Ministers from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries said on Monday 29 January that they had essentially wrapped up a chapter on anti-corruption and advanced in various other negotiating areas, while acknowledging that deep divides still remain on the more contentious topics. The news came following the sixth round of talks to modernise the accord, which was held in Montreal, Canada, and concluded on 29 January. The NAFTA talks involve Canada, Mexico, and the United States, and formal negotiations to update the trade deal have been underway since last August. Ministers did not release a trilateral statement after this round, though they have done so on previous occasions. Instead, they each gave a closing statement to reporters outlining their views on the progress made and the challenges ahead. “The road towards the sixth round has not been an easy one. However, reaching this stage of the negotiations allowed us to assess some of the main outcomes of the process in its entirety,” said Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo Villareal at the closing press conference. For example, he noted that Canada’s new ideas on certain difficult topics were important to recognise. “We still have substantial challenges to overcome, yet...