NAFTA Monitor 1-11-94

[Kai Mander <kmander@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

NAFTA MONITOR
VOLUME I, NUMBER 3
Tuesday, January 11, 1994

Headlines:
SUPREME COURT REJECTS NEED FOR NAFTA ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT
MEXICAN GOVERNMENT WILL TALK WITH REBELS
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY BE ON THE DECLINE IN CALIFORNIA
CANADA TRYING TO DISMANTLE INTERNAL TRADE BARRIERS
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SUPREME COURT REJECTS NEED FOR NAFTA ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday rejected arguments by the Sierra
Club and Public Citizen that the Clinton administration should have
prepared an environmental impact statement of NAFTA.  The groups
had appealed to the high court after an appeals court overturned a
decision by a federal court judge, who had ordered an environmental
assessment of NAFTA because the trade pact violated domestic
environmental law.  The Supreme Court denied the appeal without
any comment or dissent.

Source: "Environmental Report on NAFTA Unneeded, High Court
Decides," INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY, January 11, 1994.
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MEXICAN GOVERNMENT WILL TALK WITH REBELS

In an attempt to stop the revolt in Chiapas from spreading to Mexico
City, Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari named a commission
to promote "dialogue" with the Zapatista National Liberation Army.
Salinas announced the commission late Saturday, following the
explosion of a car bomb in Mexico City.  The explosion, which caused
significant damage but no serious injuries, raised fears that the
revolt was spreading.  According to a government statement, the
commission "will have full autonomy to evaluate the situations and
problems to be resolved and propose alternatives and measures to
tackle ... in a concerted way the problems in the conflict zone."

According to the Puebla newspaper, SINTESIS, the rebels had earlier
offered to open negotiations with three moderators, including Nobel
Peace Prize winner and indigenous leader Rigoberta Menchu.  In a
statement on the conflict, Menchu said, "At the core of a search for a
peaceful solution, priority (must) be given to age-old economic,
social, political and cultural problems of Chiapas's society."

The Zapatistas have linked their struggle to land rights.  Chiapas was
largely excluded from land redistribution in the constitution that
followed the 1910 Mexican revolution and much of its farmland is
now in the hands of powerful ranchers.

Canadian indigenous leaders are planning a trip to Chiapas to show
support for the mostly Mayan peasants fighting for land and rights.
They are demanding that Mexico restore Article 27 of the
Constitution, which prevented the privatization of community held
land holdings (ejidos), and the return of land to the peasants of
Chiapas.  Of the Mexican government's repeal of Article 27 in
preparation for NAFTA, Ovide Mercredi, national chief of the
Assembly of First Nations (AFN), said, "It explains, in part, one of the
root causes of the violence that erupted in that part of the country."
He said it "would be the equivalent to the Canadian government
saying that Indian reservations can be sold without the consent of
the Indian people."

The issue has forced the AFN, which represents more than 650
bands, to be vigilant that  NAFTA  "does not become another weapon
for the loss of Indian land and Indian resources."  He added, "If the
NAFTA  agreement can have such a negative impact in terms of land
rights for the Indian people of Mexico, the same situation could arise
in Canada. But at least we have legal protection we can rely on."  One
rebel leader identifying himself as Commander Marcos called NAFTA
"the death certificate for the indigenous people of Mexico."

The Canadian delegation hopes to pressure the Mexican government
to "deal with the Indian situation and to encourage them to resolve
the issue through negotiations," Mercredi told reporters.  Mercredi
called on Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari to find a quick
and peaceful solution with no reprisals and urged Canadian Prime
Minister Jean Chretien to phone Salinas to voice Canada's concerns.

Sources: Christine Tierney, "Mexican Government Names Dialogue
Commission," REUTER, January 9, 1993; Kieran Murray, "Mexican
Army Moves in After Fight With Peasants," REUTER, January 2, 1994;
Rick Mofina, "Mercredi, Other Leaders Going to Mexico," MONTREAL
GAZETTE, January 8, 1994. IIDO Press Release, January 8, 1994;
"Statement by Mexican Social Organizations on Chiapas," January 4,
1994; Rigoberta Menchu Press Release, January 3, 1994.
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ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY BE ON THE DECLINE IN CALIFORNIA

While public concern about illegal immigration has grown in
California, there are indications that the number of legal and illegal
immigrants is declining.  Many illegal immigrants appear to be
returning to Mexico after finding that California's continuing
economic slump and increasing crime rates make life  just as or more
difficult in the United States.  "Everybody thinks the streets are
paved with gold here and they find that is not the case," said Alan C.
Nelson, a former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
official.  "Word gets around that things have tightened up."

The Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles reports that the number of
Mexicans seeking permits to ship their belongings back to Mexico
from the Los Angeles area nearly doubled from 1992 to 1993.  The
INS reports that apprehensions of illegal aliens trying to cross the
California-Mexico border dropped by about 6 percent in the year
ending September 30.  And the Census Bureau reported last month
that for the first time in 20 years California's population grew at a
slower rate than the rest of the country.

Source: Robert Reinhold, "An Ebb in California Illegal Alien Tide,"
NEW YORK TIMES, January 9, 1994.
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CANADA TRYING TO DISMANTLE INTERNAL TRADE BARRIERS

As trade barriers come down in North America and globally, Canada
is turning its attention to the hundreds of restrictions on commerce
that exist within its borders.  Political leaders are attempting to reach
a formula by June for removing all trade barriers within Canada.
Each of Canada's 10 provinces currently has many laws and
regulations designed to stimulate local employment and insulate
certain businesses from competition from the rest of Canada.  For
example, until recently it was almost impossible to buy Moosehead
beer, a product of New Brunswick, in Ontario, although it was easily
available in the United States.  Moosehead is now available in
Ontario, but is treated and priced like an import.

"It's ambitious but entirely feasible," said Stephen Van Houten,
president of the Canadian Manufacturers Association, about the
chances of establishing a code by June.  "The politicians are becoming
embarrassed by their failure to deal effectively with this problem,
and they know they look silly, not just at home but abroad."  The
manufacturers' association listed the "cost" of some 500
interprovincial barriers at 1 percent of the Canadian economy, or
nearly US$5 billion.  Some economists, however, say that figure is
way too high.

Source: Charles Truehart, "Canada Seeking to Lower Provincial Trade
Barriers," WASHINGTON POST, January 10, 1994.
_______________________________________________________
Editor: Kai Mander
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)
1313 Fifth Street SE, Suite #303, Minneapolis, MN 55414-1546 USA
Telephone:(612)379-5980 Fax:(612)379-5982
E-Mail:kmander@xxxxxxxxxxx
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