Sides forming over Central American free-trade agreement, CAFTA hearings to Begin

Sun-Sentinel ^ | 01.27.05 | Shawna Gamache

[Coleus]

Milton Friedman said of Nafta: Nafta is not free trade, it is "managed" trade. >>

I like their foundation. Is there information about NAFTA on his website? I thought they were mostly into education issues.

[JustAnotherSavage]

I've never looked at the website. I got his quote from a Cspan airing 10 years ago about a discussion on NAFTA.

[Coleus]

1000+ page documents are not free trade. >>



Right on

[1rudeboy]

Milton Friedman said of Nafta: Nafta is not free trade, it is "managed" trade.

Do you have a source for this, or an idea of context? Just curious.

[1rudeboy]

We have had our food security impaired because under NAFTA rejection of low standard or contaminated produce can be considered a trade violation, where before NAFTA it was only a health and safety issue.

Name one example of this. One.

[1rudeboy]

Here's a portion of the relevant NAFTA text:

Article 904: Basic Rights and Obligations

Right to Take Standards-Related Measures

1. Each Party may, in accordance with this Agreement, adopt, maintain and apply standards-related measures, including those relating to safety, the protection of human, animal and plant life and health, the environment, and consumers, and measures to ensure their enforcement or implementation. Such measures include those to prohibit the importation of a good of another Party or the provision of a service by a service provider of another Party that fails to comply with the applicable requirements of such measures or to complete its approval procedures.

Right to Establish Level of Protection

2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, each Party may, in pursuing its legitimate objectives of safety or the protection of human, animal or plant life or health, the environment, or consumers, establish the levels of protection that it considers appropriate in accordance with Article 907(3) [arbitrary distinctions prohibited].