ABSTRACT
The North American Free Trade Agreement1 (‘NAFTA’) was concluded between the United States, Canada and Mexico in 1993 and came into effect on 1 January 1994. It was grounded on the trade principles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (‘GATT’) and supersedes the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (‘CUSFTA’).2 NAFTA, the largest free trade zone3 in the world, was created with the objective of phasing out tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was designed to promote fair competition and investment opportunities by furthering trilateral regional and multilateral cooperation. NAFTA presents a useful case study for the analysis of the situations of developing countries at the interface between trade and the environment. Mexico, as one of the parties to NAFTA, demonstrates the North-South clash in the integration of international trade and environmental priorities. Significantly, Mexico is the only developing country in the world to have entered into a free trade agreement which contains an environmental clause.4
