Environmental policy implications of investor-state arbitration under NAFTA Chapter 11

Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement requires governments to treat foreign investors the same as domestic investors, to afford them international standards of due process of law, and to compensate investors for any actions that expropriate their investments or are “tantamount” to expropriation. It allows foreign investors to submit compensation claims to international arbitration. To the alarm of the environmental community, four of the early Chapter 11 claims involved challenges to government measures that were, or appeared to be, environmental protection measures. The first three of the four claimants ultimately received compensation; the fourth claim was denied as being outside the scope of Chapter 11. This paper takes an in-depth look at the circumstances of these four claims to determine whether the claimants had thwarted or avoided bona fide environmental protection measures and to try to assess whether these claims have “chilled” government imposition of new environmental measures. The facts of the cases and developments subsequently indicate that the government actions in the first three cases were not truly environmental protection measures, but were motivated by local political and economic considerations. The fourth claim, which involved a bona fide environmental protection, was rightly rejected. Meanwhile the number of “environmental” claims under Chapter 11 has dwindled. The paper concludes that environmentalists have little ground for alarm, and much reason to be encouraged, about how Chapter 11 has influenced environmental protection.

中国如何面对亚太地区多层次的区域化合作

近年区域经济集团化趋势剧增,尤其是亚太地区区域经济合作又成为讨论的焦点:“大圈套小圈”的合作特色,APEC的独特合作模式,北美自由贸易区的扩展,10 3、10 1、中日韩合作方案。面对亚太地区复杂的区域合作,中国作为亚太地区新的经济动力,应积极参与该地区的合作,并根据自身的发展水平和特色,认真研究参与区域经济合作的方式,推进区域内自由化合作进程,不断走向全球化。     

WTO与NAFTA争端解决机制之差异性比较研究——兼论对CAFTA争端解决机制的借鉴意义

WTO争端解决机制和NAFTA争端解决机制分别代表了当今国际经济组织两种风格迥异且又颇具典型意义的争端解决机制,二者之间主要区别表现在争端解决机制内部构成、争端解决主体范围、法律解决方法以及执行机制等方面,对两种机制的差异性进行比较研究有助于我们认识它们各自的特点和优劣,可以为CAFTA争端解决机制的完善提供有益的参考和借鉴.     

北美自由贸易协定对环境与贸易问题的协调及其启示

北美自由贸易协定在环境合作委员会的主导下,充分尊重成员国的主权,给予发展中国家实质性的能力支持,赋予成员国确定本国环境保护水平的自由裁量权,建立独立的区域环境贸易争端解决机制,在协调区域内成员国间环境标准及协调区域贸易协定与多边环境协定间的关系等方面构建了一个全新的模式。北美自由贸易协定对环境与贸易问题的协调模式对多边贸易体制协调环境与贸易问题有诸多的启示和借鉴意义。     

Staying the course in Mexico: the role of the US in the drug war, 2006–present

With drug-related violence reaching record levels in Mexico, there has been growing debate over its causes. US and Mexican officials blame many factors, including problems with their strategy in the drug war, fighting among cartels, corruption in police forces, an ineffective legal justice system and US drug demand. In this paper, I argue that the Mérida Initiative, a multi-billion dollar programme of US assistance, is an important additional factor. Drug-related violence increased in the years after the implementation of the Mérida Initiative, declined when Mexican officials paused new programmes in 2012 and increased again as US and Mexican officials implemented new Mérida programmes in the following years. Over the same time period, drug-related homicides and complementary counternarcotics assistance from the US Department of Defense are positively correlated. Using US records, I show that US officials have been willing to overlook the growing violence because they have been more focused on achieving their economic and strategic objectives. I conclude that their actions have played a significant role in increasing drug-related violence while starting an ominous new phase of US imperialism in Mexico.     

由SDMI案看NAFTA贸易规则与环境措施的博弈

NAFTA遭到环境保护者的严厉批评,认为其投资的过度保护而对国家的决策形成了一定程度的压力,这反映出自由贸易、资本的自由流动等理念在严峻的现实面前受到的冲击与挑战。本文从SDM I案切入,对NAFTA贸易规则与环境措施的博弈进行研究和探讨。     

Correspondence

The paper argues for the possibility of reworking the concept of ideology in such a way as to depend neither on a problematic of truth and error, nor on a division of the world into two parts one of which is more real than the other, nor on an expressive relation of subjects to meaning. The political force of the concept can be retained if ideology is thought as a provisional state of discourse (a function of its appropriation and use) rather than as a content or an inherent structure. Any discursive system produces a particular configuration of subject-positions which are the conditions of entry of individuals into discourse; but these acquire political significance only through the (historically variable) codification of discourse in terms of a play of relations of power, and the positions available can be refused or undermined. Some implications of this argument for models of the social and for discourse theory are discussed     

北美自由贸易协定中的环境问题及其对我国的启示

在《北美自由贸易协定》(NAFTA)中,明确规定了与环境保护有关的内容。《北美环境合作协议》(NAAEC),在美、加、墨三国之间形成了一个三边环境协定、各国环境法律、公众广泛参与的立体环境保护网络系统,较好地实现了贸易自由化与环境保护的协调。充分的透明度、民众可就任何成员方未能有效执行环境法提供相关报告是其协调贸易与环境关系的成功之处。对我国的三点启示:公众参与环境保护是国家实施环境行政管理权力的有益补充;公众参与环境保护必须有法律作后盾;利益刺激是提高公众参与环境保护程度的有效手段。     

NAFTA对当前美国自由贸易协定投资条款的影响

首先简述了美国自由贸易协定的发展,进一步揭示了NAFTA影响美国自由贸易协定投资条款内容的背景,随后主要从最低待遇标准和征收两个方面阐述NAFTA对当前美国自由贸易协定投资条款的影响。最后分析了美国自由贸易协定投资条款变化对中国的启示。     

美国FTA范式探略

FTA是美国在多边谈判无果后的次优选择。目前,美国已把实施FTA视为其战略工具,试图将多边无果的谈判转而在区域、双边层面进行,然后逐一推进至多边领域。美国主导的NAFTA范式和具有"超WTO"范式特性的FTA,既是美式FTA发展的产物,也预示着对未来多边谈判的重大影响,迫使发展中国家在多边谈判和与美国的FTA谈判中陷入不得不面对的艰难困境。美式FTA带给未来多边谈判和发展中国家参与全球化战略的不利影响以及发展中国家需要付出的实施代价应引起我们高度重视,以便最大程度地维护国家的经济利益和经济安全。