As compared to other Free Trade Agreements, NAFTA, complemented by the North American Agreement on Labor Co-operation and the North American Agreement for Environmental Co-operation, is more comprehensive in scope. The NAAEC supplement to the North American Free Trade Agreement aimed at achieving a status that goes beyond a set of environmental regulations. In pursuing this aim, it has established the North American Commission for Environmental Co-operation - a mechanism for addressing environmental and trade issues.

Established by the NAAEC were also the Border Environmental Co-operation Commission and the North American Development Bank for financing investments in pollution reduction. Both the BECC and the NADBank have contributed significantly to Mexico's economy by financing 36 projects, for the most part in the water sector. Due to NAAEC support, NAFTA has been regarded as the greenest trade agreement, despite being a pioneer in this area.

The NAALC supplement to the North American Free Trade Agreement was established to create a foundation for intense co-operation among members for resolution of labor problems and to promote co-operation among social organizations and trade unions with the aim of improving labor conditions. Despite the fact that the majority of economists agree it is quite difficult to assess the NAALC's impact, it is believed to promote convergence of labor standards in North America. However, the North American Agreement on Labor Co-operation has failed to produce convergence in employment and productivity in North America.

While a number of diverse groups advocate for further integration into the North American Community, this process has been delayed by sensitive issues. Different policies have been pursued by the United States, Canada and Mexico with non-members, thus making the possibility of a customs union formation difficult to attain. Another controversial topic is sovereignty and security. Nevertheless, these three countries have complemented NAFTA with the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. Since the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed, it has been quite difficult to analyze its macroeconomic effect, owing to a range of other factors in the global economy.

According to economic studies, NAFTA caused trade diversion in which its members currently import more from each other at expense of other countries in the world. Some economists are sure that NAFTA promotes concentration of wealth in the United States and Mexico. As reports the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, such macroeconomic indicators as GDP, savings rates and unemployment rate in Canada have changed since NAFTA was implemented.

From the perspective of North American customers, one of the Agreement's effects was the increase in multilingual labeling on products for distribution through retailers in the United States, Canada and Mexico in English, Spanish and French.