scholarly journals NAFTA 2.0: The Greenest Trade Agreement Ever?

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 659-677
Author(s):  
NOEMIE LAURENS ◽  
ZACHARY DOVE ◽  
JEAN FREDERIC MORIN ◽  
SIKINA JINNAH
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanism ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
The Core ◽  
The North ◽  
Settlement Mechanism

AbstractThe renegotiation of what US President Trump called ‘the worst trade deal ever’ has resulted in the most detailed environmental chapter in any trade agreement in history. The USMCA mentions dozens of environmental issues that its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), overlooked, and in line with contemporary US practice, brings the vast majority of environmental provisions into the core of the agreement, and subjects these provisions to a sanction-based dispute settlement mechanism. It also jettisons two controversial NAFTA measures potentially harmful to the environment. However, this paper argues that the USMCA only makes limited contributions to environmental protection. It primarily replicates most of the environmental provisions included in recent agreements, and only introduces three unprecedented environmental provisions. Moreover, it avoids important issues such as climate change, it does not mention the precautionary principle, and it scales back some environmental provisions related to multilateral environmental agreements.

Trade, Investment and Risk

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 586-590
Author(s):  
Valentina S. Vadi
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Toxic Chemicals ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanism ◽  
Risk Regulation ◽  
Host State ◽  
The North ◽  
Settlement Mechanism

Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (hereinafter NAFTA) was successfully negotiated in 1993, the provisions for investor-state arbitration under its Chapter 11 have put pressure on the regulatory spaces of the State Parties. Under Chapter 11, any investor alleging a breach of the treaty norms by a host State can file an arbitration claim. This diagonal dispute settlement mechanism has determined a growing stream of arbitrations, focusing inter alia on the interplay between the regulation of toxic chemicals by the host State and the substantive provisions of Chapter 11. The arbitration claims filed by investors against host States regarding the regulation of toxic chemicals by the latter include those related to the adoption of discriminatory policies, the expropriation of investments and the violation of the fair and equitable standard (FET). In a nutshell, the question is how to reconcile environmental protection with the promotion of foreign direct investment (FDI). Can the host State adopt precautionary policies? To what extent can and should policy influence risk regulation? Should investors be compensated if their toxic chemicals are banned from the market? Which standard of review should arbitral tribunals adopt to assess scientific evidence? This note explores all of these issues through an analysis of the Chemtura award.

Following Suit: A Comparison of Dispute Resolution Mechanisms under NAFTA Chapter 20 and the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 291-304
Author(s):  
Yair Baranes
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanism ◽  
Settlement Mechanism

SummaryThe Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Israel bases its dispute settlement mechanism on Chapter 20 of NAFTA. There are accordingly many similarities between the two regimes. In certain areas, however, such as consultations and Panel composition, the Canada-Israel dispute settlement regime was clearly intended to differ from the NAFTA regime.

Investor-State Dispute Settlement under NAFTA Chapter 11: The Shape of Things to Come?

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 263-290
Author(s):  
J. Anthony VanDuzer
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Minimum Standards ◽  
The North ◽  
State Behaviour ◽  
Nafta Chapter 11 ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Right

SummaryRecently, there has been a proliferation of international agreements imposing minimum standards on states in respect of their treatment of foreign investors and allowing investors to initiate dispute settlement proceedings where a state violates these standards. Of greatest significance to Canada is Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which provides both standards for state behaviour and the right to initiate binding arbitration. Since 1996, four cases have been brought under Chapter 11. This note describes the Chapter 11 process and suggests some of the issues that may arise as it is increasingly resorted to by investors.

scholarly journals NAFTA Is Renegotiated and Signed by the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-159 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Rules Of Origin ◽  
The North ◽  
United States Mexico

A twenty-four-year-old agreement was reborn on October 1, 2018, when President Trump announced that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had been successfully renegotiated. The deal came after an arduous, year-long negotiation process that almost left Canada behind. As one indicator of its contentiousness, the deal lacks an agreed-upon name, but the United States is referring to it as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). It keeps some key NAFTA provisions mostly the same, including with respect to state-to-state dispute resolution, but eliminates, modifies, and adds other provisions. Among the changes: investor-state dispute settlement has been eliminated as between the United States and Canada; rules of origin for automobiles and rules for U.S. dairy products have been modified; and new provisions address labor protections, intellectual property rights, rights for indigenous persons, rules for trade negotiations with non-market countries, and the agreement's termination. The agreement was formally signed by the leaders of all three countries on November 30, 3018. It must be approved through the domestic ratification procedures of the three countries before it enters into force.

Mexican Environmental Issues and the North American Free Trade Agreement

1992 ◽  
Vol - (43) ◽  
pp. 7-9
Author(s):  
Scott Whiteford ◽  
Gianluca Romano ◽  
Cindy Maldonado
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
North American ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The North

Mexico – Tax Measures on Soft Drinks and Other Beverages (Complainant: United States of America)

2019 ◽  
Vol 181 ◽  
pp. 436-487
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanism ◽  
Settlement System ◽  
Wto Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Relationship ◽  
Dispute Settlement System ◽  
Settlement Mechanism

Economics, trade and finance — World Trade Organization — General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade — Relationship with other international agreements — North American Free Trade Agreement — Measures allegedly taken contrary to GATT said to be countermeasures responding to violation of NAFTA — WTO dispute settlement mechanismInternational tribunals — Jurisdiction — Discretion not to exercise jurisdiction — Whether inherent power — WTO dispute settlement system — Whether Panel empowered to decline to exercise jurisdiction — Whether dispute between two States parties to NAFTA should be heard by arbitral tribunal under NAFTA rather than by panel under the WTO Dispute Settlement UnderstandingReprisals and countermeasures — Nature and scope — Relationship between countermeasures under international law and measures to secure compliance with laws and regulations within the WTO — Whether falling under GATT Article XX(d)Treaties — Interpretation — Effect — Interpretation of GATT Article XX(d) — Relationship between GATT and other international agreements

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