Integrating Environmental Protection and North American Free Trade

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) represents significant developments in both regional trade liberalisation and environmental protection. Pre-agreement negotiations offered non-government organisations (NGOs) considerable opportunity to reduce areas of potential conflict between these two objectives. The Agreement deals with both boundary problems and common standards without dictating uniformity of standards or impinging greatly on each nation's sovereign control over matters within its own borders. The introduction of this practical strategy into the international trade arena could be the most significant feature of the NAFTA in shaping future regional and international trade negotiations.