Mexican Ambassador Says Democrats Who Visit Mexico Have Labor Doubts Dispelled
Mexico's ambassador to the U.S., Martha Barcena, told an audience that after staff and members of Congress have visited Mexico to evaluate the new NAFTA, "the feedback is that they understood much better the scope of the enormous labor reform that we're doing in Mexico." She said they then realize there isn't a need to ask for a deeper labor reform. So now the questions are turning more to monitoring and enforcement and a guarantee that the law will be implemented.
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Barcena will be accompanying another congressional delegation that departs July 18. "One of the issues there that we have to deal [with] in both countries is the issue of trust," she said earlier that day, in response to a question from International Trade Today. Barcena spoke at an event co-sponsored by Meridian International Center and CQ-Roll Call. She said that Mexican officials tell U.S. politicians that the creation of labor courts means that even if a different political party takes over in Mexico in the future, it will not have control of how union-company disputes are handled.
The new NAFTA was negotiated primarily under the previous presidency in Mexico, but between the election of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his inauguration, his government had a seat at the table. Barcena said it was AMLO, as he's known in Mexico, who approved the labor chapter in the agreement.
Labor and enforcement are two of the four sticking points Democrats in the House of Representatives have identified as barriers to ratification of the updated agreement. Another is environment. Barcena said often when she asks Democrats what specific concerns do they have about the environment in Mexico, "they really don't have an answer." Others bring up illegal logging in Peru, she said, raising her eyebrows. She said they complain the harvest is crossing Mexico. But some, she said, do have a specific complaint -- industrial pollution along the border. She said the International Boundary and Water Commission and the North American Development Bank are both tools to deal with those problems. "Let's make a list of priorities," she said, and add resources to the NAD Bank, and review progress on the projects every year or two.
Last is biologics, an area where the U.S. trade representative convinced Canada and Mexico to extend monopoly rights for biologic drugs to 10 years. Barcena said she could not talk about intellectual property, as it is so complicated that she leaves it to the experts. Democrats insist this provision must be changed for them to support the pact.
Laura Dachner, director of policy and government relations for Merck in Latin America, was in the audience to hear Barcena. She told ITT after the speech, "We fought very hard for this standard, and we wouldn't want anything less than that." Dachner said biologics are very expensive to develop and test, and being shielded from competition longer than for traditional pills is not only about recovering that investment, it's also about convincing investors to continue to support pharmaceutical research so that the pipeline continues.
Dachner said that if the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is reopened to reduce the exclusivity period, Mexico is sure to demand other concessions. "It's going to be opening the Pandora's box," she said.
Barcena also talked about other trade irritants between Mexico and the U.S., although obliquely. She said that on July 17, she was at the Commerce Department to discuss issues related to antidumping cases. "In private we have very lively discussions ... it would be undiplomatic to tell you how lively they are."