Latin Business Chronicle has an article on US Presidential candidates and their views on free trade with Latin America. John Edwards, Democratic candidate, is the only one with a consistent critical stance of free trade agreements. Clinton and Obama both have mixed records, but both voted against DR-CAFTA in 2005.

It is important to point out that the US has already signed on to DR-CAFTA, as well as other Latin American FTAs (and in other regions). A Democrat in the White House in 2008 wouldn’t undo DR-CAFTA, but could put a halt on other, future, agreements.

(Via Legal Theory Blog.)

Sokol on Non-Enforceable Competition Chapters in Free Trade Agreements

D. Daniel Sokol (University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law; University of Wisconsin Law School) has posted Why is this Chapter Different from All the Others? An Examination of Why Countries Enter into Non-Enforceable Competition Policy Chapters in Free Trade Agreements on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

There has been an explosion in the past 10-15 years of bilateral and regional free trade agreements in Latin America (together preferential free trade agreements or ‘PTAs’). The purpose of PTAs is to increase trade, regulatory and investment liberalization. As trade liberalization requires more than just a reduction of tariffs, PTAs include ‘chapters’ in a number of areas of domestic regulation. These chapters that address domestic regulation, create binding commitments to liberalize domestic regulation that may impact foreign trade. Among chapters that address domestic regulation, many of the Latin American PTAs include a chapter on antitrust/competition policy. Until now, the effectiveness of such chapters has remained unanswered. This article undertakes the first empirical analysis of Latin American antitrust/competition policy chapters in PTAs.

To understand the dynamics of PTAs, this article begins with some context of Latin American development. First, the article provides an overview of the process of liberalization in Latin America. It then describes how domestic antitrust fits within Latin American liberalization. Thereafter, it describes the limits of domestic antitrust in Latin America. The article then describes competition policy chapters within Latin American PTAs. The standard practice in PTAs is to create binding commitments that have third party adjudication for potential disputes. The choice of international institutions, such as PTAs, is based on the perception of the relative strength of PTAs over purely domestic approaches. A comparison of the institutional alternatives to PTAs illustrates that this perception is not born out by the facts. This article finds that antitrust chapters within PTAs go against the standard practice of binding commitments. Competition policy chapters, unlike other chapters of the same trade agreement, lack binding dispute settlement. All Latin American PTAs lack dispute settlement for core antitrust issues of mergers, collusive agreements and monopolization within the competition policy chapters. This departure from the standard PTA practice is more striking given that other chapters in the same trade agreement have binding dispute resolution. These other chapters include some competition element to them, such as services and intellectual property. The remainder of the paper explores the dynamics of these chapters, including why PTAs treat antitrust differently from other areas of domestic regulation.

Competition, as well as IPRs, are two areas that we covered in the project. I look forward to reading this one (when I find the time…). Fellow team member Abbe Brown has considerable experience in the competition field, and I’ll be anxious to hear what she thinks about this paper.

Here is a collection of links about the ongoing situation with DR-CAFTA and Costa Rica. Costa Rica is the only country not to yet ratify the Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement.

Many Costa Ricans Still Favour CAFTA - Poll data saying that most Costa Rican would vote in favour of DR-CAFTA, though the number is still 45 percent with 23 percent undecided (which is up from 18 percent).

Catholic church worried DR-CAFTA will split the country - church leaders are calling for tolerance for those on both sides of what is a divisive issue for the country.

Costa Ricans worried about water privatisation - Via Prensa Latina, Costa Rican are worried about water becoming more of a commodity.

Costa Rica’s opposition leader wants renegotiation - Opposition leader Solis wants to renegotiate DR-CAFTA (at least Costa Rica’s part) in order to add Labour and Environmental standards.

Telecommunications, as noted in our report, is one of the central issues of DR-CAFTA. Costa Rica’s telecoms infrastructure is one of great pride for Costa Rica, and the idea of having it privatised brings up strong feelings.

Costa Rica’s citizens will be voting directly on whether or not to approve DR-CAFTA.