Of Trade and Beer: NAFTA, The Comeau Case and Regulatory Cooperation

This article is adapted from the 11th Canada-United States Law Institute Distinguished Lecture given by Professor Maureen Irish at Western University Faculty of Law on October 2, 2017. The Supreme Court of Canada is hearing a case that deals with the nature of the internal market in Canada. This paper discusses trade law relating to regulatory cooperation in NAFTA, the European Union, the Canadian Free Trade Agreement and other recent Canadian international initiatives. It examines the ways in which these treaties and other arrangements respond to regulatory differences between importing and exporting jurisdictions.

The challenge of how to deal with cross-border commerce involves a balance between territorial control and the practical need to cooperate