NOVEDADES


Published Monthly by the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade Vol. 3, No. 4 -- April 1996
© 1996 - NLCIFT ISSN 1078-2028
Director Meets with Herminio Blanco to Implement Action for
Reforming Mexico's Secured Financing Law
Boris Kozolchyk, NLCIFT President and Director, and Todd C. Nelson, a legal researcher with the National Law Center, met with Herminio Blanco, Mexico’s Secretary of Commerce and Industrial Development, on March 26, 1996 in Mexico City, to discuss ways to improve the availability of commercial credit in Mexico. Representatives of major U.S. and Mexican banks and financial institutions were invited to attend the meeting.
The meeting was the result of a continuing effort by the National Law Center to address the need for harmonization of the Mexican personal property secured transactions law and registry systems with U.S. and Canadian systems, following the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Modernization of Mexico’s antiquated secured financing law is one of the country’s most intractable economic problems and one issue Mexico has to face in order to secure increasing financial transactions with its NAFTA partners. The Mexican government, in collaboration with private sector groups, has already initiated efforts to promote the availability of commercial and consumer credit at affordable rates.
Secretary Herminio Blanco showed great interest in the recommendations presented by the Center and independent groups of Mexican scholars regarding the issue.
In the fall of 1995, the National Law Center published "Harmonization of the Secured Financing Laws of the NAFTA partners: Focus on Mexico." The 150-page study takes a comparative look at secured transactions law and practice among the NAFTA countries. To place an order, please contact George Arden at (800) 529-3463. ($95)

NLCIFT Advocates Network of Legal Centers to Foster Western Hemispheric Trade

James Smith, a legal advisor with the National Law Center, submitted a report before representatives of U.S. banks and private sector for funding the establishment of a network of legal centers, similar in their operation to that of the National Law Center. Smith outlined the proposal at the Third International Summit of Ministers of Foreign Commerce and the Business Conference of the Americas held in Cartagena, Colombia, on March 18-21, 1996.
The network would consolidate the work of the Center in unifying and harmonizing law and practice throughout the Western Hemisphere. Mr. Smith proposed that legal centers be located in Argentina, Costa Rica and Colombia. Their function will be to research ways to eliminate differences in the legislative, administrative and judicial “rules” pertaining to public and private law. In addition, the centers would train professional specialists in regional and hemispheric commercial law, and distribute legal information essential to the operation of free trade zones, customs unions and common markets. Using electronic means, such as the Internet and CD-ROMs, these centers could disseminate up-to-date information quickly to many users, as the Center does with its InterAm Database.
The trade summit focused on continued discussions on trade liberalizaton and regional integration begun at a June 1995 meeting in Denver, Colorado, which drew trade ministers fom 34 nations.

AGENDA
News pertaining to the activities of the National Law Center
•ENVIRONMENT
The Committee for Responsible Waste Management in North America (HAZNA) will meet April 10- 12 in Tucson, Arizona. One of the objectives of this meeting will be to finalize a problem statement on barriers and ways to improve management of hazardous waste along the U.S./Mexican border to be submitted to officials in both the U.S. and Mexican state and federal governemnts.
The agenda for the meeting is expected to include presentations on Mexican insurance, new U.S. customs procedures, a comparison of U.S./Mexico hazardous waste characterization, and hazardous materials emergency response issues along the the U.S./Mexico border.
Confirmed participants include Oscar Canton Zetina, Deputy with the Mexican National Congress, Roger Hartzog of the Western States Project, a NACEC sponsored environmental enforcement project, Miguel Arriaga of the Mexican Insurance Association, Cecilia Moreno of SANYO Corporation and Richard Kamp of the Border Ecology Project. The meeting will be held at the Hotel Park, 5151 N. Grant Rd.
For more information, please contact Amy Mignella, project coordinator, at (520) 622-1200.
• INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The first meeting of the tri-national committee on intellectual property protection in the NAFTA countries will be held in Tucson on May 20-21. Coordinated by NLCIFT staff attorney Christina Moeckel, this committee aims at harmonizing intellectual property laws throughout the NAFTA region. During the first day of the meeting, intellectual property experts from Mexico, Canada and the U.S. will give presentations on the legal situation in their respective countries. Working groups will be formed the next day to prepare an action plan for the coming months. Representatives from the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office (PTO) as well as their Mexican and Canadian counterparts are expected to participate to the meeting.
For more information, please contact Christina Moeckel at (520) 622-1200.
• CONSTRUCTION CONFERENCE
Dr. Boris Kozolchyk will be guest speaker at the North American Construction Conference, to be held in Tucson on April 28-30. Entitled “Team building, Innovations and Opportunities for the ‘90s',” the conference will provide a forum for construction professionals and suppliers from Mexico, Canada and the U.S. to develop cross-border networks and strategic alliances.
For more information, please contact the City of Tucson Office of Economic Development at (520) 791-5093.

Library Forum Develops Information Links

"Building Information Bridges" is the theme of the Transborder Library Forum, which is now seeking participants for its 7th annual meeting. Organizers have chosen Ciudad Juarez, in Chihuahua, Mexico, as the site of the meeting, scheduled for February 20-22, 1997.
The Transborder Library Forum is organized by the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez (UACJ), in cooperation with the New Mexico State University and University of Texas at El Paso. Its objectives are to build information bridges among NAFTA nations, discussing cooperation schemes beyond library borders and provide space for networking.
To register for the event, please contact Jesus Lau, UACJ Librarian at 52 (16) 11 31 67; Fax: 52 (16) 11 31 68; Internet: jlau@dirinfo.uacj.mx

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
APRIL 22-25, MEXICO CITY
Trade Mission for women-owned businesses in Mexico
Main interests are pollution control, security systems, telecommunications, electrical power generating or laboratory products and equipment. Contact: Deirdre Price, Expand Your Market, (505) 382-9308.
APRIL 23-26, MEXICO CITY
A/E/C System Mexico ‘96
The trade show will provide consumers and trade attendees access to high technology software and hardware geared toward the design and construction industry. For more information, please call (610) 458-7070; Fax (610) 458-7171.
MAY 2-4, HERMOSILLO, SONORA
Universidad de Sonora Congreso Trinacional
The University of Sonora is organizing a three-day conference, entitled Dos Años del Tratado de Libre Comercio de America del Norte: Un balance. The conference will offer reflections on the NAFTA agreement, two years after its application. For more information, please contact Universidad de Sonora, Posgrado en derecho, Tel./Fax 91 (62) 13-92-75/ 13-27-42.
MAY 5-25, MEXICO CITY
Trade mission The U.S. Department of Commerce is leading an education services mission to Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Contact: Brien Smith, (202) 482-5820.
MAY 9, CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND
NAFTA and the European Union
The first major conference on the impact of NAFTA and a potential Western Hemisphere Trade Agreement on the European Union. Fax inquiries to (301) 527-0661.

Mexico Supreme Court Justice Tours NLCFIT

The National Law Center hosted a visit by Olga Sánchez-Cordero de Garcia, first woman justice of the Mexican Supreme Court, on March 8,1996. During her visit in Tucson, Sánchez toured the Center and met with NLCIFT staff attorneys. Later, she addressed President Zedillo’s dissolution of Mexico’s Supreme Court and restructuring of a new federal judiciary, to an audience of around 50 academicians and students.
During her speech, Sánchez examined the changes brought to the Mexican system of constitutional protection (known as amparo) by the 1995 constitutionl amendements and commented on how these changes have given the Supreme Court the complete system of constitutional control it lacked before. “As a consequence of the new constitutional amendments, the Supreme Court has been turned into an authentic constitutional court,” she said.
Sanchez was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court by the Mexican Senate on January 26, 1995, and is at this time the only woman justice to hold this position in the new Mexican Supreme Court. Interestingly, she was also the first female notary public ever in Mexico City. Sanchez has held several teaching positions throughout her career, and is currently teaching sociology law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Media Coverage
News covering the activities of the National Law Center

• “Mexican Jurist Discusses Women’s Issues,” by Stephanie Innes, Tucson Citizen, Saturday, March 9, 1996. The article relates the visit of Mexican Supreme Court Justice Olga Sánchez-Cordero de Garcia in Tucson on March 8.
•“Cross-Border Recycling, Sham versus Legitimate,” by David Eaton, Twin Plant News, March 1996. In this article, David Eaton, an attorney with the Centero Jurídico para el Comercio Inter-Americano in Monterrey, Mexico, and a legal researcher for the National Law Center, examines the current Mexican law permitting movement of hazardous waste in Mexico and discusses the consequences of a ban on importation of recyclable waste into Mexico currently under discussion in the Congress.
•The Exporter, a monthly publication which provides services and resources for the business of exporting, has opened its columns to news provided by the Center. Every month, the publication will run articles excerpted from the InterAm Database’s weekly newsletter, Inter-American Trade and Investment Law.

InterAm Database and Inter-American Trade and Investment Law
New links related to NAFTA
The U.S-Mexico Law Institute has recently been added to the list of NAFTA-related sites on the National Law Center Home Page. Reports, articles, essays and other documents delivered during symposiums held by the U.S.-Mexico Law Institute in 1994 and 1995 are available on the site and are reprinted with permission of the U.S- Mexico Law Journal. This site can be found under the Legal Studies & Publications section. The Center Home Page can be reached on the Internet at http://www.natlaw.com.
Recent articles in the bulletin
Recent articles published in the weekly bulletin include the following titles:
Natural Resources Launches 5-year Fishing Plan. The Fisheries plan provides an overview of Mexico’s fishing industry, and addresses such issues as the condition of the nation’s fishing vessels, conservation measures and methods for improving aquaculture.
Treaties Cover Air Traffic,Drug War, Science. The Secretariat of Foreign Relations recently published details of treaties between Mexico and Austria, Panama, and the government of Barbados.
Ciudad Juarez Picked for Environment Headquarters. Ciudad Juarez has been chosen to host the headquarters of the Border Ecology Cooperation Commission.
U.S. Steelmakers Drop Appeals in Dumping Cases. U.S. Steel Group and Inland Steel Co. have dropped their appeal of an anti-dumping decision by Mexico’s Secretary of Commerce (SECOFI).
Group to Study Satellite Sale. The Secretariat of Communication and Transportation announced the creation of a restructuring committee of the Mexican satellite system.
Unicom Wins 30-Year Telecommunications License. The authorization is part of the government’s plan to offer phone concessions in accordance with Article 24 of the Federal Law of Telecommunications.
Mexico Lifts Balkan Embargo. Mexicans may resume trade with Serbia and Montenegro following suspension of trade sanctions against the nations, part of the former Yugoslavia.

Publications
The National Law Center recently released a catalogue of publications listing all publications and products available through the Center. To receive a copy of the catalogue, please contact George Arden at (800) 529-3463.
The following is a brief summary of each of the publications available:
• Making Free Trade Work in the Americas, the first volume in the series entitled Toward Seamless Borders.
•Uniform North American Powers of Attorney, powers of attorney forms designed to be used by U.S. and Canadian individuals or companies which carry out transactions in Mexico.
• Harmonization of the Secured Financing Laws of the NAFTA partners: Focus on Mexico (see page 1).
• Labor Law Enforcement in Mexico and the Role of the Federal and State Conciliation and Arbitration Boards, a report which examines the functioning of CABs and the role they played.
• Disparities between Law and Practice in the Management of Hazardous Wastes in the United States and Mexico, a study which addresses disparities between hazardous materials law and practice in the U.S., Mexico and along the shared border corridor.

The National Law Center recently released a catalogue of publications listing all publications and products available through the Center. To receive a copy of the catalogue, please contact George Arden at (800) 529-3463.

Editor:
Virginie Drujon-Kippelen
Contributing Editors: Kathleen Stanton, Yvonne Boyed
Novedades is published monthly by the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, a non-profit research and educational institution whose purpose is to facilitate trade and investment by standardizing key trade and investment documents and harmonizing trade and investment law.
To have your name added or removed from Novedades mailing list, please contact Virginie Drujon-Kippelen at the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, 111 S. Church Ave., Suite 200, Tucson, AZ 85701- 1602. Tel: (520) 622-1200; Fax (520) 622-0957; E-mail: natlaw@ccit.arizona.edu; Internet: http://www.natlaw.com.