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Experts to Discuss Decade-Old Pact’s Failures, Achievements HOUSTON, April 23, 2004 – When the North American Free Trade Agreement was first put into place, its critics predicted disastrous results and its proponents promised unparalleled success. Now, a decade later, it’s time to appraise those bold statements. How has NAFTA fared? Several of the top legal scholars, economists, and analysts from the United States, Mexico and Canada will convene at the University of Houston to consider that thorny question during the two-day conference “NAFTA at 10: Effects on Trade, Investment and Environmental Protection.” The April 30-May 1 symposium is being presented by the North American Consortium on Legal Education (NACLE) and hosted by the UH Law Center, a NACLE member. The conference is free to NACLE members. The public is invited. There is a $25 fee. Lunch can be provided to those who register in advance by calling 713-743-2126. The conference will take place at the Krost Center at the UH Law Center. The keynote luncheon will be held at the Hilton UH Hotel. “The United States’ participation in NAFTA promises to be a major issue in the upcoming elections in November,” said Stephen Zamora, NACLE Director, UH professor of law and co-director of the International Law Institute at the UH Law Center. “Presidential and congressional candidates will debate the positive and negative effects of free trade agreements, both NAFTA and other regional agreements. At this conference, leading experts on international trade in North Americ will try to separate fact from fiction in analyzing NAFTA, in assessing the impact of NAFTA on the member countries, and in predicting the future for regional trade agreements in this hemisphere.” Gary Clyde Hufbauer, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Trade and Investment Policy of the U.S. Treasury, will be the keynote speaker. Hufbauer, who is authoring a comprehensive analysis of NAFTA, is currently a senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics. His luncheon address will discuss how NAFTA has been working so far. Other key panels during the conference include:
Conference participants include Gabriel Cavazos Villanueva, international law faculty at Monterrey Tec (Mexico); Greg Block, Distinguished Environmental Law Scholar, Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College and President, Center for Environmental Cooperation; Keith Evans, professor of law at Dalhousie University (Canada); Sanford Gaines, professor of law and co-director of the International Law Institute at the UH Law Center; David Gantz, professor of law and director of the International Trade Law Program at University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law; James Hopkins, assistant professor of law, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law; Roberto Ibanez, faculty of law, Universidad Panamericana (Mexico); Susan Karamanian, assistant dean for international and comparative legal studies, George Washington University Law School; David Lametti, faculty of law and director of the Institute of Comparative Law, McGill; Donald McRae, Hyman Soloway Professor of Buisness and Trade Law, University of Ottawa; Gustavo Alanis Ortega, President, Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (Mexican Center for Environmental Law); Raul Urteaga, Economic Counselor, Embassy of Mexico; David Vanderzwaag, Canada Research Chair in Ocean Law and Governance, Dalhousie; Gustavo Vega Canovas, professor, Center for International Studies, El Colegio de Mexico. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a 1994 accord between the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States intended to implement a free trade area that would facilitate cross-border movement of goods and services, promote conditions of fair competition in the commercial zones, increase investment opportunities in the respective territories and enforce intellectual property rights in each party’s territory. For a detailed schedule of the “NAFTA at 10” conference, visit the NACLE Web site at http://nacle.org/introduction.html. NACLE is a consortium of nine law schools in Canada, Mexico and the United States with the purpose of facilitating cross-border legal education and experience. It promotes semester-long study abroad opportunities for students at its member law schools, and facilitates cross-border classes and learning opportunities as well as workshops, conferences and academic resources for its members. About the University of Houston For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom. |
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