ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to extract lessons for meeting some of these challenges from two seasoned monitorers, Mexico and the United States (US), on the process and challenges of monitoring multiple and differently sequenced trade agreements. The two countries opened their respective FTA sprees in North America the US with Canada in 1989, and Mexico with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the US and Canada in 1994. Both have since reached further agreements with Western Hemisphere and extra-regional partners alike. With 13 FTAs in effect today, Mexico has become one of the most prolific integrators in the world Mexico. It has forged agreements with most Latin American countries, as well as some of the world's largest economies, EU and Japan. NAFTA also became a harbinger, inspiring the monitoring instruments in the FTAs signed by each of the North American countries.
