What impact does NAFTA have on wiring standards and approvals?
The North America Free Trade Agreement came into effect on January 1st, 1994. NAFTA attempts to bring down trade barriers between Mexico, Canada and the USA. One of the “barriers” has been that of approval of material. As of January first, CSA approval of a device is legally considered equivalent to UL approval in the USA. Conversely, UL is now accepted as equivalent to CSA approval in Canada. Theoretically, this means that devices marked only with UL approval are acceptable in the CEC, and conversely CSA approval by itself of a device is accepted by the NEC. This allows much freer trade in electrical materials between the two countries. This doesn’t affect the electrical codes themselves, so the differences in practice between the NEC and CEC will remain. It is also my understanding that bilateral acceptance of “approval” will only apply when the standards applied are reasonably the same. As an example, a cable approved by the NEC for a given purpose may not be acceptable by the CEC f
