NAFTA Commission Discusses 4th Set of Origin Rule Changes, Telecoms, SMEs
On January 10, 2011, U.S., Mexican, and Canadian officials met in Mexico City for the North American Free Trade Agreement Free Trade Commission meeting where they discussed changes in rules of origin, telecommunication product testing, and helping small and medium sized enterprises take advantage of export opportunities.
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Three Sets of Measures Would Reduce Transaction Costs, Barriers to Trade
The Commission stated that because all tariff cuts under NAFTA have been implemented on time or ahead of schedule, it is developing new ways to increase trade, including the following measures to reduce transaction costs, facilitate access to information, and eliminate barriers to trade:
Rules of origin changes. The Working Group on Rules of Origin (WGRO) has reached preliminary agreement on a fourth set of changes to the NAFTA rules of origin. The WGRO will work to align the NAFTA rules of origin with the updated tariff schedules that will result from future amendments to the nomenclature of the Harmonized System. The WGRO will also explore implementing a fifth set of changes to the NAFTA rules of origin.
The Commission notes that goods that have a positive impact on the environment are part of the set of changes to the NAFTA rules of origin. An ad hoc working group of senior trade officials will work to identify areas for collaboration with the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, and has already provided input on changes to the rules of origin.
Export opportunity info for SMEs. The Commission discussed ways to help SMEs take advantage of the export opportunities provided by NAFTA. To address SMEs challenges in accessing information, the Commission has released a publication, “Opportunities for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises in North America”, to answer fundamental questions about starting to export. This document will be available on each country’s websites. In addition, a new source of assistance and interactive information exchange for SMEs is SBDCGlobal.com, a website for "connecting small business to the world."
Mutual recognition for telecom product testing. The countries’ reaffirmed their commitment to enter into bilateral mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) that establish procedures for accepting test results from laboratories or testing facilities in the territory of another NAFTA country for use in the conformity assessment of telecommunications equipment. This will allow a manufacturer to test a product only once and then have the test results accepted in other NAFTA countries. The Commission initialed the basic terms of this agreement and officials will continue to work on concluding the MRAs by May 2011 and will work to find additional areas for further collaboration.
Negotiating Texts to be Made Available Online, Canada to Host Next Meeting
The negotiating texts of Chapter 20 (Institutional Arrangements and Dispute Settlement Procedures) were released on January 10, 2011 and will be available through each country’s websites. Canada will host the next Commission meeting.