Central America Free Trade Agreement Research Articles

Industria láctea en Costa Rica: desafíos y oportunidades para su desarrollo sostenible

This article addresses the contemporary status of the dairy industry in Costa Rica, emphasizing the challenges and opportunities it presents for its evolution. A thorough analysis of the industrial structure, production, employment generation, and the dynamics of exports and imports in relation to preferential tariff fluctuations is conducted. During the study period, a significant increase in Costa Rican dairy production is highlighted, and notable challenges are pinpointed, including tariff changes under the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and heightened competition with global dairy firms. Nevertheless, the vast potential for establishing market differentiators and capturing niche segments in this industry is underscored. The importance of institutional backing and the execution of strategies, designed in synergy between public and private sectors, is accentuated. The study’s outcomes suggest that the competitiveness of the dairy sector, both locally and internationally, is crafted through the amalgamation of efforts in pursuit of a favorable environment. The article concludes with recommendations aimed at amplifying industry competitiveness and advocating sustainable growth.

Dual Nationality of a Private Investor in Investment Treaty Arbitration: A Potential Barrier to the Exercise of Jurisdiction Ratione Personae?

Abstract One of the fundamental objectives of international investment agreements (IIAs) is to protect the rights and interests of foreign investors in the territory of a contracting State. Why, then, have tribunals often exercised jurisdiction ratione personae over the claims of dual nationals against their own State? The answer lies in the silence of IIAs on the matter of dual nationals. Such agreements have failed expressly to mention dual nationals in their definitions of ‘investor’ or ‘national’, which has created lacunae that are open to interpretation. Tribunals have often fallen back on international law to fill these gaps and accurately to determine the nationality of an investor’s claims. They have taken into consideration the text of the IIAs, the text of institutional rules and the general principles of international law. The principle of ‘dominant and effective nationality’, as propounded in the Nottebohm case, has made frequent appearances in such interpretation processes. However, the application of this principle has been inconsistent over time, with different tribunals taking different stances. In this article, the author traces this varied approaches of tribunals. In doing so, he analyses the text of and the awards delivered in disputes arising out of the Algiers Declaration, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention), the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules and various bilateral investment treaties (BITs). Based on this analysis, the author proposes several changes that States should consider in the future negotiation of BITs to restrict a claim by a dual national against its State of nationality.

Two Sides of One Coin: The US-Guatemala Arbitration and the Dual Structure of Labour Provisions in the CPTPP

This article revisits and critically analyses the panel’s decision and reasoning in the dispute between the United States and Guatemala under the labour provisions of the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement vis-à-vis the treaty interpretation rules under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. It further seeks to draw implications for the construction of labour provisions of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The article sheds light on the normative and theoretical rationales that underlie tradelabour linkages in general, and the labour provisions under such free trade agreements in particular. Ultimately, the paper makes a case for the dual structure of conditionality-based labour provisions, a legal characteristic that demands that each of them pursue two different goals, first, protecting labour rights as human rights (social goal) and second, securing the condition of fair competition in trade/ investment and preventing a race to the bottom in labour regulation (economic goal). With this proposal, it attempts to put the long-overlooked, deontologically normative value that labour provisions pursue in its right place without prejudice to their role of levelling the playing field.

The Dominican Republic–Central American Free Trade Agreement’s Symbolic Nod to Environmental Protection: Legal Perspectives on the Citizen Submission Process

ABSTRACTThe Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) contains a chapter on the environment, ostensibly included to mitigate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) environmental oversights. The environment chapter created a citizen submission process designed to foster public participation in supporting each participating nation’s environmental laws. This article examines the outcomes to date of the citizen submission process, based on an analysis of the articles of the agreement and an examination of the rulings made on each case submitted under the citizen submission process. The analysis shows that CAFTA poses significant obstacles to citizen participation and has made minimal, if any, contributions to environmental law enforcement among the Parties to the agreement.

Central American integration through infrastructure development: A case study of Costa Rican hydropower

At the turn of the 21st century, protectionist policies in Latin America were largely abandoned for an agenda that promoted free trade and regional integration. Central America especially experienced an increase in international, interstate, and intraregional economic integration through trade liberalization. In 2004, such integration was on the agenda of every Central American administration, the U.S. Congress, and Mexico. The Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) and the Central America Integrated Electricity System (SIEPAC), in particular, aimed to facilitate the success of free trade by increasing energy production and transmission on a unifi ed regional power grid (Mesoamerica, 2011). Meanwhile, for the United States, a free trade agreement (FTA) with Central America would bring it a step closer to realizing a hemispheric trade bloc while securing market access for its products. Isthmus states considered the potential for a Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States, their largest trading partner, as an opportunity to enter the global market on a united front. A decade and a half on, CAFTA, PPP, and SIEPAC are interwoven, complimentary initiatives that exemplify a shift towards increased free trade and development throughout the region. As such, to understand one, the other must be examined.

Contesting trade in Central America: market reform and resistance. By Rose J. Spalding

The onset of neo-liberalism in Latin America in the 1980s and 1990s has attracted considerable scholarly attention, as has the subsequent reaction against it in the first decade of the new century, epitomized by the election of a range of left-wing governments and their ostensible rejection or modification of the once sacrosanct economic prescriptions of the Washington Consensus. Few studies consider the period as a whole and fewer still have brought the countries of Central America within their purview. Political scientist Rose Spalding's new book is thus doubly welcome for charting, in one volume, the rise and decline of fundamentalist market reform in a region that has always been more heavily influenced by the asymmetric power of the United States than the larger countries of South America. This is also the first work to examine in any detail the negotiation in 2003–2004 of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States (to which the Dominican Republic has also acceded), the embodiment of the region's move towards a more open economy, and the counter-movement that it engendered due to its profound socio-economic ramifications.

Participación legislativa en la construcción de derechos de propiedad intelectual

This article analyses the legislative participation in the construction of intellectual property rights, specifically those referring to the property of improved plant varieties, which are a requisite for the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Research findings show that social differentiation is expressed as inequity in the search of spaces for legislative discussion.

LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LOS ACTORES SOCIALES DEL REFERÉNDUM EN LA PRENSA ESCRITA: LA NACIÓN Y DIARIO EXTRA

The article analyses how La Nacion and Diario Extra characterized political actors who participated in collective actions against and in favor of Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The article shows how in the moment in which the NO movement had an important growth, when the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) officially announced the referendum, Diario Extra and La Nacion published few collective actions related to CAFTA.

CAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS REDUCE ECONOMIC VULNERABILITY?

AbstractFree trade agreements between countries at different ends of the development spectrum have become increasingly common over the past decade. The impact that this type of arrangement has on trade flows has been widely modelled; however, the extent to which it can be expected to affect economic vulnerability is an aspect that has largely been overlooked. Yet as the economic distance between negotiating partners widens, the likelihood that changes in trade flows will affect the economic structure of the less developed partner increase. This paper explores the components of two prominent highly asymmetric negotiations – the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement and the European Union – Caribbean Forum Economic Partnership Agreement – to assess the channels through which the resulting organisation of trade may impact the vulnerability profile of the developing country partners. We find that these FTAs have the potential to address economic vulnerability in the developing country partners in ways that would not be possible in their absence.

Raw hides: Hegemony and cattle in Guatemala’s northern lowlands

As a microcosm of the global livestock-climate problem, this tale of two hegemonies explores how and why two critical constituencies—development planners and conservation professionals—have failed to see the “raw hides” of cattle’s impact on the Maya Biosphere Reserve in northern Guatemala. Based on ethnographic research carried out between 1993 and 2007, this paper seeks to explain the idealization, persistence, and normalization of cattle as a land use in Petén from the colonial period to the present. Framed with a Gramscian analysis of the critical role of organic intellectuals in catalyzing social change, I explore the mental feedback loops reinforcing other social and environmental causes of land degradation in this region. After presenting data on the historical expansion of cattle into the Guatemalan lowlands through government colonization programs, I describe how multilateral lending agencies like the World Bank continue to corral development plans in the region. The next part of the paper explores the complex and ambiguous relations between conservation professionals and the ranching sector. I then conclude with a discussion of how global trade and infrastructure projects such as the Puebla to Panama Plan and the Central America Free Trade Agreement will further mask the hegemonic hides of cattle.

The Dominican Republic and Central America Free Trade Agreement with the USA: some concerns

This article examines the role of free-trade agreements that integrate profoundly asymmetrical economies in simultaneously benefiting the more powerful nation and exacerbating inequalities within and between the countries involved. The latest in a series of such agreements in the Americas, the Dominican Republic and Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR–CAFTA), opens up the economies of these small nations to US investment and exports, as multinational companies are able to take advantage of lower production costs and weak labour legislation. In the global economy, South–South trade agreements offer a far better alternative for countries with weak institutions and little economic or political leverage.

A Trade Agreement's Impact On Access To Generic Drugs

Millions of people lack access to affordable medicines. The intellectual property rules in the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) provide pharmaceutical companies with monopoly protections that allow them to market some drugs without competition by less costly generics. We examined availability of certain drugs in Guatemala and found that CAFTA intellectual property rules reduced access to some generic drugs already on the market and delayed new entry of other generics. Some drugs protected from competition in Guatemala will become open for generic competition in the United States before generic versions will be legally available in Guatemala.

The Concept of Appeal in International Dispute Settlement*

The WTO Appellate Body represents an innovation in international law in that an inter- national adjudication authority now operates as a fi nal instance to hear appeals arising from international arbitral (panel) procedures. It is thereby strongly emulating domes- tic appellate courts without, however, possessing the characteristics that make appellate courts the institutions of justice that they are. Following this trend in a cutting-edge fash- ion are several other inter-governmental arrangements that had been either concluded (Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Olivos Protocol in the Southern Common Market (Mercosur)) or proposed (the US Congresses ' 2002 Trade Promotion Authority Act, the ICSID Discussion Paper of 22 October 2004, the third draft Free Trade Area for the Americas). They embrace the concept of a permanent international instance for appeal from arbitral awards, particularly regarding investment agreements including also disputes arising between the state (public) and the individual legal person (private).

The Impact of Free Trade Agreements on Information Technology Based Business

This report considers the Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) and its impact on Information Technology (IT) based businesses. The report summarises the factual background to, and contents of, the agreement, and then reviews those parts of the agreement (or omissions from the agreement) that are relevant to the IT field. IT is of interest both because of its potential importance as a contributor to business (and social) growth, but also because of the lesser international roles accorded to it in comparison with its sister, intellectual property (IP). The IT-related provisions of DR-CAFTA reflect international IT (and IP) controversies. But DR-CAFTA also raises questions of the place of agreements between states, their legal validity and their impact upon international relationships and global development. The primary objective of this project was to explore the extent to which DR-CAFTA impacts upon IT based businesses; the implications of this; to assess how much these issues, and associated economic and legal questions, had been addressed; and to lay the foundations for further legal and interdisciplinary work. We have not, at this stage, explored all the issues covered and not covered in DR-CAFTA, and arising in respect of other agreements of this nature. Rather, we have sought to introduce the issues, provide preliminary comment, and provide a list of resources for further study. We hope that this will be helpful to those coming to the project from a variety of backgrounds, including different legal specialities. We have concluded that there are important issues to be developed regarding all free trade agreements and IT. These issues are highlighted in the following sections. In terms of immediate further work, we propose investigating the present and future impact of UDRP provisions in DR-CAFTA countries, and liability of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). We believe that these can raise important questions combining IT, e-commerce, IP, trade, human rights and competition issues; both for DR-CAFTA countries and those contemplating their own agreements. We also consider that there is a need for international and interdisciplinary collaboration for this work to be done, including through empirical research with ISPs and domain name owners. We propose holding an international meeting of experts. As a preliminary step, we are also publishing this report in Spanish. Progress has been shared on the project blog, throughout, and we have been delighted with the interest expressed from a variety of corners. We anticipate this report being transformed into a wiki and for further contributions to be developed via web-based. We hope to maintain the project's momentum through the wiki, and details of this will be posted on the blog. This project was one of the final activities of Phase 1 of the AHRC Research Centre for Studies in Intellectual Property and Technology Law at the University of Edinburgh (AHRC Research Centre). We are grateful to the AHRC for their support, and look forward to pursuing parts of this work in Phase 2.

Pregnancy Discrimination in Latin America: The Exclusion of “Employment Discrimination” from the Definition of “Labor Laws” in the Central American Free Trade Agreement

Regional trading blocs and bilateral trade agreements have become increasingly important within the western hemisphere. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement, and the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) have all been passed in the last fifteen years. This Article will focus principally on the provisions in NAFTA and CAFTA. (1) Additionally, with the Andean Trade Preference Act set to expire in 2006, the United States initiated negotiations with three Andean countries in May 2004: Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) signed the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement in April 2006, concluded negotiations with Colombia in February 2006, and is participating in ongoing discussions with Ecuador. (2) Furthermore, the Administration announced in 2003 that it intends to launch negotiations for a separate agreement with Panama, and the Senate recently approved a resolution of advice and consent for a United States-Uruguay Bilateral Investment Treaty in September 2006. (3) All of these bilateral and regional agreements represent a building block (4) in the attempt to secure a Free Trade Area of the Americas despite its current dim prospects. (5) Free Trade Areas/Agreements (FTAs) are cross-border arrangements in which the trade barriers--both tariff and non-tariff barriers--among participating nations are reduced, sector-by-sector over time, and often eventually abolished. Unlike a customs union or a common market, each member country of the FTA remains free to determine its own external trade barrier against non-FTA members. For businesses operating within the FTA, the market expands because consumers in member states can purchase their products for a lower price than before the FTA was established, and usually also at a lower price than goods originating outside of the member countries. (6) At the same time, businesses are subjected to increased competition. While rights provisions are now standard in American FTAs, (7) their incorporation has not been without controversy. The movement to incorporate rights into FTAs is driven by a number of interests, including interests in the United States, international rights movements, and human rights activism. The incorporation of rights in FTAs, however, is often resisted on two main grounds: (1) as an attempt to lower the less-developed countries' comparative advantage of lower wages, and/or (2) as an infringement on the less-developed countries' sovereignty. (8) The integration of trade and has been incremental. For example, the original NAFTA agreement did not include protections; instead, the agreement was negotiated separately from, and subsequent to, the passage of NAFTA. (9) More recently, CAFTA explicitly incorporated rights into the core text, indicating acceptance of the idea that rights and trade should be addressed simultaneously. When one compares the two agreements, however, the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) used an eleven-part definition of labor laws that included elimination of ..., (10) while CAFTA reduced the definition to five rights, and excluded employment discrimination from its definition of law. (11) In relation to protections, pregnancy is an issue of growing importance in U.S.-Latin America FTAs. Pregnancy is considered a form of sex discrimination, as it is based on a condition unique to women. (12) This issue first emerged in the NAFTA context following the publication of a 1996 Human Rights Watch report that exposed pervasive pregnancy in maquiladoras in Mexico. (13) In 2004, Human Rights Watch released a report confirming that pregnancy-based was pervasive in the Dominican Republic's free trade zone. (14) Women in both of these countries were, and continue to be, routinely required to undergo pregnancy tests or answer intrusive questions regarding their possible pregnant status as a condition of being hired or maintaining employment. …

"Sueños de un callejero": The University, the CASA, and the Streets of Salvadoran Transmigrant Communities in the Langley Park Area

This article examines the impact of Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and recent hemispheric economic policies on the production of culture in the Langley Park area of Maryland. After ou...

U.S. Congress Approves Central America Free Trade Agreement

U.S. Congress Approves Central America Free Trade Agreement

Corporate responsibility and the US–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA): Are they compatible?

The global garment-manufacturing industry will confront significant changes from 2005, when the system of quotas established under the Multi-Fibre Arrangement comes to an end. These changes pose serious threats to jobs in the Central American assembly plants, or maquila industry. One possibility, however, is that ‘politically correct’ consumption could provide a niche market for firms that are committed to corporate social responsibility and the respect for human rights, and that this might even be a way to improve working conditions in the region. In this sense, notwithstanding the grave risks it represents for the very poorest, the market could serve to bring about changes favourable to working people.

How might CAFTA change macroeconomic fluctuations in Central America?: Lessons from NAFTA

This paper examines the potential impact of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) on macroeconomic fluctuations in Central America in light of Mexico's NAFTA experience. CAFTA and NAFTA share a number of common characteristics as both agreements envisage comprehensive tariff reductions, cover a broad spectrum of sectors, and include provisions about settlement of disputes. NAFTA helped spur a dramatic increase in trade and financial flows between the member countries and was associated with significant changes in the Mexican business cycles. The findings in this paper suggest that CAFTA could also result in similar effects. In particular, CAFTA could boost trade and financial flows between the United States and the Central American countries. The agreement also could play a major role in reducing the volatility of business cycle fluctuations in the region and could lead to an increase in the degree of co-movement of business cycles in the Central American economies and the United States.