Tag Archives: NAFTA

Mark Warner was featured in a CBC News article about the risks of possible U.S. trade challenges under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), the USMCA or Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to Quebec’s Bill 96 language law as it affects common law trademarks. (June 11, 2024) Interestingly, there is no mention of Quebec’s Bill 96 language law common law trademark concerns in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s 2024 Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement released in April keeping Canada on the “Special 301 Watch List”.

Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations. As Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Mr. Warner led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund, the $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund focused, in part, on the digital media and information and communications technology sectors. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade provided strategic legal advice with respect to the Ontario’s economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to leading ICT and digital media companies and led Ontario’s legal team in respect of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic & Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations including with respect to the Intellectual Property Chapter.

Mark’s experience with online technologies and e-commerce includes: participating in OECD-wide policy work on laws and regulations affecting e-commerce, acting as Chair, ICC Competition Commission Working Party on E-Commerce and Competition Policy, serving as an original ICANN domain name dispute resolution arbitrator for eResolution and WIPO and as Rapporteur of the Hague Conference on Private International Law Commission on Jurisdiction for Torts in Electronic Commerce.

As counsel at the OECD Trade Directorate, Mark advised on harmful tax competition issues and worked on other trade and competition issues, participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

Mark Warner was featured on Global News National talking about Florida getting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to import cheaper drugs from Canada and Canada’s ability to block some bulk prescription drug exports. (January 5, 2024) Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario trade and investment negotiation and dispute settlement matters including NAFTA . Mr. Warner, a Canadian and U.S. lawyer, who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels, and has advised pharmaceutical companies on pricing, distribution and other competition and trade matters. Mr. Warner has also advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate, where he represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Group on Trade and Competition Policy.

Mr. Warner has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world, advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company and its French and South African subsidiaries in a cartel investigation involving 11 leading global Pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company on competition law issues relating to the distribution of various nuclear medicine imaging agents in Canada.

As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade, Mr. Warner advised Ontario on the negotiations of the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) including on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues and on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund with an emphasis on life-sciences companies and advised on legal and corporate governance issues in the formation of Clinical Trials Ontario.

Mark Warner was featured in the Globe and Mail talking about the trade implications of Canada’s purported refusal to delay its digital services tax further as overall multinational tax agreement brokered by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is pushed back. (July 12, 2022) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations. As counsel at the OECD Trade Directorate, Mark advised on harmful tax competition issues and worked on other trade and competition issues, participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

As Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Mr. Warner led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund, the $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund and establishing the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade provided strategic legal advice with respect to the Ontario’s economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations and trade and investment disputes. He is co-author of a leading Canadian trade law treatise, has also published numerous articles and has been invited to speak at conferences around the world.

Mark chaired an Insight Research Canadian Sharing Economy Symposium in Toronto in 2015. As a former Acting Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services, Mark was responsible for prosecutions under the provincial consumer protection laws and regulations. Mark’s experience with online technologies and e-commerce includes: participating in OECD-wide policy work on laws and regulations affecting e-commerce, acting as Chair, ICC Competition Commission Working Party on E-Commerce and Competition Policy, serving as an original ICANN domain name dispute resolution arbitrator for eResolution and WIPO and as Rapporteur of the Hague Conference on Private International Law Commission on Jurisdiction for Torts in Electronic Commerce.

Mark Warner was interviewed on CTV Your Morning [at 1:50:53] about the United States launching a second dispute settlement challenge under the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) with regard to how Canada allocates its dairy tariff-rate quotas. (February 1, 2023) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. At the OECD, Mark participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), advised on trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and related WTO dispute settlement proceedings, and softwood lumber) and on various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration. Mr. Warner also led the Province’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. He is co-author of a leading Canadian trade law treatise, has also published numerous articles and has been invited to speak at conferences around the world.

Mark Warner was featured in a Canadian Press story on whether Canada’s push for trade diversification with Southeast Asia raises human-rights questions. (December 10, 2022) Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), advised on trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration matters. As MEDT Legal Director, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. Mark has been an adviser to the Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on competition and trade policy and at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State lectured in five cities in Japan on international antitrust law and policy. As Assistant Director of the University of Baltimore’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, Mark hired a Chinese scholar to begin a research program on reforming anti-monopoly law in China, one of the first such efforts at the time. He is frequently interviewed in print, radio and television on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement. 

Mark Warner was interviewed by the Financial Post about Canada’s new Indo-Pacific Strategy and implications for trade with China and regional supply chains including the United States Mexico Canada Trade Agreement. (December 1, 2022) Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), advised on trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration matters. As MEDT Legal Director, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. Mark has been an adviser to the Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on competition and trade policy and at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State lectured in five cities in Japan on international antitrust law and policy. As Assistant Director of the University of Baltimore’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, Mark hired a Chinese scholar to begin a research program on reforming anti-monopoly law in China, one of the first such efforts at the time. He is frequently interviewed in print, radio and television on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement. 

Mark Warner was interviewed for the Financial Post about Canada-U.S. trade relations, the effect of Russia sanctions on global trade and supply chains, and the response of India and China. (June 24, 2022) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade led Ontario’s legal team in the CETA negotiations, provided advice on the design of the Green Energy Act and related WTO dispute settlement proceedings, advised on various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration and on procurement issues in the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement. Mr. Warner led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler, and various grant and loan agreements to leading automotive and automotive parts companies, including to electric car battery manufacturer, Electrovaya and and a Better Place demonstration centre and electric vehicle charging station network. Mr. Warner also advised the Auto Parts Manufacturing Association on NAFTA renegotiation issues. 

Mark advises on foreign corrupt practices, foreign asset controls, anti-money laundering and export controls issues, including assisting various multinational firms in developing compliance programs in these areas. Mark has also participated in an international arbitration relating to the expropriation of the assets of a U.S.-based oil company in Libya and related issues under applicable sanctions and foreign asset control rules. Mark provides international trade and investment law advice to natural resources clients on trade agreements, trade remedies, sanctions, export and import controls, anti-corruption, corporate social responsibility and compliance issues as a colleague at Pilot Law which provides comprehensive legal services for developing resource businesses in the mining, energy and renewables sectors.

Mark Warner appeared before the Canadian House of Commons’ Standing Committee on International Trade as part of its study of the Canada-U.S. relationship and its impact on softwood lumber trade. (March 23, 2022) Mark’s opening statement is here along with responses to questions from Bonita Zarrillo, M.P. and Tracy Gray, M.P.

Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. Mark also provides international trade and investment law advice to natural resources clients on trade agreements, trade remedies, sanctions, export and import controls, anti-corruption, corporate social responsibility and compliance issues as a colleague at Pilot Law which provides comprehensive legal services for developing resource businesses in the mining, energy and renewables sectors.

Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team in the for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), provided advice on advised on trade disputes (including softwood lumber and the Green Energy Act WTO dispute settlement proceedings) and advised on various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state dispute arbitrations (including the Ambassador Bridge, Adam’s Mine and St. Mary’s Cement).

Mr. Warner also led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler, and various grant and loan agreements to leading automotive and automotive parts companies, including to electric car battery manufacturer, Electrovaya and a Better Place demonstration centre and electric vehicle charging station network.

At the OECD, Mark participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies. He is also a past Chair of the International and Economics Committees of the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law as well as a member of the Section’s Task Forces on Competition Policy and NAFTA and Antitrust in the Global Economy. Mark was also co-author of a leading Canadian trade law treatise (with the Hon. William C. Graham and Professors Jean-Gabriel Castel and Armand de Mestral).

Mark Warner was interviewed on CTV Your Morning [beginning at 1:43:14] about Canada joining with Mexico to dispute how U.S. interprets auto rules of origin under the United States Canada Mexico Trade Agreement. (January 14, 2021) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate and participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.  

Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade led Ontario’s legal team in the CETA negotiations, provided advice on the design of the Green Energy Act and related WTO dispute settlement proceedings, advised on various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration and on procurement issues in the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement. Mr. Warner led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler, and various grant and loan agreements to leading automotive and automotive parts companies, including to electric car battery manufacturer, Electrovaya and and a Better Place demonstration centre and electric vehicle charging station network. Mr. Warner also advised the Auto Parts Manufacturing Association on NAFTA renegotiation issues. He is co-author of a leading Canadian trade law treatise, has also published numerous articles and has been invited to speak at conferences around the world.

Mark Warner was featured in a Globe and Mail article about Canada joining with Mexico to dispute how U.S. interprets auto rules of origin under the United States Canada Mexico Trade Agreement. (January 13, 2021) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate and participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.  

Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade led Ontario’s legal team in the CETA negotiations, provided advice on the design of the Green Energy Act and related WTO dispute settlement proceedings, advised on various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration and on procurement issues in the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement. Mr. Warner led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler, and various grant and loan agreements to leading automotive and automotive parts companies, including to electric car battery manufacturer, Electrovaya and and a Better Place demonstration centre and electric vehicle charging station network. Mr. Warner also advised the Auto Parts Manufacturing Association on NAFTA renegotiation issues. He is co-author of a leading Canadian trade law treatise, has also published numerous articles and has been invited to speak at conferences around the world.