North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

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The purpose of NAFTA is to include Mexico into the liberalization of trade regulations that already exist between the United States and Canada. The agreement entered into force on January 1, 1994.

Sources for the text of NAFTA

• 32 International Legal Materials 289 (1993) [KJ5 .I574].
• 32 International Legal Materials 1480 (1993) [KJ5 .I574] (environmental side agreement).
• 32 International Legal Materials 1499 (1993) [KJ5 .I574] (labor side agreement).
• NAFTA Secretariat Web site.
• NAFTA (Organization of American States, Foreign Trade Information System).
• NAFTA, plus the Side Agreements on Labor and Environmental Cooperation (Trade Compliance Center, U.S. Dept. of Commerce).
• NAFTA and Related Legal Instruments (Worldtradelaw.net).
• LEXIS (CANADA; NAFTA or INTLAW; NAFTA). If you are using the web version, select "International Trade" from the Source Directory.
• Westlaw (NAFTA or IEL databases).
• NAFTA, side agreements, and other documents (World Trade Online) (UCB only). To access from home, be sure to set the proxy settings on your browser. Once the proxy settings have been set, you will be prompted for your CALNET user id and passphrase.

Implementing Legislation

North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Pub. L. No. 103-182, 107 Stat.2057 (1993), 19 USC 3301 et. seq. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see "Short Title" note in the code.

Selected Sources for Commentary and Background Information on NAFTA

• Hufbauer, G., NAFTA: An Assessment (Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics, 1993) [KF6668.N62 1992 H83 1993].
• NAFTA: Law and Business Review of the Americas (Hague: Kluwer Law Int'l, 1995-) [KC11 .N33].
• North American Free Trade: Assessing the Impact (Washington, DC: Brookings Institute, 1992) [KC35 .N67].
• Understanding the North American Free Trade Agreement: Legal and Business Consequences (2nd ed., Deventer; Boston: Kluwer Law & Taxation, 1994) [KF6668.N62 1992 G45 1994].
• North American Free Trade Agreements (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1992-) [KF6668.N62 1992 N66].
• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): documents and materials including a legislative history of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Public Law 103-182 (Buffalo, N.Y.: W.S. Hein, 1994) [on order].  

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Prepared by Marci Hoffman, International and Foreign Law Librarian, UC Berkeley Law Library, January 2004.