(Jan. 17, 2017) On January 9, 2017, it was announced that authorities from the United States and Cuba had signed an agreement covering matters related to preparedness for and responses to incidents of hazardous substance pollution and oil spills in the Straits of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. (Press Release, United States and Cuba […]
Topic: Disasters, Emergency management, International affairs, Marine pollution, Oil and gas, Treaties and International Agreements
(Dec. 5, 2016) In October 2016, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) announced that Panama has acceded to the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (known as the Ballast Water Management, or BWM, Convention). Panama is the 53rd country to take that step. Panama is the largest shipping industry […]
Topic: Biodiversity, Ecology, Environment, International affairs, Marine pollution, Treaties and International Agreements/Maritime
(Dec. 2, 2016) In October 2016, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced that ten countries in Latin America and Africa will participate in a UNODC program aimed at combatting international drug trafficking. (Press Release, UNODC Launches CRIMJUST Project to Address Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Across Regions (Oct. 18, 2016), UNODC […]
Topic: Crime and law enforcement, Crime prevention, Drug trafficking, International affairs, International organizations
(Nov. 30, 2016) In October 2016, labor authorities from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras signed a memorandum of understanding providing for a labor pilot program whereby nationals of the Central American signatory countries may temporarily migrate to Mexico to work in certain industries. (Press Release, Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, Suscribe México Acuerdo […]
Topic: Agricultural practices, Employment-based immigration, International affairs, Labor
Jurisdiction: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico
(Nov. 23, 2016) In November 2016, law enforcement authorities from the United States and Mexico announced a bilateral operation that led to the arrest of a group of individuals who allegedly are part of an international criminal organization accused of smuggling women from Mexico into the United States for sex trafficking purposes. (Press Release, ICE […]
Topic: Crime and law enforcement, Human trafficking, International affairs, Sex offenses
(Nov. 17, 2016) In October 2016, agriculture authorities from the United States and Mexico announced a plan to establish a Joint Organic Compliance Committee in order to foster collaboration pertaining to trade in organic products between Mexico and the United States and to ensure the quality of such products. (Press Release, U.S. and Mexico Establish […]
Topic: Agricultural practices, Agriculture and food, International affairs, Trade agreements and negotiations
(June 17, 2016) In May 2016, Mexico’s National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (the federal authority on matters pertaining to access to public information, known as INAI) ordered the Department of Defense (known as SEDENA) to release information on the number of drones that it uses for aerial surveillance. […]
(Apr. 8, 2016) In February 2016, a bill was introduced in Mexico’s House of Representatives aimed at amending article 21, paragraph 8, of the Mexican Constitution, which governs the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Mexico. (Iniciativa que reforma el artículo 21 de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, suscrita por […]
Topic: Crime and law enforcement, International affairs, International Criminal Court
(Dec. 22, 2015) In December 2015, customs authorities from the United States and the Dominican Republic signed a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on customs security; the goal of this arrangement is to create a bilateral customs security structure aimed at streamlining and securing cargo trade between the two countries. The two offices of these programs […]
(Oct. 22, 2015) On October 15, 2015, authorities from the United States and Mexico signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the U.S.-Mexico Cargo Pre-Inspection Program, which aims to reduce inspections of shipments between the two countries by implementing procedures that will allow inspection of cargo generally only once (instead of twice, one inspection by each […]
