TAATC serves as the official Point of Contact with counterparts in other countries, and with the public, for the purpose of implementing the labor chapters in the United States - Chile Free Trade Agreement, the United States - Singapore Free Trade Agreement, , the United States - Morocco Free Trade Agreement, the United States - Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, the United States - CAFTA-DR Free Trade Agreement, and the United States - Australia Free Trade Agreement. TAATC will continue to function as the National Administrative Office for purposes of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, including serving as a contact point in the U.S. government for the National Administrative Offices of Canada and Mexico, and for the Secretariat of the Commission for Labor Cooperation. Additionally, TAATC coordinates the development and implementation of cooperative activities stipulated in the Agreement and provides publicly available information about U.S. labor law matters. TAATC's responsibilities also are to provide for the receipt and consideration of submissions concerning labor law matters in Canada, Mexico, Chile, Singapore and Australia.

TAATC works closely with the NAALC Secretariat of the Commission for Labor Cooperation, an international organization established by the NAALC.

TAATC Functions:

• provides information to the public on labor law matters in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
• provides information about U.S. labor law matters to the Canadian and Mexican National Administrative Offices, to the NAALC Secretariat of the Commission for Labor Cooperation, and to other institutions set up under the NAALC for analysis.;
• serves as point of contact for other government agencies, for the Mexican and Canadian NAOs, and the Secretariat.;
• receives public submissions on labor law matters in Canada and Mexico and serves as the official review agency in the United States.;
• coordinates tri-national labor cooperative activities with Canada and Mexico. A summary of current cooperative activities being carried out by the US in cooperation with Mexico and Canada include: migrant workers, occupational safety and health, workforce development, industrial relations and workers' rights.

Public Submissions

Any person may file a submission with TAATC regarding labor law matters arising in the territory of another Party under the labor provisions of the FTAs or the NAALC. TAATC endeavors to the maximum extent possible to resolve all matters through consultation and cooperation with trade agreement partners.

For more information on the processing of submissions, see the Federal Register Notices of April 7, 1994 and December 23, 2004 specifying procedural guidelines for public submissions under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), the United States - Chile Free Trade Agreement, the United States - Singapore Free Trade Agreement, and the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement. For additional details please see Status of Submissions.

Labor Cooperation Mechanisms

TAATC coordinates the Labor Cooperation Mechanisms established under the labor chapters of the free trade agreements (FTAs) as well as Cooperative Activities undertaken as part of the NAALC. Cooperative activities include exchanges of professionals and specialists, conferences to exchange information and best practices, seminars, workshops, training sessions, and outreach and education programs, collaborative projects or demonstrations, and technical exchanges and cooperation.

Under the NAALC key activities have taken place in the subject areas of migrant workers, occupational safety and health, and workforce development.

For information on cooperative activities under the NAALC see summary of Status of Cooperative Activities.

Advisory Committee

Consistent with the labor chapters of the FTAs and the NAALC the U.S. established a National Advisory Committee to obtain advice concerning the objectives of the agreements and other matters that may arise in the administration of the agreements.

The Secretary of Labor established a National Advisory Committee under the NAALC in December, 1994. The committee was reestablished with expanded responsibilities, concerning the FTA's as well as the NAALC, in March 2005. For additional details see the Charter of the Committee.

For more information on TAATC,contact us at TAATC@dol.gov or call (202) - 693 - 4900.