Intellectual Property Software protection, rights enforcement, and tri-national committee to be addressed during meetings in Mexico Christina Moeckel, coordinator of the Intellectual Property Project, and Alejandro Pérez Serrano, an LL.M. student involved in the project, will be traveling to Mexico City on November 28-30 to initiate discussions with Mexican intellectual property experts on software protection, enforcement of intellectual property rights and the establishment of a tri-national committee. The series of meetings seeks to generate support and informative input for Moeckel's disparities study on the protection of computer programs in the NAFTA countries. The Intellectual Property Project encompasses all intellectual property rights such as copyright, patent, trademarks and trade secrets, with an emphasis on the protection and enforcement of software in Mexico. To date, the protection and enforcement of copyrights in computer software in Mexico do not comply with NAFTA requirements. According to the Business Software Alliance, piracy in software last year amounted to U.S. $162.4 million in losses for U.S. companies alone. The NLCIFT hopes to involve Mexican government officials and legal experts in the work of the tri-national committee to address this problem. ***

Environment

Waste Management Study Examined at HAZNA Conference On November 13-15, 1995, the newly formed Committee for Responsible Hazardous Waste Management in North America (HAZNA) held its first plenary session at the ITESM campus in Monterrey, Mexico. Sponsored by the National Law Center and the Legal Center for Inter-American Trade and Commerce (JURICI), the meeting brought together environmental waste management experts who examined research conducted over the past nine months by both organizations. Entitled "Disparities between Law and Practice in the Management of Hazardous Waste in North America," the study analyzes critical components of hazardous waste management activities, including transportation, insurance, importation and exportation, customs, financing, regulatory permits, civil liability and the role of maquiladoras. The two and one-half day meeting included multiple presentations on specific transnational waste issues. Engineer Enrique Salvador Ortiz Espinoza, Director of Emergency Planning and Environmental Damages at Procuraduría Federal para la Protección al Ambiente (PROFEPA), discussed the present system of environmental enforcement in Mexico; Engineer Luis Wolf, Director of Border Affairs at Instituto Nacional de Ecología (INE), gave an overview of Mexican hazardous waste regulations; Joseph Schultes of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region VI, provided an overview of bi-national waste tracking mechanisms; and Joshua Sarnoff, Environmental Law Professor at the University of Arizona reviewed current U.S. hazardous waste regulations. The conference broke into subcommittee workshops to examine specific waste management issues and to discuss mechanisms by which NAFTA influences hazardous waste generation, transport, treatment and storage. A keynote speaker during the meeting, Dr. Boris Kozolchyk remarked on the similarities between the emerging issues he observed among the conference working groups and those of ongoing Law Center projects, namely, a lack of regulatory uniformity between Mexico and the U.S. He emphasized the need for continued cooperation between researchers, individuals in the private sector and government officials in both countries so that bi-national hazardous waste problems can be resolved safely and cost-effectively on the basis of the best practice approach. The conference concluded with approval for a subsequent meeting tentatively scheduled for March 1996 in Tucson. JURICI will receive comments on the disparity study from meeting participants in the coming weeks. It is expected that a final study draft will be available in February 1996. A separate compilation of comments from conference attendees will be compiled by JURICI for presentation to the Mexican Congress in December 1995. It is hoped that these comments will act as a guide for hazardous waste policy decisions during the next Mexican congressional session. ***

Transportation Project Update

Gary Doyle, Transportation Project Coordinator, and Lic. Gerardo Olea attended the National Industrial Transportation League Annual Meeting and Transcom ’95 in Kansas City. Mr. Doyle was a moderator and panelist for “Transborder Issues Facing North American Shippers.” The panel discussed the problems associated with the cross-border transportation of goods, harmonization efforts underway at NLCIFT and other initiatives to ease border crossings. Mr. Doyle spoke on the same topic on November 30 at the AIM USA Annual Meeting. AIM is an association of the Automated Identification Manufacturers, producers of bar code readers and similar devices. Much of the technology developed by these companies has been used by the transportation industry and is currently being evaluated for use in intelligent transportation systems. NLCIFT is planning to release the second edition of “Disparities in the Law and Practice of Surface Transportation of Goods Between the United States and Mexico” in late winter of 1996. The delay in the release of this publication is due to the extensive change in transportation law that is to occur in the coming months. ***

December 18: an Anti-Climactic Day for Transportation

When NAFTA passed in 1993, many believed surface transportation in North America would dramatically change. December 18, 1995, should be a milestone in North American transportation. For the first time, motor carriers from the United States and Canada will be permitted to operate legally within Mexico beyond the border zone. U.S. and Canadian carrier operations will be limited to the Mexican border states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León and Coahuila. Mexican motor carriers will also be permitted to operate in the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. However, this “milestone” will probably have little effect on the transport of goods. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and the Secretaría de Comunicaciónes y Transportes have only recently made public their regulations and rules for issuing permits to foreign carriers within the respective countries. Both agencies will begin accepting the applications on December 18, so there will be no carriers crossing the border on that date. There are also a number of other problems awaiting the authorities and carriers. For example, with the imminent sunset of the ICC, how will the USDOT handle the entry regulations for Mexican carriers? U.S. carriers have little interest in sending their equipment into Mexico. Mexican carriers have little interest in dealing with the complex regulations and taxes present in the United States. Canadian carriers have had access to the Mexican border zone for over a year and very few have taken advantage of the opportunity. Not until January 1, 2000, the next NAFTA transportation milestone allowing carriers full access to all three countries, will carriers be prepared to operate throughout the NAFTA region. In the meantime, carriers will slowly test their ability to service customers across the border and continue to use crossborder partners to complete international shipments. Gary Doyle, Esq., Transportation Project Coordinator ***

New Additions to the InterAmSM Database

The following list includes some of the recent additions to the InterAmSM database: •Secretaría de Hacienda Announces Tax Break •Telephone Concessionaires Ordered to Report by SCT •Reserve Rules Established for Insurers •Mexico's Energy Sector Begins Changes •Environmental Impact Statements Simplified for Certain Companies •Bylaws of the Secretariat of Energy and the Department of the Interior Amended •Tax and Administrative Breaks Given to Users of National Waters •Income Abroad Subject to Income Tax Collection by Sec. de Hacienda •Mexico Signs Several Treaties •Countervailing Duty Imposed on Seamless Steel; Secofi Says It Will Investigate Taiwan •Rules on Imports from Central and South America Fixed by Secofi

Following is a list of treaties in the InterAmSM database:

•Addition to the Treaty on European Union signed at Maastricht on the February 7, 1992 •GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) •Tratado de Libre Comercio entre los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, la República de Colombia y la República de Venezuela •Tratado de Libre Comercio entre los Estados Unidos Mexicanos y la República de Bolivia •Tratado de Libre Comercio entre los Estados Unidos Mexicanos y la República de Costa Rica •MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market Agreement) •CARICOM: Caribbean Community and Common Market •Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works •Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property •Universal Copyright Convention as Revised at Paris •Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phonograms •Statute of the International Court of Justice. •United Nations Convention on contracts for the international sale of goods [1980] •Decreto de Promulgación de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas de la Lucha contra la Desertificación en los Países Afectados por Sequía Grave o Desertificación •Charter of the United Nations •Universal Declaration of Human Rights •Decreto de Promulgación del Protocolo de 1988 Relativo al Convenio Internacional para la Seguridad de la Vida Humana en el Mar, 1974. •Decreto de Promulgación del Protocolo de 1988 Relativo al Convenio Internacional sobre Líneas de Carga, 1966. •Decreto de Promulgación de la Convención por la que se Suprime el Requisito de Legalización Documentos Extranjeros •Camere1: General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration between Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, part of five: introduction

For subscription information, please call George Arden at 1-800-LAW-FIND.

New subscribers to the National Law Center's InterAmSM database include : •Transport Canada (Federal), Ottawa, Canada •World Bank, Washington DC •Universidad de las Americas AC, Mexico DF, Mexico •NYU Law School Library, New York, NY •Northern Telecom, Monterrey, Mexico •Skadden Arps, Washington DC ***

Power of Attorney Forms now Available

The principle drafter was Lic. Octavio Rivera Farber, a member of the Mexican notariat, aided by Adalberto Ortega Solis, president of the Mexican Notarial Association, Claude Perrault of the Quebec Association of Notaries, Leslie McCarthy and Ted Barassi. The project was coordinated by Ana Torriente, NLCIFT Assistant Director. A copy of the forms – in English, Spanish and French – and a December 14 L.A. County Bar Association Dr. Boris Kozolchyk will give a presentation on "Making Free Trade Work in the Americas" at the meeting of the International Section of L.A. County Bar Association. Contact: Jo Honrado, (213) 624-2828.George Arden at (800) 529-3463. ***

Media Coverage

• "Liability Woes, Flood of Rules Plague Cross-Border Shippers Under NAFTA," by Gregory S. Johnson, The Journal of Commerce, November 15, 1995, p2B. • "Mexico Legal Info," U.S./Latin Trade, November 1995, p110. •"Internet Site on Mexico," LDC Report /Latin American Markets, October 16, 1995, Vol.8; No.39; p12. •"What border?" The Denver Post, October 9, 1995, pE7. • "Rezoning for Trade Law Center blocked," by Mark Ochs, The Daily Territorial, September 20, 1995, p1A.

Calendar of Events

December 14 L.A. County Bar Association Dr. Boris Kozolchyk will give a presentation on "Making Free Trade Work in the Americas" at the meeting of the International Section of L.A. County Bar Association. Contact: Jo Honrado, (213) 624-2828. December Rules of Origin The Global Training Center offers a one-day seminar on "Mexico Documentation & NAFTA Rules of Origin." Dec. 5-6 in Anaheim, CA and Greensboro, NC; Dec. 12-13 in Seattle, WA. Also Dec.12-13, the Global Training Center offers a seminar on "Export Documentation and Letters of Credit,"in Chicago, Atlanta, and Minneapolis, MN. Call (800) 860-5030. 25-27 February 1996 Symposium on Commerce The 1996 Customs/Trade/Finance Symposium of the Americas hemispheric trade will be held in Miami. Call: (305) 267-9200 or FAX: (305) 267-5155. ***

MEMBERSHIP

Renewal •Marco A. Moreno •Jerry Sonnenblick New Members •Burr-Brown •Norwest Bank Arizona, N.A. •Oscar Lizardi, De Concini, McDonald, Brammer, Yetwin & Lacy, P.C. Founding Members •Bank of America Arizona •Bank One of Arizona, N.A. •Fennemore Craig, P.C. •Grupo Mexico, S.A. de C.V. •Hughes Missile Systems Company •Lewis & Roca, L.L.P. •Molloy, Jones & Donahue, P.C. •O’Connor, Cavanagh, Anderson, Westover, Killingsworth & Beshears, P.A. •Phelps Dodge Corporation •Raven, Kirschner & Norell, P.C. •Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P. •Tucson Electric Power Company •Weyerhaeuser Company Sponsoring Members •Hinkle, Cox, Eaton, Coffield & Hensley, P.L.L.C. •Hoffman & Stephens, P.C. •Meyer, Hendricks, Victor, Ruffner & Bivens, P.L.L.C. Supporting Members •American Southwest Financial Services, Inc. •Jennings, Strouss & Salmon, P.L.C. •Robbins & Green, P.A. •Sachs Tierney, P.A. •Steel Hector & Davis Membership at the NLCIFT allows individuals and private industry representatives to become directly involved in the work of the NLCIFT by participating in committee projects, attending multinational meetings and seminars, receiving studies in advance of publication and by staying informed of ever-shifting trade law changes through the NLCIFT's publications. For membership information, please call Lisa Larkin at (520) 622-1200 or leave a message at the Center's home page http://www.natlaw.com ***