Thesis: NAFTA is the first initiative of applying
the economic policies born out of globalization,
which is related to of trade liberalization and
free trade. Though these polices tremendously
strengthen the economic growth and increased foreign
trade among the member countries but resulted
into immense environmental degradation, which
has now become a debatable issue instigated by
the various political and environmental groups
of these countries.
Ever since the introduction of globalization,
the various policies and trends of international
relations have changed tremendously. Globalization
gave a new direction to conduct relations among
the nation-states. Therefore, states are now directly
and indirectly connected to each other in one
way or another. However, the various policies
of free trade, trade liberalization, privatization
and the information technology revolution have
increased the activity and communication among
states with similar interest.
At the same time the previous concepts of power
and traditional trends to conduct foreign as well
as domestic relations have changed. Now states
are collaboration to each other for similar goals
leaving apart their traditional animosity.
Therefore, states are economically integrating
to each other for mutual interest and social,
economic, environmental and political gains. However,
states are also associating to each other under
the bound of various agreements for ensuring a
healthy social, political, economical and other
environment globally. Among the various agreements
among states in relation to mutual cooperation
for same objectives, NAFTA is also one.
NAFTA
NAFTA is basically knows as The North American
Free Trade Agreement, which is a wide-ranging
trade agreement between Canada, America, Mexico.
This agreement links all these three member countries
into a relationship of free trade. Free trade
basically provides such means for trade where
there is no tariffs or trade barriers when these
countries import and export their products to
each other. However, this results into positive
as well as negative implications to all these
countries internally as well as outside. Therefore,
as the agreement came into effect by January 1994,
the various trade barriers were ended on some
goods at the same time, it was also decided to
eliminate some goods in a specific period of time.
However, NAFTA does not possess any supranational
authoritative or legislative body that can govern
or make and implement laws superior to the national
laws. Therefore, according to the American law,
it is categorized as a body of congressional executive.
NAFTA And Environment
Regional integration and cooperation for various
environmental and economic concerns is an extension
of globalization. However, NAFTA in the shape
of regional cooperation between these three member
countries has proved to be very significant in
enhancing regional trade. At the same time, it
is also noticed that the environment conditions
along the U.S-Mexico border in the North American
region is immensely affected with the various
policies of NAFTA, which has now reached to the
level of political debates in both the regions.
Regarding the environmental degradation in the
member countries of NAFTA, the opinion is twofold.
On the one side there is the public opinion that
is sharply divided into criticism, while on the
other hand the Environmental Defense Funds explains
that various environmental problems, which are
presumed to be caused by NAFTA is basically rooted
to the macroeconomics and social trends as it
was decided if any environmental degradation results
due to the regional trade integration, NAFTA would
be strengthen with the mutual cooperation of the
member countries in coping the environmental challenge.
Otherwise, alone it cannot address to the various
environmental issues and thus will not be held
responsible alone.
Therefore, after the efforts of various governmental
and labours groups, the member countries of NAFTA
decided to add sustainable development in the
preamble of NAFTA. This was basically to stregnthen
both the sanitary and poly-sanitary trade requirements
as well as to assure that NAFTA will not encourage
to lower down the environmental standard of the
regions. So NAFTA assured to solve any environmental
problems with in these member countries of the
region. With this NAFTA for the first time in
any trade agreement introduced a lultilateral
agreement sustaining environmentla development
while setting sifnificant standards of examples
that challenges the Free Trade Agreement of both
the World Trade Organization and the Americas
negoriators to cooperate and work with authenticity
and legitimacy by writing for the environmental
protection directing the future trade agreements.
Policies of NAFTA
Though, the basic goal of NAFTA is to promote
a healthy environment among the signatory countries
of NAFTA. At the same time, these member countries
also follow the logic that the more they get themselves
involved in to trade the more they will be able
to generate economic growth with in the region.
This will help them stimulate the demand for a
healthier environment and result into sustainable
development, which is the ultimate goal of NAFTA.
On the other hand the various political and environmentalist
groups challenge the efforts and policies of NAFTA
expressing the views that the various economic
activities of NAFTA leading to economic growth
basically cause environmental degradation.
Therefore, the opponents of NAFTA are focusing
to complicate the very objectives of NAFTA and
its various economic policies by offering the
five fundamentals of its green herrings. How ever,
these policies include that NAFTA will force a
huge amount of American agricultural firms towards
the Southern border to harvest the advantages
and benefits that were neglected due to various
environmental regulations and enforcements. However,
this basic policy principle of NAFTA is also known
as the “Mexico Pollution Haven.” At
the same time, due to the shortcomings and weaknesses
of the Mexican Ministry of Social Development
in implementing and enforcing these policies,
the environmental impact is immense.
On the other hand the opponents are taking advantage
of this and spreading that NAFTA is causing environmental
degradation. However, one also needs to understand
that such isolated trends should not be taken
as the general representation of the policies
of NAFTA. However, research shows that there are
few important aspects that need to be adopted
as the policy implementation requirement for the
successful role of NAFTA in regard to uplifting
the stigma of environmental degradation.
Therefore, these environmental policies should
be prioritized and the various environmental costs
should be relocated. For instance, the environmental
costs much be considered as the most significant
element of the total costs of the operation. More
over, there should also be relocation in the existing
trade barriers and they should be increased. At
the same time, it should also be taken into priority
that the relocation cost should not be that much
high that they result in counteracting the savings
from the reduced requirements for protecting the
environment. Amongst these policy priorities,
there must be a difference in the environmental
regulations between two countries and these differences
must be high for specific decided time period.
Impact and Policy Response of NAFTA
The various policies of NAFTA immensely influenced
to the environments of its member countries. These
very policies though increased economic growth
but immensely responded due to the negative the
environmental concerns of all its signatories.
Though research shows that there have been many
trade disputes among the member countries of NAFTA
but its various polices to enhance trade among
the signatories has proved to be a great milestone
in international trade as it not only introduced
trade liberalization but also positively influenced
the economies of these three countries, which
are America, Mexico and Canada.
At the same time, it is also observed that the
various agreements of NAFTA in regard to the agricultural
development and trade among these countries tremendously
impacted the economies of America, Mexico and
Canada. Many agreements were signed as a result
of NAFTA’s efforts. For instance, GAAT was
signed several years back where Mexico and Canada
joined later but when America, Mexico and Canada
joined together for economic progress adopting
the policies of free trade and trade liberalization.
Amongst these also include agreements like WTO,
FTAA etc. However, due to the various trade barriers
like tariffs, quota and other trade barriers,
the domestic economy was immensely affected while
international trade was increased. Consequently,
the domestic producers earn more benefit where
the consumers suffered economic and market insecurity.
Therefore, economic disturbances and dissatisfaction
with in the market distribution was first experienced
in the domestic market of America. It was observed
that the agricultural income and profit was decreasing
constantly with the constant increase in the industrial
incomes. Therefore, NAFTA was born with the principle
objective to remove trade barriers and enhance
economic growth in the country by supporting mutual
interest and economic benefits to all its member
countries.
However, as a result of the very policies of
NAFTA, more then half of the trade barriers between
Mexico and America was eliminated while the remaining
tariffs and other restrictions are planned to
be eliminated in the coming future by the year
2008. On the other hand the very policy of NAFTA
to encourage competition among these member countries
for qualitative and quantitative economic growth
with in the member countries as well as the concern
to protect intellectual and property rights for
social and environmental development. This policy
increased the investment opportunities with patents
and copyrights along the introduction of trademarks.
However, the various trade rules and principles
also helped in settling various trade disputes
among the member countries. Above all the most
important implication of the policies of NAFTA
was the idea of to set a trilateral commission
to administer the various business transactions
among these countries.
Therefore, these various economic policies leading
to great environmental awareness among the three
signatories of NAFTA responded in a very positive
manner, as it is recognized as the first international
trade agreement in the American history, which
also included environmental policies.
However, the stringency of the environmental
regulations are observed to be related to the
harshness of an individual country’s trading
partner, as the various trading policies of that
very country directly affects the over all environment
with a dominance of the trading partner. Therefore,
Mexico has responded in developing its own laws
and procedures to enforce these very laws to secure
the environmental concerns resulting out of the
policies of NAFTA.
However, all these laws are proven as secondary
when the question of commercial and financial
interest arises, which weakens the law enforcement.
On the other hand, few of the huge firms that
dominate the local economy account much of the
increase in environmental contamination. For instance,
it is estimated that around 80% of the Mexican
export industry is ruled by the two percent of
the total number of companies in the country.
However, most of these companies are transnational
corporations. Amongst these, the electronic, textiles
as well as chemical sectors are basically related
to the American Environmental Protection Agencies
resulting in the utilization of immensely toxic
and dangerous processes.
At the same time, the various environmental policies
and tools planned by NAFTA are proven to be weak.
For instance, the NAD Bank and the BECC. Since
the last three years they have failed to develop
any proper environmental infrastructure. Though
during the period of President Clinton, institutions
like the greenest trade agreement was signed as
a representative of NAFTA but it resulted in increments
of loans instead of supporting any positive change
in the environment of the member countries.
On the other hand, the idea to increase the number
of foreign companies, which can encourage the
relocation of production to Mexico and benefit
the decreasing environmental and labor costs resulted
to a more severe and intense situation. Consequently
it aggravated and extended environmental degradation
with in the member countries.
However, various environmental agreements were
also signed to coup this challenge like the NAAEC,
but no fruitful results could be achieved up till
now. The public opinion is strongly criticizing
the very policies of NAFTA and the weak mechanism
of environmental protection standards, which are
though boosting trade but diminishing the healthy
environment of the people. Therefore, the role
of public complains instigated political pressure
on NAFTA, which raised the demands of not only
the public but also various political, social
and environmental groups for securing environmental
concerns in the country.
NAFTA Causes Economic Degradation ?
Despite of the fact that the
various policies of NAFTA resulted in tremendous
economic development due to its policies of trade
liberalization and free market economy. But the
same time it not only influenced the local markets
of all these countries with an increase in the
international market but also liable for causing
economic integration in the member countries.
However, NAFTA has initiated few programs in collaboration
to its member countries and signed few agreements
in regard to protect and secure the environment
but has failed to achive this most important environmental
and social cause.
Therefore, the deterioroting environmental conditions
in these countries that are resulting into various
dangerous health problems have now become a debatable
issue among these member countries of NAFTA. This
debate is basically initiated by the various political
and environmental groups stigmatizing and challanging
the actual status of NAFTA.
Globalization has introduced many challenges
along its trends of boosting economic growth of
all the countries particpant to these economic
warfare. At one side the developed countries are
enhancing global and foreign trade with the polices
of trade liberalization, regional economic integration
and privatization. On the other side there are
immense implications of this speedy economic development
of the world.
Therefore, the local economies of these countreis
are basically suffering due the differences in
the national and internaional trade policies specifically
among the countries who are engaged into regional
trades with each other. NAFTA is one of the case
which emerged with the objected to enhance economic
development in the time when these countried were
economically facing various crises.
Though it resulted in a very much positive manner
in regard to economic growth. However, NAFTA due
to its various weak policies cemented with the
weakness of implementing these policies and enforcement
of the various laws made and agreed by the signatories
has resulted to a dangerous level of environmental
degradation.
Consequently, the public opinion has started
playing its role in a very influential manner,
which earned the support of various environmental
and politicl groups against the role of NAFTA.
Therefore, the stigma that NAFTA causes environmental
degradation has now become a debatable issue not
only with in the member countries but all over
the world.
Therefore, NAFTA needs to revive its existing
policies and also strengthen its agreements signed
related to environmental protection among Canada,
America and Mexico. However in order to maintain
a balance in the economic growth and environmental
securities, these member countries should focus
on their trade invesment policies and make them
suitable to the social and environmental concerns
of its member countries.
At the same time the funding sources should also
focus to keep on negotiating on the environmental
polices and its effective implementation from
time to time to build an understanding on the
current environmental problems with a check and
balance on the previous accounts and results in
relation to environmental development of these
countries.
However, in order to ensure the bright future
of NAFTA, it should also redisign its over all
social, economical as well as envoronmental polices
while providing equal attention to these areas
as individual priority concerns. At the same time,
there should also be an increase in developing
trinational institutions keeping in mind the respect
of the soverignity of the member countries.
Though in the contemporary policy responses
do not predict a bright and healthy future of
NAFTA, however in the coming decade it can improve
a lot of focus on prioritizing its polices by
maintaing a balance among its environmental, social
and economic concerns.
Works Cited
1. Mark R. Brawley, “The Politics of Globalization”
(Toronto: Broadview Press, 2003) p. 58-60
2. Bradly J. Condon, “The Impact of the
NAFTA, the NAAEC, and Constitutional Law on Environmental
Policy in Canada and Mexico,” in Stephen
J. Randall and Herman W. Konrad (eds.), “NAFTA
in Transition” (Calgary: University of Calgary
Press, 1995), p. 282-284.
3. Mumme, Stephen P.“NAFTA and Environment.”
Vol. 4, (26) Pub. 1999.
4. Ibid.
5. Pierre Marc Johnson and Andre Beaulieu, “The
Environment and NAFTA” (Washington: Island
Press, 1996).
6. Public Citizen, “NAFTA’s Broken
Promises: The Border Betrayed” (Washington:
Global Trade Watch, January 1996).
7. Cohen, B.C., Labys, W.C. and Eliste, P. 2001.
“An econometric time series analysis of
CO2 concentrations and emissions.” “International
Journal of Environment and Pollution” 15:371-385.
8. “NAFTA’s Impact on U.S. Agricultural
Trade: An Overview”,
“Economic Research Service” (USDA.)
9. Colyer, D. “Impacts of NAFTA on U.S.-Mexico
Agricultural Trade” from “Agricultural
and Resource Economics Review.” (Abstract)
30:217 (2001)
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