The top environmental officials of Mexico, the United States and Canada are due to discuss the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement’s controversial Chapter 11 at their next meeting. Chapter 11 has allowed investors from one Nafta country to sue authorities in another over potential profit losses due to adverse government decisions. Critics claim it prevents Nafta nations from legislating freely to protect public health and the environment and insist its tribunals, which operate behind closed doors, are undemocratic. Now, the issue has been raised by the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) of Nafta’s tri-national Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), which is based in Montreal. The 15-member committee has formally requested that the archives of its previous meetings with CEC officials... [Log in to read more]
