From iatp@igc.apc.org Mon Aug 15 15:05:03 1994 Date: 15 Aug 94 04:28 PDT From: IATP Reply to: "Conference trade.news" To: "Recipients of conference trade.news" Newsgroups: trade.news Subject: NAFTA & Inter-Am Monitor 8/15/94 Produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NAFTA and Inter-American Trade Monitor, vol. 1, #12 August 15, 1994 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HEADLINES NAFTA ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS NAMED UNIONS OBJECT TO WASHINGTON, DC HEARING BATTLE AHEAD FOR BUS GIANTS MERCOSUR TARIFF PACT SIGNED RESOURCES/EVENTS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NAFTA ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS NAMED The US, Mexico, and Canada have named the fifteen members of the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NACEC). The JPAC is an autonomous group of experts whose primary role is to provide independent advice to the NACEC Council, which is made up of the environmental ministers of the three governments. JPAC and NACEC were established under the environmental side accord to NAFTA. Mexican Victor Lichtinger Wiseman was named in June to head the NACEC Council, and was praised by environmentalists in the US and Mexico. Lichtinger represented Mexico at the 1992 Rio Conference on the environment and, according to a Sierra Club official, "has a reputation for being receptive to public interest groups." The US representatives named to JPAC are: Peter A. Berle, President and CEO of the National Audubon Society; Dan Morales, Texas Attorney General who was active in NAFTA implementation language discussions; Jonathan Plaut, chair of the US Council of International Business Environment Committees and Director of Environmental Quality for Allied Signal, Inc.; Jean Richardson, Professor of Environmental Studies and Natural Resources at University of Vermont and Director of the Environmental Programs in Communities (EPIC) Project funded by Kellogg Foundation; and John D. Wirth, current president of the North American Institute, a tri-national public affairs group headquartered in Santa Fe, NM. President Clinton also appointed one member of the new Border Environmental Cooperation Commission, a NAFTA agency made up of five US members and five Mexican members. Clinton's appointee is Pete Silva, deputy director of the San Diego Water Utilities Department. Silva will continue to serve in that position. Two other US members are government officials: the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission. Silva said that the "big thing will be to see how BECC is interrelated with the new Nadbank and other banking systems to develop the money for border projects." Source: "President Clinton Appoints Five Members to the Joint Public Advisory Committee of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation," WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE, 7/22/94; Rod Riggs, "San Diego Official Named to Nafta Border Panel," JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, 7/22/94; John M. Nagel, "Environmentalists Praise Choice for Nafta Group," JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, 7/20/94; Kevin G. Hall, "Nafta Environment Czar Eyes Role of 3 Differing Societies," JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, 7/20/94 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - UNIONS OBJECT TO WASHINGTON DC HEARING Mexican and US unions object to the site and timing of hearings by the US NAFTA panel on alleged violations of Mexican workers' rights by General Electric Co. and Honeywell. The hearing by the National Administrative Office (NAO) of the US Department of Labor has been scheduled for Washington, DC on August 31, more than six months after the February complaint was filed by the Teamsters and the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE). Union spokespersons say that requiring witnesses to submit statements by August 19 -- just two days before the Mexican elections -- will handicap Mexican workers, and that holding the hearing in Washington will present logistical, financial, and cultural difficulties for witnesses. The unions believe that the hearing should be held in El Paso, Texas, the most convenient US city for Mexican witnesses. Witnesses will be limited to 10 minutes of testimony, and complainants will not be allowed to ask questions. The Mexican union Frente Autentico del Trabajo also objected to the site and scheduling of the hearing. Source: "Teamsters Say Unions Object to Nafta Panel Hearing," REUTER, 8/1/94 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BATTLE AHEAD FOR BUS GIANTS Bus companies are planning to attract an increasing number of passengers as NAFTA brings more border crossings, and as NAFTA opens doors to cross-border expansion. While present law requires that a US bus company transfer passengers to a Mexican carrier at the border, line-haul passenger service across the border will be allowed after January 1, 1997. Mexican companies are regarded as efficient and competitive, with more than 90 percent of Mexicans using buses as their primary means of intercity travel. Tres Estrellas de Oro, owned by Estrella Blanca, Mexico's largest intercity coach line, has launched a US subsidiary and has bought a part of a California bus operator. Blue Star, the Tres Estrellas subsidiary, won operating authority from the US Interstate Commerce Commission, and will begin bringing Mexican nationals to Southern California attractions such as Disneyland and US riders to Mexico's Pacific Coast beach resorts. Greyhound Lines plans to launch a Hispanic-targeted subsidiary known as Azabache in September. Greyhound says Azabache will initially target Mexican markets in California and Texas with 12 to 15 buses on about 20 schedules. A Miami-New York route is also under consideration. While past Greyhound estimates of the Hispanic market were about $5 million annually, Tres Estrellas officials believe the market could be up to four or five times larger. California officials estimate that 15,000 people cross the border at San Diego daily and use passenger services for transport further north. Unauthorized van services presently fill a large part of the demand. California regulators are focusing on bus and van safety after a surprise inspection in late May turned up numerous and serious safety violations on buses. Vans are harder to monitor, since they are largely unlicensed for commercial operation. Bus manufacturing is also being affected by NAFTA, with the Mexican bus and truck maker, Consorcio G Grupo Dina, acquiring the US firm, Motor Coach Industries International in a $337 million merger. The merger is reportedly the first time since NAFTA took effect on January 1 that a Mexican company acquired a US company. With this acquisition, Dina will be the largest maker of inter-city buses in North America. Source: Kevin G. Hall, "Bus Giants Gird for an Open Border," "Calif. Tackles Safety Problems, Unlicensed Passenger Vans," JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, 7/29/94; "Motor Coach to Mexicans," NEW YORK TIMES, 8/9/94 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MERCOSUR TARIFF PACT SIGNED The presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay, meeting in Argentina on August 5, signed an agreement providing for abolition of internal tariffs, for a common external tariff scheduled to take effect on January 1, 1995, and for rules on export processing zones. Argentine President Carlos Menem, speaking to the summit, welcomed the Chilean and Bolivian presidents to the summit and to continuing negotiations for "integration" with Mercosur. Menem handed over the revolving presidency of the group to Brazilian President Itamar Franco, who is a leading advocate for a South American Free Trade Association. Capital goods and information sectors will not apply a common external tariff until the year 2001. Each country also maintains a list of items excluded from the common external tariff, with somewhere between 339 and 399 items for Paraguay and 300 items for each of the other countries. Technical language and lists of excluded items should be finalized within 45 days. Brazil insisted on continuing protection for its growing computer industry, evidenced by August's "world's biggest computer fair" in Sao Paulo, which resulted in about $2.5 billion in deals. Brazil's computer market is expected to reach $10.5 billion in sales in 1994. Microsoft will begin assembling products in a new Brazilian plant next year, in company with other large and small computer companies from the US, Asia, and Europe. Most companies assemble their computers in Brazil from kits, in order to avoid tariffs that run as high as 35 percent. The issue of export processing zones was particularly crucial to Uruguay, whose nine export processing zones generate more than $200 million annually. Argentina and Brazil tried to limit each member country to a single export processing zone. A compromise finally provided that goods produced in export processing zones could be exported to other Mercosur countries, but with payment of the applicable external tariff. Trade among the Mercosur countries has quadrupled over the past four years, now approaching $10 billion. Attracted by the nearly 200 million consumers in the Mercosur countries, investors have poured money into sectors ranging from auto and auto parts manufacturing to telecommunications. Source: "En Portada," "Dura Lucha Negociadora Antes del Acuerdo en el Mercosur," SUCESOS, 8/5/94; Branko Andjic, "La Rebelion de los 'Hermanos Menores,'" SUCESOS, 8/5/94; Raul Ronzoni, "Officials Step Up Talks on Common Market," IPS, 7/27/94; "Presidents Sign Accord Creating Unified Customs Zone," IPS, 8/5/94; Marcela Valente y Marcelo Jelen, "Crisis Avoided With Last Minute Agreements," IPS, 8/4/94; "Ministers Agree on Foreign Tariff and Duty-Free Zones," IPS, 8/2/94; James Bruce, "The Next Big Pact," U.S./LATIN TRADE, 8/94; James Brooke, "Brazil Luring Computer Companies," NEW YORK TIMES, 8/6/94; "Mercosul Formaliza a Tarifa Externa Comum," IBASE, 8/5/94 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - RESOURCES/EVENTS Electronic discussion group on US/Mexico border issues: EPA has established a forum for dialogue among individuals and groups in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere who are conducting research or work concerning the US/Mexico border environment on topics including: ongoing and proposed projects and proposed projects, data availability and gaps, sources of information, training opportunities, conferences/workshops, grant opportunities, employment opportunities (internships etc.), policy issues, e.g., NAFTA impact on the border environment. To subscribe via internet: listserver@unixmail.rtpnc.epa.gov - in the message body type: Subscribe us_mexborder . For information: Chris Solloway of EPA's National Environmental Statistics Branch, telephone (202) 260-3008 or email solloway.chris@epamail.epa.gov "World Investment Report 1993: Transnational Corporations and Integrated International Production." UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION, 1993. 308 pages. UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS, Sales Section, Dept. 021D, Room DC2-0853, New York, NY 10017. $45 plus $3.50 shipping and handling.Describes individual companies involved in growing integrated international production, lists the world's largest transnational investors, gives current figures on foreign direct investment outflows and projects future flows, and examines public policy issues posed by complex relationships between parents and affiliates. "A Preliminary Guide to NAFTA Governance: A Work in Progress," by Dan Leahy and Joslyn Rose Trivett. LABOR CENTER, 1994. 37 pages. LABOR CENTER, Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA 98505, telephone (206) 866-6000, ext. 6525.Summarizes governance and administrative mechanisms of NAFTA and provides list of information resources. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The NAFTA and Inter-American Trade Monitor is available in both English and Spanish on Association for Progressive Communications (APC) computer networks on the conference eai.news. It can also be faxed or sent via mail on request. We welcome your comments and contributions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For more information about the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, send email to iatp-info@igc.apc.org. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Produced by: Mary C. Turck, Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy1313 Fifth St. SE, Suite #303, Minneapolis, MN 55414- 1546 USATel: (612) 379-5980, Fax: (612) 379-5982, email: mturck@igc.apc.org