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( North American Free Trade Agreement)
Accord de libre-échange nord-américain (French)
Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (Spanish) The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (Spanish Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte [TLCAN], French Accord de libre-échange nord-américain [ALENA]) is a trilateral trade bloc in North America created by the governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The agreements were signed in December 8, 1993 by the leaders of the three countries — Brian Mulroney of Canada, Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico, and Bill Clinton of the United States [1] when Jean Chrétien was in office in Canada. In terms of combined purchasing power parity GDP of its members, as of 2007[update] the trade bloc is the largest in the world and second largest by nominal GDP comparison. It also is one of the most powerful, wide-reaching treaties in the world. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has two supplements, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and the North American Agreement on Labo(u)r Cooperation (NAALC). The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) was a response to environmentalists' concerns that the United States would lower its standards if the three countries did not achieve consistent environmental regulation. The NAAEC only obligates parties to enforce their own environmental laws. The NAAEC, in an endeavour to be more than a set of environmental regulations, established the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a mechanism for addressing trade and environmental issues, the North American Development Bank (NADBank) for assisting and financing investments in pollution reduction, and the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission (BECC). The NADBank and the BECC have provided economic benefits to Mexico by financing 36 projects, mostly in the water sector.[2]
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