Real-Life Communication
Many years ago, the Canadian, American and Mexican governments came
up with an idea to make trade across their borders easier and more efficient.
This decision was called the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Of
course, the agreement brought in pages of new regulations and conditions that
had to be met for various products. "Basically with free trade, we just need
to know more information," says Tamra Johnson, a customs broker.
"Everything
we do involves reading and writing," says customs broker Betty Victory. "We
read about new regulations, we clear shipments, look at invoices and classify
items for tariffs."
You are training a new broker at your firm. You
must explain customs regulations to him. "There are different conditions for
softwood lumber under NAFTA," you say.
"NAVDA? Who's that?" he asks.
Oh,
boy! He has a lot to learn. You begin by giving your apprentice a brief history
of NAFTA. What you tell him is printed below. Make sure you answer any questions
he may have.
One of the main objectives of the North American
Free Trade Agreement is the elimination of tariffs between Canada, Mexico
and the United States on qualifying goods. This happened by 1998 for originating
goods from Canada and will happen for originating goods from Mexico by 2008.
It
also strives to promote fair competition, increase investment in the territories,
protect and enforce intellectual property rights, and establish a framework
for further cooperation between the countries.
Chapter five of the
agreement attempts to ensure that customs procedures will facilitate trade
flows as much as possible. The NAFTA Center was created as a free information
service offered by the Mexican and U.S. customs administrations. The center
answers questions concerning customs procedures under NAFTA. The NAFTA Center
is located in Dallas, Texas.
(Used with permission from the NAFTA Center)
Apprentice's
questions:
- When will tariffs be eliminated?
- What are the objectives of NAFTA?
- What is the NAFTA Center?