[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3340 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3340

       To provide an exemption from certain import prohibitions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 1998

 Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Matsui, and Mr. Gejdenson) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
                                 Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
       To provide an exemption from certain import prohibitions.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) gum arabic is a naturally occurring substance that is 
        exuded from the stems and branches of the acacia tree and is a 
        key ingredient in pharmaceutical and dietary fiber products, 
        lithography, baking and confectionary items, cosmetics, and 
        soft drinks, and has other industrial applications;
            (2) gum arabic is a material for which, in many cases, 
        there is no natural or artificial substitute;
            (3) gum arabic is harvested from wild acacia trees, found 
        mostly in Sudan and is harvested by rural farmers who are 
        removed from the internal conflict and who depend upon the gum 
        arabic harvest for their livelihood;
            (4) Sudan is the most reliable and plentiful source of gum 
        arabic in the world, supplying 70 percent of the world's 
        consumption of gum arabic and about 90 percent of the world's 
        reliable source;
            (5) Chad and Nigeria combined do not produce a sufficient 
        quantity of gum arabic to satisfy United States demand for gum 
        arabic; and
            (6) without a consistent and reliable supply of quality 
        crude material, United States processors of gum arabic will go 
        out of business.

SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FROM IMPORT PROHIBITION.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Executive Order 13067 
of November 3, 1997, shall not apply with respect to imports of 
articles described in Harmonized Tariff Schedule headings 1301.20.00 
and 1301.90.9090 during a calendar year, and no prohibition on imports 
from Sudan in any other provision of law shall apply to imports of such 
articles during a calendar year, if--
            (1) during the preceding calendar year, more than 40 
        percent of the unprocessed articles imported into the United 
        States was attributable to crops cultivated in Sudan, including 
        crops imported from countries other than source countries for 
        gum arabic; or
            (2) during the preceding calendar year, a supply of the 
        unprocessed articles of equal quality to that cultivated in 
        Sudan and not attributable to Sudan is not available to supply 
        more than 40 percent of the United States import market.
                                 <all>