Fourteen years have already passed since NAFTA came into being, but it has not yet been able to fetch the desired fruits of free-trade to its member nations, particularly to Mexico. Resentments and protests are still pervasive, essentially among the farm groups in Mexico. Now with complete lifting of the residual trade restrictions from January 1, 2008 the farm lobbies, mainly the petty farms, have become more hostile as they are the ones who are hit the hardest.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is the first trade agreement between a developing country (Mexico) and two developed countries (US and Canada). It came into effect on January 1, 1994. Today, NAFTA is the largest trade bloc in the world in terms of combined GDP of its three member nations. Like the other free trade agreements, the aim of NAFTA was also to gradually eliminate the trade barriers and to enhance the economic welfare of the participating countries. But 14 years have already passed, and the NAFTA members have not yet been able to reap the benefits of being in a common trading bloc and the efficacy of the agreement is still hotly debated. Moreover, in line with the NAFTA negotiations, from January 1, 2008 the claws of NAFTA have become fully effective.

On January 1, 2008 all the residual restrictions on export of US corn, edible beans, dry milk and high fructose corn syrup to Mexico have been removed, as have barriers to Mexican exports of sugar and horticultural products. And this has unleashed a gamut of protests and widespread resentments in Mexico. When it was agreed upon in 1994 that the final restrictions on trade would be phased out on 2008, it was expected that by that time Mexico would be able to cope up with the removal of quotas and tariffs for imported beans and maize, the staple foods of majority of the population in Mexico and a part and parcel of their ancestral traditions.

North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, Mexican Constitution, National Campesino Confederation, CNC, Mergers, Stock Acquisitions, Mergers and Acquisition, M&A, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Agricultural Workers Union.