NAFTA Commission Agrees on Liberalization of Rules of Origin, Deregulation, Chemicals Plan

Representatives of the U.S., Mexico, and Canada discussed regulatory and sectoral cooperation, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), trade facilitation through the liberalization on rules of origin, and Mexican and Canadian participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations at a meeting of the Free Trade Commission of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexican and Canadian ministers, as well as U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, agreed on, among other things: (i) a fourth package of liberalization of NAFTA rules of origin; (ii) a sectoral plan for chemical products; and (iii) pursuing the elimination of unnecessary barriers and costs for SMEs.

(The NAFTA Free Trade Commission, comprised of the U.S. Trade Representative, Mexican Secretariat of Economy, and Canadian Ministry of International Trade, is responsible for supervising the implementation and interpretation of the NAFTA Treaty.)

(See ITT’s Online Archives 12040419 for summary of joint press conference on 04/02/12 by U.S. President Obama, Mexican President Calderon, and Canadian Prime Minister Harper, in which the three leaders made statements on plans for deregulation and the TPP.)