Novedades  News from the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade

Volume 5, Number 4 April 1998

ICC Approves Standby Letter of Credit Rules

On April 6, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Banking Commission approved the International Standby Practices (ISP), concluding four years of arduous negotiations. The approval will provide banking practitioners a standardized set of best practices. The ISP rules are anticipated to become effective as of January 1999.

The Center has been actively participating in the ISP negotiations through its president, Dr. Boris Kozolchyk, who is a member of the ISP Steering Committee (please see Novedades March 1998 for the last report on the ISP meeting). The following is a comment from Dr. Kozolchyk on this important decision.
 

“The International Chamber of Commerce has been the most influential forum for the drafting of international customarycommercial law in the world. Its adoption of the ISP is not only a service to the worldwide community of bankers, traders, investors and public sector entities in need of credit enhancement and certain payment; it also confirms a very healthy trend. This trend was started in the early nineties with the ICC’s adoption of UCP 500 (The Uniform Customs for Documentary Credits) and the URR 525 or rules for bank-to-bank reimbursements.  "These two sets of rules were drafted from 'the ground up', i.e., reflecting the best practices of the international banking community rather than the individual wisdom of committee chairmen or of selected committee members.

US Representatives of the ISP negotiations, Left to right: Donald Smith (Citibank), Prof. James Byrne (Inst. of Int'l Banking Law and Practice), Dan Taylor (USCIB), Dr. Boris Kozolchyk, James Barnes (Baker & McKenzie), Anthony Capasso (Chase Manhattan Bank), Alan Boodgood (JP Morgan/USCIB) and Vincent Maulella (Chase Manhattan Bank).

The ISP was also drafted from the ground up by a representative group of the most respected bankers and banking lawyers in the field of standby credits, ably chaired by Professor James Byrne and attorney James Barnes. The Center was honored and proud to contribute to this effort and looks forward to facilitating the understanding and use of the ISP throughout the Western Hemisphere.”  — Dr. Boris Kozolchyk, Center president and founder.

 

A seminar organized by the Center brought U.S. and Mexican judges together to explore new bases for judicial cooperation arising from cross-border disputes.

According to seminar organizer and Center environmental project coordinator, Amy Mignella, Esq., “International legal claims involving environmental issues will likely grow as industrial activity along the U.S.-Mexico border increases.
Judges on both sides of the border need to be familiar with environmental aspects of international claims likely to occur between parties from the two countries.”

The seminar included presentations by Mark Spalding, an attorney and international environmental policy expert, and University of Houston Law Professor Sanford Gaines, regarding the history of U.S.-Mexico environmental affairs.

Amy Mignella spoke about recent developments in international environmental law in the U.S. and between the U.S. and Mexico.

Bruce Zagaris, an international attorney at Cameron and Hornbostel, Washington. D.C., discussed the Hague Evidence Convention governing the taking of evidence across international boundaries for use in civil litigation and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

The seminar featured a three-person panel that discussed dispute resolution trends in the two legal systems. José Reyes, an attorney from Juárez, Mexico, presented scenarios occurring in Mexican litigation. Nancy Oretskin, director of the U.S.-Mexico Conflict Resolution Center in Las Cruces, N.M., and Michael Mandig, an attorney in Tucson, discussed their experiences facilitating resolution of disputes across the two cultures.

The seminar was made possible by the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, the U.S.-Mexico Conflict Resolution Center at New Mexico State University and the Institute of Public Law at the University of New Mexico.
Contact: Amy Mignella, tel: 520/623-3389; e-mail: amynafta@natlaw.com.

A working group from the Center’s securities investment project traveled to Mexico City on March 26-28 to meet with relevant regulatory institutions and practitioners.

The Center’s project intends to harmonize Mexico’s securities ownership, transfer and pledging laws with those of Revised Article Eight of the Uniform Commercial Code (see Novedades August 1997 for more information on this project).

Recent meetings in Mexico indicate a general consensus that much can be done to clarify Mexican law.

Representatives from the Instituto para el Deposito de Valores  (the Mexican Securities Depository) and the Commisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (National Banking and Securities Commission) identified areas of law needing modification, such as drafting rules that clearly allow the creation of loans secured by indirectly-held securities; defining the customer’s property interest in these types of securities; and revising insolvency rules.

David Eaton, Center maquiladora project coordinator, presented the findings of an upcoming Center study on the financing of infrastructures in Mexico during a conference held in Monterrey, Mexico.

In the study, Mr. Eaton argues that Mexico’s lack of vital infrastructures — such as roads, ports, railroads, wastewater treatment plants, low-income housing and electrical power generating facilities — impedes Mexico’s ability to compete with its other NAFTA trading partners and inhibits overall economic growth in the entire trading block. The comprehensive study includes a critical analysis of existing financing mechanisms in Mexico, an overview of the most important infrastructure projects currently underway as well as suggestions on how to deal with the problem of currency devaluation and the challenges inherent in contracting with Mexican governmental agencies. The study will be available for purchase from the Center in the summer of 1998.

On May 15, Dr. Boris Kozolchyk will address issues related to revisions to the code of practices for international standby letters of credit during the UNILAW International Conference held in Los Angeles.

On June 10, Dr. Kozolchyk will participate in a round-table discussion during a colloquium organized by El Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas of UNAM in Mexico City, in association with the International Association of Legal Science.
His talk will be entitled “Commercial Contracts at the End of the Century.”

On June 22 and 26, Dr. Kozolchyk will participate in the Border Academy Conference, a two-week interdisciplinary conference to be held in Tucson, Ariz. Dr. Kozolchyk will lecture on “The Legal Component: NAFTA’s Continuous Commercial Legal Highway.”

MAY 7, EL PASO, TX
Invitation to the CEC Joint Public Advisory Committee session
The Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is responsible for providing the CEC council with advice on all matters within the scope of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. Contact: María de la Luz García,  514/ 350-4366; fax: 514/ 350-4314; or e-mail at mgarcia@ccemtl.org.

MAY 13, WASHINGTON DC
Forecast on Latin America
Organized by the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), this conference will address infrastructure investment opportunities; joint-ventures in Latin America and the Caribbean; marketing and distribution strategies; transparency and judicial reform. Contact: AACCLA, 202/463-5485.

MAY 15, LONDON, ENGLAND
Liberalization & Protectionism in the World Trading System Conference
The first annual conference of the World Trade Law Association will focus on the changes imposed by the WTO in relation to the previous GATT regime. Contact: Cameron May Ltd,  tel:44 (0) 171 582 7567;
nickmay@cameronmay.com.

JUNE 5, TUCSON, AZ
Center’s Annual Meeting
The event will include the president’s report to members on Center activities and a meeting of the board of directors. Contact: Kevin O’Shea, 520/622-1200; kjoshea@natlaw.com.

JUNE 21-JULY 4, TUCSON , AZ
Border Academy Conference
The two-week interdisciplinary program will explore political, economic and social  issues relevant to the U.S.-Mexico border. Contact: Tom Gelsinon, 626-8213, ttg@u.arizona.edu.

Center’s Website Selected Site of the Month
The Center has been selected “Law Resource Link of the Month” by the LawResearch Newsletter, an electronic reference librarian designed for legal professionals using the Internet. LawResearch bookmarks over 100,000 legal  resources online. Its monthly online newsletter features a selected list of links to useful legal information. Visit LawResearch at www.lawresearch.com.

Following is a listing of Congressional Research Service (CRS) files available through the Center’s InterAmsm  Database. CRS is a research arm of the U.S. Congress which produces high quality reports on a wide variety of issues. For more information on CRS, please visit its Website at http://lcweb.loc.gov/crsinfo.

CRS1:  NAFTA, Mexican Trade Policy, and U.S.-Mexico Trade: A Longer Term Perspective.
CRS2:  A Free Trade Area of the Americas: Toward Integrating Regional Trade Policies.
CRS3:  Chilean Trade and Economic Reform: Implications for NAFTA Accession.
CRS3a:  An Issue Overview of the Above File.
CRS4:  Social Security: The Chilean Example.
CRS5:  Worker Rights Provisions in Fast-Track for Chile: Pros and Cons.
CRS6:  Chile: Political/Economic Situation and U.S. Relations.
CRS7:  Costa Rica: Political/Economic Conditions and Relations with the U.S.
CRS8:  Ecuador: Political/Economic Conditions and U.S. Relations, 1996.
CRS9:  NAFTA’s Effect on Canada-U.S. Trade and Investment.
CRS10: Tracking Problems at the U.S.-Mexico Border.
CRS11:  Canada-US Trade and Investment under the FTA and the NAFTA.
CRS12:  GATT: The Uruguay Round Agreement and Developing Countries
CRS13:  Caribbean Basin Interim Trade Program (“CBI Parity”): Fact Sheet.
CRS14:  Tobacco Price Support: An Overview of the Program.
 
BRAZIL
http://www.natlaw.com/brazil.htm
•Lei 9249 Altera a Legislação do Imposto de Renda das Pessoas Jurídicas, bem como da Contribuição Social sobre o Lucro Líquido, e dá outras Providências.  27-XII-1995.
•English translation of Law 9249.

COLOMBIA
http:www.natlaw.com/colombia.htm
•Código de Comercio de Colombia.  27-III-1971.

MEXICO
http://www.natlaw.com/mexico.htm
•Resolución Miscelánea para el Comercio Exterior 1998 y anexos 1-25.
•Anexos 2-18 de la Resolución Miscelánea Fiscal para 1998.
•Primera Resolución que reforma la Resolución Miscelánea Fiscal para 1998, y anexos.

VENEZUELA
http://www.natlaw.com/venez/venez.htm
•Decreto 1.768 mediante el cual se crea el Servicio Autónomo de la Propiedad Intelectual, sin personalidad jurídica, adscrito al Ministerio de Industria y Comercio.  24-IV-1997.

ARGENTINA
“Argentina’s Tax Treatment of Leasing Agreements,” by Martin Barreiro. Tax treatment applicable to a lease of assets with a purchase option clarified.
VENEZUELA
“Investment Treaties in Venezuela,” by Jaime Martinez Estevez. Investment promotion and protection treaties reduce political and exchange risks of foreign investments.
PERU
“Rules for Patent & Trademark Protection,” by Barreda Moller Abogados. A brief description of the basic requirements to register patents and trademarks in Peru.
FROM THE EDITOR
On the Banking Reform in Mexico.

 •“Corruption crackdown lags as trade grows; Panama bill threatens investigative journalists,” by Kevin Hall, The Journal of Commerce, April 16, p1A. In the context of the second Summit of the Americas, held in Santiago, Chile, Kevin Hall reports on current corruption that plagues Panamanian trade and cites the Center’s work on judicial reforms in Latin American countries.
•“New Resources,” Border/Line Health & Safety, p.4. The newsletter of the Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network reports on the Center’s publications and online InterAmSM Database.

EDITOR
Virginie Drujon-Kippelen
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Kevin O'Shea, Tim Baker

NOVEDADES is published monthly by the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, a non-profit research and educational corporation whose purpose is to facilitate trade and investment in the Western Hemisphere.

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