NAFTA Side Agreements Strengthen Enforcement, but Miss Opportunity for Meaningful Enforcement Cooperation Mechanisms

On August 13, 1993, the U.S., Mexico and Canada agreed on supplemental accords on environmental and labor matters to strengthen enforcement. The accords do provide for dispute resolution mechanisms in the event of alleged non-compliance. However, the accords fall short of allowing for express criminal sanctions, as occurred in the NAFTA for intellectual property law violations, and for enforcement cooperation agreements to facilitate mutual and judicial assistance in administrative proceedings, similar to those in tax, customs, securities and commodities futures trading…[more]