[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 452 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 452

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Colombian 
  fresh-cut flowers should not receive preferential tariff treatment.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 12, 1996

Mr. Campbell  (for himself, Mr. Farr of California, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. 
    Calvert, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Pombo, Mrs. Seastrand, Mr. Riggs, Mr. 
   Gallegly, Mr. Baker of California, Ms. Eshoo, and Mr. Doolittle) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Colombian 
  fresh-cut flowers should not receive preferential tariff treatment.

Whereas the domestic fresh cut flower industry consists of entrepreneurial 
        growers, many of which are family operated businesses, providing an 
        estimated 42,000 production-related jobs;
Whereas the domestic fresh cut flower industry has lost an additional 200 
        growers of the leading flower types since 1992 when Colombia received 
        duty-free treatment under the Andean Trade Preference Act;
Whereas the Andean Trade Preference Act was intended to encourage 4 Andean 
        countries, including Colombia, to develop legal alternatives to drug 
        production and trafficking by providing preferential tariff treatment 
        for approximately 6,000 products, including fresh cut flowers;
Whereas the Andean Trade Preference Act fully authorizes the President to 
        withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment to 
        any article of any country, if, after designation, the President 
        determines that as a result of ``changed circumstances'' such a country 
        should be barred from designation as a beneficiary country and 
        designation is contingent on consideration of whether a country has met 
        the narcotics cooperation certification criteria set forth in the 
        Foreign Assistance Act of 1961;
Whereas the President has the discretion, under title VIII of the Trade Act of 
        1974 (19 U.S.C. 2491 and following), to remove preferential tariff 
        treatment of products originating from a country that is not certified 
        with respect to narcotics cooperation; and
Whereas the President determined on March 1, 1996, that Colombia did not meet 
        the narcotics cooperation certification criteria and did not certify 
        Colombia under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 with respect to 
        narcotics cooperation: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
preferential tariff treatment of Colombian fresh cut flowers is not in 
the Nation's interest and should be withdrawn.
                                 <all>