Introduction

This report is one aspect of the procedure for reviewing the operation and effectiveness of the NAALC, based on the experience acquired since it came into effect four years ago now, and is a duty imposed on the Council under Article 10(1)(a) of the Agreement. Its purpose is to determine to what extent the objectives set out in Article 1 of the Agreement have been achieved during the period in question. The various criteria governing this review thus naturally correspond to the wording of the various objectives. It therefore seems worth restating here in full the list of objectives in the initial Article.

The objectives of this Agreement are to:

(a) improve working conditions and living standards in each Party's territory;

(b) promote, to the maximum extent possible, the labor principles set out in Annex I;

(c) encourage cooperation to promote innovation and rising levels of productivity and quality;

(d) encourage publication and exchange of information, data development and coordination, and joint studies to enhance mutually beneficial understanding of the laws and institutions governing labor in each Party's territory;

(e) pursue cooperative labor-related activities on the basis of mutual benefit;

(f) promote compliance with and effective enforcement by each Party of its labor law; and

(g) foster transparency in the administration of labor law.

Examining how these various objectives have been met leads in turn to considering more specific questions such as the operation of institutions established under the Agreement. This step is even likely to lead to identifying any deficiencies which may exist in the Agreement itself in the pursuit of these various major objectives listed in it, at least to the extent that such weaknesses can be seen from the experience of its first four years of implementation. Conversely, trying to determine the "effectiveness" of the NAALC also invites a wider debate as to whether this document, and the institutions it created, have provided the three signatory Parties with benefits they would not have enjoyed without the Agreement. However, the fact remains that in principle the undersigned must look only at the specific content of the Agreement, as determined by the Parties themselves.

To begin with, the three undersigned would simply like to draw the attention of anyone who reads their report to the fact that their intention was to make their comments as informed as possible and to do so in complete independence. To this end they have been able to review the already sizeable body of articles in scientific journals devoted to NAALC, in accordance with the comparatively exhaustive bibliography prepared by the Secretariat. They have examined the letters and various files dealing with communications by the public and cooperative activities engaged in during the period in question. Finally, they have had the benefit either jointly or individually of various discussions with officers of the Secretariat and the three National Administrative Offices. They would like to express their appreciation for the complete cooperation provided in each case.

The first section of the report deals with general aspects of the NAALC, in particular institutional aspects. The following two sections look more specifically at the two major types of activity engaged in to date, namely cooperative activities on the one hand (Section II), and the processing of communications from the public (Section III), on the other. A final section draws together the main observations and recommendations resulting from the preceding sections (Section IV).