The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its companion agreement, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), provide important and often underappreciated protection for the environmental laws of the Party states: Canada, Mexico, and the United States. On the twentieth anniversary of NAFTA's ratification, this book assesses the current state of environmental protection under those agreements. Bringing together scholars, practitioners, and regulators from all three Party states, it outlines the scope and process of NAFTA and NAAEC, their impact on specific environmental issues, and paths to reform. It includes analyses of the impact of the agreements on such matters as bioengineered crops in Mexico, assessment of marine environmental effects, potential lessons for China, climate change, and indigenous rights. Together, the chapters of this book represent an important contribution to the global conversation concerning international trade agreements and sustainable development.

This title was first published in 2002: Focusing on the central issues of the contemporary trade-environment-social cohesion debate, this compelling book analyzes the social and environmental impacts of existing trade liberalization through the World Trade Organization (WTO), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other key regimes. It also explores new strategies for regulation and risk assessment, environmental information, standard setting, voluntary activities, sustainability assessments of trade agreements, and participation by civil society. Features include: -suggests ways in which the NAFTA model might be improved -explores the NAFTA regime with regards to its environmental and social impacts -evaluates the experience and improvement of NAFTA and how it might assist the broader international community Characterized by its meticulous scholarship and fluid style, this authoritative work is an indispensable guide for all those concerned with trade liberalization, environmental enhancement and social cohesion.

'Free Trade and the Environment' examines the impact of international economic integration on the environment, taking as a case study the experience of Mexico, as it transformed itself from one of the most closed economies in the world to one of the mostopen.

"Many of the papers included in this volume were first presented and discussed in the Spring of 2000 at a conference on lessons from the NAFTA for the FTAA"--Pref.