[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2596 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2596

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to establish procedures for identifying 
  countries that deny market access for agricultural products of the 
                             United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 1, 1997

Mr. Camp (for himself and Mr. Gutknecht) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to establish procedures for identifying 
  countries that deny market access for agricultural products of the 
                             United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``United States Agricultural Products 
Market Access Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The export of agricultural products is of vital 
        importance to the economy of the United States.
            (2) In 1995, agriculture was the largest positive 
        contributor to the United States merchandise trade balance with 
        a trade surplus of $25,800,000,000.
            (3) The growth of United States agricultural exports should 
        continue to be an important factor in improving the United 
        States merchandise trade balance.
            (4) Increasing the volume of agricultural exports will 
        increase farm income in the United States, thereby protecting 
        family farms and contributing to the economic well-being of 
        rural communities in the United States.
            (5) Although the United States efficiently produces high-
        quality agricultural products, United States producers cannot 
        realize their full export potential because many foreign 
        countries deny fair and equitable market access to United 
        States agricultural products.
            (6) The Foreign Agricultural Service estimates that United 
        States agricultural exports are reduced by $4,700,000,000 
        annually due to unjustifiable imposition of sanitary and 
        phytosanitary measures that deny or limit market access to 
        United States products.
            (7) The denial of fair and equitable market access for 
        United States agricultural products impedes the ability of 
        United States farmers to export their products, thereby harming 
        the economic interests of the United States.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to reduce or eliminate foreign unfair trade practices 
        and to remove constraints on fair and open trade in 
        agricultural products;
            (2) to ensure fair and equitable market access for exports 
        of United States agricultural products; and
            (3) to promote free and fair trade in agricultural 
        products.

SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY MARKET ACCESS.

    (a) Identification Required.--Chapter 8 of title I of the Trade Act 
of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 183. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY MARKET ACCESS FOR 
              AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than the date that is 30 days after 
the date on which the annual report is required to be submitted to 
Congressional committees under section 181(b), the United States Trade 
Representative (hereafter in this section referred to as the `Trade 
Representative') shall identify--
            ``(1) those foreign countries that--
                    ``(A) deny fair and equitable market access to 
                United States agricultural products, or
                    ``(B) apply standards for the importation of 
                agricultural products from the United States that are 
                not related to public health concerns or cannot be 
                substantiated by reliable analytical methods; and
            ``(2) those foreign countries identified under paragraph 
        (1) that are determined by the Trade Representative to be 
        priority foreign countries.
    ``(b) Special Rules for Identifications.--
            ``(1) Criteria.--In identifying priority foreign countries 
        under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Representative shall only 
        identify those foreign countries--
                    ``(A) that engage in or have the most onerous or 
                egregious acts, policies, or practices that deny fair 
                and equitable market access to United States 
                agricultural products,
                    ``(B) whose acts, policies, or practices described 
                in subparagraph (A) have the greatest adverse impact 
                (actual or potential) on the relevant United States 
                products, and
                    ``(C) that are not--
                            ``(i) entering into good faith 
                        negotiations, or
                            ``(ii) making significant progress in 
                        bilateral or multilateral negotiations,
                to provide fair and equitable market access to United 
                States agricultural products.
            ``(2) Consultation and consideration requirements.--In 
        identifying priority foreign countries under subsection (a)(2), 
        the Trade Representative shall--
                    ``(A) consult with the Secretary of Agriculture and 
                other appropriate officers of the Federal Government, 
                and
                    ``(B) take into account information from such 
                sources as may be available to the Trade Representative 
                and such information as may be submitted to the Trade 
                Representative by interested persons, including 
                information contained in reports submitted under 
                section 181(b) and petitions submitted under section 
                302.
            ``(3) Factual basis requirement.--The Trade Representative 
        may identify a foreign country under subsection (a)(1) only if 
        the Trade Representative finds that there is a factual basis 
        for the denial of fair and equitable market access as a result 
        of the violation of international law or agreement, or the 
        existence of barriers, referred to in subsection (d).
            ``(4) Consideration of historical factors.--In identifying 
        foreign countries under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection 
        (a), the Trade Representative shall take into account--
                    ``(A) the history of agricultural trade relations 
                with the foreign country, including any previous 
                identification under subsection (a)(2), and
                    ``(B) the history of efforts of the United States, 
                and the response of the foreign country, to achieve 
                fair and equitable market access for United States 
                agricultural products.
    ``(c) Revocations and Additional Identifications.--
            ``(1) Authority to act at any time.--If information 
        available to the Trade Representative indicates that such 
        action is appropriate, the Trade Representative may at any 
        time--
                    ``(A) revoke the identification of any foreign 
                country as a priority foreign country under this 
                section, or
                    ``(B) identify any foreign country as a priority 
                foreign country under this section.
            ``(2) Revocation reports.--The Trade Representative shall 
        include in the semiannual report submitted to the Congress 
        under section 309(3) a detailed explanation of the reasons for 
        the revocation under paragraph (1) of the identification of any 
        foreign country as a priority foreign country under this 
        section.
    ``(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, a foreign country 
denies fair and equitable market access if the foreign country 
effectively denies access to a market for a product through the use of 
laws, procedures, practices, or regulations which--
            ``(1) violate provisions of international law or 
        international agreements to which both the United States and 
        the foreign country are parties, or
            ``(2) constitute discriminatory nontariff trade barriers.
    ``(e) Publication.--The Trade Representative shall publish in the 
Federal Register a list of foreign countries identified under 
subsection (a) and shall make such revisions to the list as may be 
required by reason of the action under subsection (c).
    ``(f) Annual Report.--The Trade Representative shall, not later 
than the date by which countries are identified under subsection (a), 
transmit to the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on 
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Finance and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 
the Senate, a report on the actions taken under this section during the 
12 months preceding such report, and the reasons for such actions, 
including a description of progress made in achieving fair and 
equitable market access for United States agricultural products.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Trade Act of 
1974 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 182 the 
following:

``Sec. 183. Identification of countries that deny market access for 
                            agricultural products.''.

SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIONS.

    (a) Investigation Required.--Subparagraph (A) of section 302(b)(2) 
of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2412(b)(2)) is amended by inserting 
``or 183(a)(2)'' after ``section 182(a)(2)'' in the matter preceding 
clause (i).
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Subparagraph (D) of section 302(b)(2) of 
such Act is amended by inserting ``concerning intellectual property 
rights that is'' after ``any investigation''.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZED ACTIONS BY UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE.

    Section 301(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411(c)(1)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (C);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph 
        (D)(iii)(II) and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) with respect to an investigation of a country 
                identified under section 183(a)(1), to request that the 
                Secretary of Agriculture (who, upon receipt of such a 
                request, shall) direct the Food Safety and Inspection 
                Service of the Department of Agriculture to review 
                certifications for the facilities of such country that 
                export meat and other agricultural products to the 
                United States.''.
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