[House Document 104-47]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





                                     

        104th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House 
Document 104-47


 
     INTENTION TO ADD THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP TO THE LIST OF 
                    BENEFICIARY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

 NOTIFICATION OF HIS INTENTION TO ADD THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP TO 
  THE LIST OF BENEFICIARY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES UNDER THE GENERALIZED 
       SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES (GSP), PURSUANT TO 19 U.S.C. 2462(a)




   March 21, 1995.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
         Committee on Ways and Means and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
    I am writing to inform you of my intent to designate the 
West Bank and Gaza Strip as a beneficiary of the Generalized 
System of Preferences (GSP). The GSP program, which offers 
duty-free access to the U.S. market, was originally authorized 
by the Trade Act of 1974.
    I have carefully considered the criteria identified in 
sections 501 and 502 of the Trade Act of 1974. In light of 
these criteria, I have determined that it is appropriate to 
extend GSP benefits to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
    This notice is submitted in accordance with section 
502(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974.
                                                William J. Clinton.
    The White House, March 17, 1995.
             To Amend the Generalized System of Preferences

                              ----------                              


            by the president of the united states of america

                             a proclamation

    1. Pursuant to sections 501 and 502 of the Trade Act of 
1974, as amended (``Trade Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2461 and 2462), and 
having due regard for the eligibility criteria set forth 
therein, I have determined that it is appropriate to designate 
the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a beneficiary of the 
Generalized System of Preferences (``GSP'').
    2. Section 604 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2483) authorizes 
the President to embody in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (``HTS'') the substance of the provisions of 
that Act, and of other acts affecting import treatment, and 
actions thereunder.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
United States of America, acting under the authority vested in 
me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, 
including but not limited to sections 501 and 604 of the Trade 
Act, do proclaim that;
    (1) General note 4(a) to the HTS, listing those 
nonindependent territories whose products are eligible for 
benefits of the GSP, is modified by inserting ``West Bank and 
Gaza Strip'' in alphabetical order in the enumeration of 
nonindependent territories.
    (2) Any provisions of previous proclamations and Executive 
orders inconsistent with the provisions of this proclamation 
are hereby superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.
    (3) The extension of the Generalized System of Preferences 
program to the West Bank and Gaza Strip pursuant to this 
proclamation applies only to goods produced in the areas for 
which arrangements are being established for Palestinian 
Interim Self-Government, as set forth in Articles, I, III, and 
IV of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government 
Arrangements.
    (4) The modifications to the HTS made by paragraph (1) of 
this proclamation shall be effective with respect to articles 
that are: (i) imported on or after January 1, 1976, and (ii) 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or 
after 15 days after the date of publication of this 
proclamation in the Federal Register.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
hundred and ninety-five, and of the Independence of the United 
States of America the two hundred and nineteenth.

                                                William J. Clinton.