By Kelly Simmons, Managing Editor and Senior Writer
Commercial businesses and the National Association of Commercial Trucking denounced the United States in mid January for refusing to comply with provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA or Tratado Libre de Comercio, TLC), according to a report in La Jornada. The transportation provision would have liberalized trucking regulations between Canada, the United States and Mexico enabling Mexican truckers to haul loads to destinations in the interior of the United States and vice versa. But the United States has delayed the implementation of that portion of the Agreement, responding to pressure from Teamsters and other groups who oppose it (see related stories in December, November and September issues).
In related news, January 1, 1997 marked the date when passenger transportation companies will be able to offer their services in any of the three countries covered by the Agreement. Mexican buslines will now be able to carry passengers into the interior of the United States and vice versa. However, foreign companies will be restricted to international travel and may only offer services from a domestic city to a foreign destination and not two points within the interior of a country. Octavio de la Torre Marquez, a subdelegate of the Federal Auto Transportation division of the Communications and Transportation Department (Secretariat de Communicacion y Transporte, SCT) stated that there are a number of U.S. and Mexican passenger lines that are interested in the new provision: Golden State, Greyhound and Limousine in the U.S. and Estrella Blanca and Transportes Chihuahuenses in Mexico. De la Torre also noted that there is a beneficial market for bus transportation companies of nearly 14,000 Mexican residents in the United States, the majority of whom make a trip each year to Mexico.
The same coalition of businesses and the Cargo Association who denounced the U.S for delaying the implementation of the trucking agreement, called on Secofi to take a firm stand on the implementation of the new passenger travel provision and noted that the United States has not yet offered its outline for opening that sector.
Sources: Diario de Juarez, La Jornada in Diario de Juarez