The enforceability of the trade and sustainable development chapters of the European Union's free trade agreements.

Since 2011, the European Union's (EU) free trade agreements (FTAs) include a Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter which provides for environmental and labour commitments. Nevertheless, the ratification and implementation of these commitments remain insufficient. It is therefore essential to analyse whether the EU has become more ambitious in enforcing the TSD chapter. To analyse the chapter's enforceability, the EU's FTAs with South Korea, Canada and Japan have been compared. The comparative analysis was based on three elements: the labour and environmental commitments, institutional mechanisms and the enforcement procedure. Concerning the latter, the ongoing EU-Korea dispute settlement case over workers' rights in South Korea is the leading example. Until the Commission reveals more assertive enforcement plans, it can be said that the EU has not become more ambitious in enforcing its TSD chapter. Since no major changes were detected in the comparative analysis, several interviewees proposed enforcement mechanisms.

Assessing the impact of trade openness on CO2 emissions: Evidence from China-Japan-ROK FTA countries.

After signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade agreement, China became a proposed signatory to another important trilateral free-trade agreement - the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement. In the context of the agreement, we explore the potential effect and internal influencing mechanism of trade openness on this region's carbon emissions from 1970 to 2019. We further detect the impact of the agreement by splitting the full sample into two subsamples, one subperiod before the agreement was signed and the other after it was signed. Then we separately analyze the impacts of imports and exports on carbon emissions and find that: (i) Trade openness positively affects the greenhouse effect, and the signing of the agreement can reduce the promotion effect of trade openness on carbon emissions; (ii) imports contribute to increased carbon emissions while exports significantly reduce carbon emissions in a country; and (iii) expanding trade openness not only directly affects carbon emissions directly, but also has indirect impacts by affecting three main effects (i.e., scale effect, technical effect, and structure effect). Finally, several important policy suggestions are provided to mitigate the greenhouse effect and promote high-quality trade openness.

Social segregation of ecosystem services delivery in the San Antonio region, Texas, through 2050.

Inequality in access to ecosystem services is inextricably linked with environmental justice in socially heterogeneous urban settings. Historically, San Antonio has been the gateway to Mexico and is strategically located along the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) corridor. It is also characterized by some of the most distinct residential segregation among U.S. cities. However, little is understood about the ways in which historically institutionalized residential segregation initiated by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) and NAFTA have affected socio-ecological outcomes. Here, this paper presents a novel empirical study of racial residential segregation. The study utilizes quantitative and spatially explicit estimates of regulating ecosystem services and biodiversity, and links the supply of ecosystem services to the distribution of human well-being within a heterogeneous social-ecological system. Specifically, the paper employed 1930s HOLC redlining maps and applied the ceteris paribus approach for racial concentrations to reflect a historical legacy and path dependence by institutional inertia. The results point to the social-ecological divide in that Hispanic and African American minorities derive fewer ecosystem benefits and face greater health risks and socio-economic disadvantages (p < 0.01). Notably, NAFTA corridor-related health risks are the most significant for the Hispanic population (p < 0.01). These patterns are likely to persist and may be amplified by 2050 (adjusted R2 = 0.646). The findings highlight that institutional transformations are essential for the greater social-ecological equity in the San Antonio region under NAFTA and, potentially, new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Additionally, by assessing the EJ implications of spatially heterogeneous distribution of ecosystem services supply, the paper provides methodology that enhances science-based planning and better environmental decision-making to avoid or mitigate social-ecological divides in rapidly urbanizing regions both in the U.S. and around the world.

Spatial and temporal changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services in the San Antonio River Basin, Texas, from 1984 to 2010.

A fundamental premise of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is that biodiversity and ecosystem services are key determinants of long-term sustainability of social-ecological systems. With a continuing decline in local and global biodiversity and ecosystem services, it is crucial to understand how biodiversity and various ecosystem services interact and how land change may modify these interactions over time. However, few studies have been conducted to quantify these relationships. In this study, we present the first empirical comparative results to analyze how spatial associations between biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) changed at multiple scales between 1984 and 2010 in the rapidly urbanizing San Antonio River Basin (SARB), Texas, USA. We found statistically significant positive spatial associations among biodiversity, carbon storage, and sediment retention both in the entire SARB and the urban watersheds in Bexar County. Overall, biodiversity and carbon storage declined across the SARB, while sediment retention remained relatively stable. Moreover, the rates of biodiversity loss and carbon storage degradation were negatively related to the urban expansion and have accelerated since the inception of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. During the pre- and post-NAFTA periods (1984-1995 and 1995-2010, respectively) the rates of biodiversity loss increased from 0.7% to 0.9%, and the rates of carbon-storage loss increased from 0.1% to 1.4% per annum in the urban watersheds. Our hotspot analyses indicate that the upstream watersheds in the Basin, which supply water to the critically important Edwards Aquifer, should be targeted for priority conservation to mitigate the adverse impacts of land change on BES. Our results suggest the strong need for green infrastructure policies that integrate biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of multiple ecosystem services to address the environmentally deleterious impacts of the extensive land change under the NAFTA and to ensure the long-term social-ecological sustainability of the rapidly urbanizing SARB.

The vegetative compatibility group to which the US biocontrol agent Aspergillus flavus AF36 belongs is also endemic to Mexico.

AIMS: To assess frequencies of the Aspergillus flavus atoxigenic vegetative compatibility group (VCG) YV36, to which the biocontrol agent AF36 belongs, in maize-growing regions of Mexico. METHODS AND RESULTS: Over 3500 A. flavus isolates recovered from maize agroecosystems in four states of Mexico during 2005 through 2008 were subjected to vegetative compatibility analyses based on nitrate nonutilizing mutants. Results revealed that 59 (1·6%) isolates belong to VCG YV36. All 59 isolates had the MAT1-2 idiomorph at the mating-type locus and the single nucleotide polymorphism in the polyketide synthase gene that confers atoxigenicity. Additional degradation of the aflatoxin gene cluster was detected in three isolates. Microsatellite loci analyses revealed low levels of genetic diversity and no linkage disequilibrium within VCG YV36. CONCLUSIONS: The VCG to which the biocontrol agent AF36 belongs, YV36, is also native to Mexico. The North American Free Trade Agreement should facilitate adoption of AF36 for use by Mexico in aflatoxin prevention programs. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: An USEPA registered biocontrol agent effective at preventing aflatoxin contamination of crops in the US, is also native to Mexico. This should facilitate the path to registration of AF36 as the first biopesticide for aflatoxin mitigation of maize in Mexico. Economic and health benefits to the population of Mexico should result once aflatoxin mitigation programs based on AF36 applications are implemented.

Generic medicines: issues and relevance for global health.

Generic medicine is a pharmaceutical product which is bioequivalent to the innovator product in terms of dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality, safety, performance characteristics, and intended use. Generic medicines are a cornerstone for providing affordable medicines to patients. The major generic markets in the world include United States of America followed by European Union, Canada, Japan, and Australia. The major suppliers of generic medicines China and India are showing tremendous growth in the generic medicine sector. There are many legal and regulatory issues along with quality concerns associated with the use of the generic products. Lately, bilateral international agreements called free trade agreements, delaying tactics by originator companies like strategic patenting and litigations on generic manufacturers, have been a major setback for the generic medicine industry. These issues need to be addressed to optimize the use of generic medicines. The sustainability of generic medicine sector is crucial for improving access to essential medicines for the worldwide.

Mutual recognition policy of medical license for medical professionals under Free Trade Agreement

Discussion on movement of medical personnel arises as a main issue when contracting free trade agreement between two countries. It is sensitive issue for both developed and developing country in terms of their own interest; developed country requires movement of medical personnel in order to solve aging population and manpower shortage problems in certain medical fields, whereas developing countries approache this issue with the purpose of exporting health professionals and improving the quality of medical care. We have not settled mutual recognition for medical professional's license, including that of medical doctors in Free Trade Agreement. However, as the opening of service sector expands is gradually, labor exchange of medical professionals at international level is expected to be more active in the future. Therefore, preparing quality of license at developed countries' standards and post management system is urgently required. Also, we have to strive for modification of law as well as global-level qualification to assist domestic professionals to enter overseas market.

Redefining Physicians Role in Free -Trade Era-Risks and Opportunities

As we move forward at a greater speed into global economic world, the current international health care market and our position in the market provide a wide variety of economic and political issues for our health care professionals and our government entities to consider. To optimize medical care to denizens of Korea and to prepare to compete in global medical marketplace, Korean medical practitioners and institutions will face evolving, more refined, and more specific reviews of practice quality and practioner competence. These efforts will focus on reducing medical errors, improving communication with patients and medical providers, and enhancing clinical outcomes