Shifting the blame: while campaigners have begun to focus attention on cross-border polluters, a lack of effective legislation means that prosecuting offenders can be difficult.
Environmental justice has its roots in local politics. The protests that began in the USA in the late 1970s were aimed primarily at stopping local companies from dumping waste in poor, predominantly black neighbourhoods. However, over the past 25 years, environmental justice has moved beyond waste dumps to considering...

Investor-state dispute settlement between developed countries: reflections on the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement.
ABSTRACT Free trade agreements between developed countries now frequently contain provisions on investor protection, but the resolution of disputes remains problematic. Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allows investors to bring direct claims against a host state before an international tribunal without exhausting...

Double tax pacts with GCC nations in works.
Byline: G Ganapathy Subramaniam NEW DELHI: In a bid to boost trade and investment flows from the oil-rich Gulf, the government is planning to put in place comprehensive double taxation avoidance agreements (DTAAs) with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This will help India Inc improve...

MERCOSUR SEEKS TO RESTART TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH EUROPEAN UNION.
Countries of the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) have met with European Union (EU) officials to set a timeline for renewing failed negotiations for a free-trade and political-association agreement. Ministers from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay met with EU commissioners in Brussels on Sept. 2 to develop an "action...

Comparing local cross-border relations under the EU and NAFTA.
INTRODUCTION (1) The literature on cross-border relations provides us with different reasons for the existence and development of cross-border linkages (that is--the connections that span an international border); it suggests that such relations may take place because of (1) free trade, because they are in the interest...

FREE TRADE, PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT.
What is going on, when we see groups across politics passing resolutions against globalisation and international economic agreements? Can it be that these issues have united both ends of the political spectrum ? On one level it would seem so, but closer inspection reveals fundamentally...

Democracy, judicial reform, the rule of law and environmental justice in Mexico.
I. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND THE RULE OF LAW IN MEXICO The long and difficult negotiations leading up to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) finally concluded in 1992,(2) but only after the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States gave sufficient assurances that they would...

THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE GULF STATES: A GROWING PARTNERSHIP.
The European Union (EU) pursues a three-tiered approach with regard to the Arab countries of the Middle East. On a general level, it entered into the so-called Euro-Arab Dialogue with the Arab League. This dialogue has not been very effective and has even been pronounced dead by some authors.(2)...

All's well that ends well: a pragmatic look at international criminal extradition.
I. INTRODUCTION The impetus for this Comment was the recent capture and extradition(2) to the United States by Mexican authorities(3) of Mexican "drug kingpin"(4) Juan Garcia Abrego. While a momentous and sensational case like this naturally grabs headlines around the world,(5) extradition has long been a regular...

Connecting currents: toward the integration of North American electricity markets.
I. INTRODUCTION As recently as 1991, closed markets and governmentally owned or regulated monopolies characterized the electricity industries of Canada, Mexico, and the United States.(1) In the past, trade in electricity among these nations consisted only of limited power transfers between border utilities.(2) Today, North American electricity...