provides information about the NAFTA dispute settlement system. The report is available online at the GAO website: http://www.gao.gov/. Click on GAO Reports and search by report number (GAO-01-933) or date.

Leon E. Trakman, Dispute settlement under the NAFTA: manual and source book. Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y. : Transnational Publishers, c1997
  Handbook of NAFTA procedures, practices and sources. Covers dispute resolution procedures under Chapters 11, 19 and 20 of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Contains an appendix of documents.

Dispute Settlement
Environment
Immigration
Intellectual property
Investment 
Labor
Mexican trucks
return to top


NAFTA Environment
John J. Audley, Green politics and global trade: NAFTA and the future of environmental politics. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1997.
  Considers the difficulties involved in reconciling international trade with environmental goals: balancing free trade (constantly expanding economies) with sustainable development (ecological concerns).

Beccnet, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona
   Listserv for information on Border Environment Cooperation Commission and North American Development Bank issues. Subscription information, available in Spanish and English, is available at: http://udallcenter.arizona.edu/listservs/beccnet.html.

Border Environment Cooperation Commission/Comisión de Cooperación Ecológica Fronteriza
http://www.cocef.org/englishbecc.html
  The Border Environment Cooperation Commission is a binational institution created in 1993 through a side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement.  Website includes links to events, projects, publications, and to a virtual library. In English and Spanish.

David W. Eaton, coord., Disparities between law and practice in the management of hazardous waste in the U.S. and Mexico. Tucson: National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade and Centro Jurídico para el Comercio Interamericano, 1997.
  An analysis of hazardous waste issues within the context of NAFTA which has increased the focus on hazardous waste concerns in the border region.

Pierre-Marc Johnson and André Beaulieu, The environment and NAFTA: Understanding and implementing the new continental law. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1996.
  Discusses NAFTA and the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the 1993 NAFTA side agreement concerning the environment.

Daniel Magraw, ed., NAFTA and the environment: substance and process. Chicago: American Bar Association Section of International Law and Practice, 1995.
  Introduction by Magraw, followed by documents: intergovernmental, U.S. and nongovernmental (e.g., National Wildlife Federation, letters from NGOs and citizen groups, etc.).

North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation
http://www.cec.org
   Website of the commission established to address regional environmental concerns, prevent trade-environment conflicts and to promote effective enforcement of environmental laws. Contains links to three constituent structures: council, joint public advisory committee and secretariat; also news and events, programs and projects, publications and information resources. In English, French and Spanish

North American Free Trade Agreement: U.S. experience with environment, labor, and investment dispute settlement cases (GAO-01-933 July 20, 2001).
  GAO report to the House Ways and Means Committee, provides information about the dispute settlement system under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation , a side agreement to the NAFTA. The report is available online at the GAO website: http://www.gao.gov/. Click on GAO Reports and search by report number (GAO-01-933) or date.

Seymour J. Rubin and Dean C. Alexander, eds., NAFTA and the environment. Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1996.
  Collection of essays presenting various perspectives about the environmental aspects of the NAFTA. Includes information about environmental regulations, environmental aspects of cross-border businesses, etc.

Alan M. Rugman et al., Environmental regulations and corporate strategy: A NAFTA perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
  The authors examine specific corporate strategies that have successfully opened international markets previously closed because of  national and local environmental regulations. In the process, they examine the NAFTA regime, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and their effect on firms within the NAFTA countries. 

Why Voters are concerned: environmental and consumer problems in GATT and NAFTA. Washington, D.C.: Public Citizen, 1993.
  A briefing book for the 105^th Congress, one of several on international trade produced by Public Citizen. The premise is that GATT and NAFTA will undermine existing environmental and consumer protections and limit Congressional ability to set future standards; also argues that the NAFTA dispute resolution procedure is anti-democratic.

Dispute Settlement
Environment
Immigration
Intellectual property
Investment 
Labor
Mexican trucks
return to top


NAFTA Immigration
Robert L. Bach, Campaigning for change: reinventing NAFTA to serve immigrants. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2000.

 This brief paper makes suggestions for improved conditions for migrant communities: a Mexican program offering alternatives to unauthorized migration, U.S. reform in farm labor markets, improved border infrastructure, and cross-border law enforcement partnerships. 

Ruth Buchanan, Border crossings: NAFTA, regulatory restructuring, and the politics of place, in Symposium: Law in Place: territorial politics and the production of alternative legal imaginations, 2 Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 371 (1995).
 The author examines the U.S.-Mexican border region, focusing on the maquiladora industry, labor migration into the United States, and  potential for a NAFTA-induced increase in immigration. She contrasts "borderland" (a geographic or cultural space) with "border" (the legal and spatial delimitation of the State) and argues that the former is a more complex concept and productive perspective.

Janet H. Cheetham et al., eds., Immigration practice and procedure under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Washington, DC : American Immigration Lawyers Association, 1995.
   Discusses immigration in light of the NAFTA; covers practical aspects of moving individuals among Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on international law, immigration and refugees. Immigration-related issues in the North American Free Trade Agreement. November 3, 1993. 103^rd Congress, 1^st Session.
  An oversight hearing on immigration-related issues of the NAFTA: 1) the probable impact of the NAFTA on illegal immigration from Mexico to the U.S.; 2) border management and control; 3) the implementing language of NAFTA's immigration provisions regarding temporary entry for business persons; 4) whether Congressional support for NAFTA should be conditioned upon the Mexican government's cooperation in preventing illegal immigration.

Philip L Martin, Trade and Migration: NAFTA and agriculture. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 1993.

 This book was written after the NAFTA was signed in December 1992, but before the agreement was ratified and came into effect. The author concludes that there will be a short-term, NAFTA-stimulated increase in Mexico-to-US migration. However, he also concludes that Mexico-to-US migration will be less over the next two decades than it would have been if NAFTA had not been enacted.

Understanding immigration under NAFTA: a comprehensive guide for practitioners and businesses. Washington, D.C.: Federal Publications, Inc., 1994.

  A collection of articles from Interpreter Releases and Immigration Briefings. Appendices include immigration provisions of the NAFTA (Chapter 16), immigration provisions of P.L. 103-182, and relevant 1993  regulations from the INS, Department of State, and Department of Labor.

Dispute Settlement
Environment
Immigration
Intellectual property
Investment 
Labor
Mexican trucks
return to top

Richard B. Neff and Fran Smallson. NAFTA: protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights in North America. Colorado Springs: Shepard’s McGraw-Hill, 1994.

  Description of the intellectual property provisions of the NAFTA, Chapter 17 on copyright, sound recordings, trademarks, patents, etc. The authors discuss enforcement provisions and briefly describe intellectual property laws in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Dispute Settlement
Environment
Immigration
Intellectual property
Investment 
Labor
Mexican trucks
return to top


NAFTA Investment/Financial
Jose W. Fernandez et al., Corporate caveat emptor: minority shareholder rights in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina, 32 University of Miami Inter-American Law Review 157 (2001).
 Includes a summary (pp. 162-173) of minority shareholder rights in Mexican sociedades anónimas.

David A. Gantz, Potential conflicts between investor rights and environmental regulation under NAFTA’s Chapter 11. 33 George Washington International Law Review 651 (2001).
 The author theorizes that NAFTA Chapter 11's investment protection provisions, which were included to encourage U.S. and Canadian investment in Mexico, may be most significant because they can lead to conflicts between free trade and environmental protections.

George von Furstenberg, ed., Regulation and supervision of financial institutions in the NAFTA countries and beyond. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997.
  Covers U.S. and Mexican financial reforms and challenges posed by opening up financial markets. Also discusses global and European approaches to banking and finance institutions.

George von Furstenberg, ed., The banking and financial structure in the NAFTA countries and Chile. Boston : Kluwer Academic Publishers, c1997.
  A collection of essays by Canadian, Mexican and U.S. authors, academics and businesspeople. Both a description of the existing structure and an analysis of regulatory and institutional changes necessary in light of NAFTA.

NAFTA Chapter 11: investor-state disputes; litigation against sovereigns, presented by the National International Law Section and National Continuing Legal Education Committee in conjunction with the Canadian Bar Association-Ontario and the American Bar Association. Toronto: Canadian Bar Association, 2000.
  Proceedings of March 2000 conference in Toronto.

NAFTA Claims / Naftalaw.org

http://www.naftaclaims.com

  Information about NAFTA investor-state dispute settlement and copies of NAFTA claims documents, maintained by Todd Weiler, assistant professor at the University of Windsor Law School.

Todd C. Nelson and Ronald C.C. Cuming, Harmonization of the secured financing laws of the NAFTA partners: focus on Mexico. Tucson: National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, 1997.
  Report of National Law Center research team, following a year-long study, found disparity between Mexican law of secured financing and the law of other NAFTA partners.

North American Free Trade Agreement: U.S. experience with  environment, labor, and investment dispute settlement cases (GAO-01-933 July 20, 2001).
  GAO report to the House Ways and Means Committee, provides information about the NAFTA investor-state dispute settlement system. The report is available online at the GAO website: http://www.gao.gov/. Click on GAO Reports and search by report number (GAO-01-933) or date.

Gregorio Rodríguez Mejía, Aspectos fiscales del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte y del Tratado Constitutivo de la Comunidad Económica Europea.  Fiscal aspects of the NAFTA and the European Union; includes a bibliography of mostly Spanish sources. In Spanish.

Seymour J. Rubin and Dean C. Alexander, eds., NAFTA and investment. Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1995.
  Collection of essays commenting on the investment chapter of NAFTA and related matters from U.S., Canadian and Mexican perspectives. Discusses maquiladoras and effect of NAFTA on them. Considers regulation of foreign investment legislation in Mexico, doing business in Mexico, the likely impact of NAFTA, etc. Includes a bibliography.

Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer, International trade in financial services: the NAFTA provisions. Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1999.
  Discusses background to the NAFTA banking agreement, the banking systems of the NAFTA parties (Canada, Mexico and the U.S.); the Chapter 14 NAFTA Financial Services Provisions, NAFTA's effect on the international trade system, and the potential effects of NAFTA expansion; includes a bibliography.

Transnational insolvency project, council draft. Principles of cooperation in transnational insolvency cases among the members of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Tentative draft, 11/24/1999. Philadelphia: American Law Institute, 2000.

Transnational insolvency project, tentative draft. Principles of cooperation in transnational insolvency cases among the members of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Tentative draft, 4/14/2000. Philadelphia: American Law Institue, 2000.
  American Law Institute’s effort in transnational law reform; coordination among Canadian, Mexican and U.S. systems; bankruptcy reporters and advisers from all three countries; descriptions of how the bankruptcy system works in all three countries; recommends new procedures for coordination of the three.

Olin L. Wethington, Financial market liberalization: the NAFTA framework. Colorado Springs: Shepard’s McGraw-Hill. 1994.
  Covers the NAFTA provisions related to banking, securities, insurance. Discusses factors that led to the agreement and explains how it operates.

Dispute Settlement
Environment
Immigration
Intellectual property
Investment 
Labor
Mexican trucks
return to top


NAFTA Labor
Commission for Labor Cooperation, Secretariat. Plant closings and labor rights: a report to the council of Ministers by the Secretariat of the Commission for Labor Cooperation on the effects of sudden plan closing on freedom of association and the right to organize in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Dallas, TX : Commission for Labor Cooperation, North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), 1997.
  First Special Study of the Commission for Labor Cooperation, 1996

Labor Relations in North America; available as a .pdf document at the North American Commission for Labor Cooperation website, http://www.naalc.org/; can also be ordered at the NAALC website; the first volume in a planned set of comparative guides to labor law in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America; covers labor and industry relations, union organizing, collective bargaining.

Labor relations law in North America.  Washington, D.C.: Secretariat of the Commission for Labor Cooperation, 2000.
  The first volume in a set of Comparative Guides to Labor and Employment Law in North America. This volume covers labor and industrial relations in Canada, the United States and Mexico: union organizing, collective bargaining and the right to strike. Subsequent volumes will cover "technical labor standards," contained in Labor Principles 4-11 of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation. Available as a .pdf document at the North American Commission for Labor Cooperation website, http://www.naalc.org/.

North American Commission for Labor Cooperation

http://www.naalc.org/
  The Commission for Labor Cooperation is an international organization created under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation ("NAALC").

North American Free Trade Agreement: U.S. experience with environment, labor, and investment dispute settlement cases (GAO-01-933 July 20, 2001).
  GAO report to the House Ways and Means Committee, provides information about the dispute settlement system under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, a side agreement to the NAFTA. The report is available online at the GAO website: http://www.gao.gov/. Click on GAO Reports and search by report number (GAO-01-933) or date.

North American labor markets: a comparative profile. Dallas: Commission for Labor Cooperation, 1997.

 The first report of the International Secretariat of the Commission for Labor Cooperation, established under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC). Similarities and differences in the labor markets of Canada, Mexico and the United States are examined:  the labor force, skill levels, unionization, unemployment, underemployment, job security, earnings, productivity, and benfits.

Susan Tiano, Patriarchy on the line: labor, gender and ideology in the Mexican maquila industry. Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 1994.
  Questions whether bringing low-wage jobs to Mexico will improve the standard of living. The typical maquila worker is female; this book explores her reasons for entering the work force and how employment affects her life.

Anna L. Torriente et al., Mexican and U.S. labor law and practice: a practical guide for maquilas and other businesses. Tucson: National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, 1997.

  Examines the history and scope of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC); discusses substantive and procedural aspects of Mexican labor law, in contrast to U.S. labor law; covers collective bargaining rights in Mexico, as compared to U.S. 

Dispute Settlement
Environment
Immigration
Intellectual property
Investment 
Labor
Mexican trucks
return to top

NAFTA Mexican trucks
In the matter of Cross-Border Trucking Services
The final report of the NAFTA panel in the Mexican truck dispute: USA-MEX-98-2008-01, February 6, 2001. A Chapter 20 decision available at the NAFTA Secretariat website in .pdf format (http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/images/pdf/ub98010e.pdf) and Word Perfect format.

North American Free Trade Agreement: Coordinated Operational Plan Needed to Ensure Mexican Trucks' Compliance With U.S. Standards (GAO-02-238; December 21, 2001). 
 GAO Report to House Committees on Energy and Commerce, and  Transportation and Infrastructure concerning the NAFTA requirement that Mexican commercial trucks be allowed to travel throughout the United States. The report is available online at the GAO website: http://www.gao.gov/. Click on GAO Reports and search by report number (GAO-02-238) or date.

Public Citizen: NAFTA and the environment, health and safety

http://www.citizen.org/trade/nafta/chapter11/

 Links to articles and documents on Cross-Border Trucking under NAFTA and truck safety in general.

U.S. Department of State: Safety requirements for Mexican trucks and buses
http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/ar/trade/trucks14.htm
  Information about March 2002 proposed regulations regarding safety requirements for Mexican trucks and buses operating in the United States. A summary of the proposals appears at http://www.dot.gov/affairs/fmcsa0502factsheet.htm. For regulation text, search in the 2002 Federal Register at  http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/. 

U.S.-Mexico border: better planning, coordination needed to handle growing commercial traffic (NSIAD-00-25 March 3, 2000).
  Report on commercial truck traffic congestion along the U.S.-Mexico border. The report is available online at the GAO website: http://www.gao.gov/. Click on GAO Reports and search by report number (NSIAD-00-25) or date.

return to top