[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15452-15453]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE

                                 ______
                                 

NOTIFICATION OF THE PRESIDENT'S INTENT TO TERMINATE THE DESIGNATIONS OF 
SEYCHELLES, URUGUAY, AND VENEZUELA AS BENEFICIARY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
    UNDER THE GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES (GSP) PROGRAM--PM 24

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States which was referred to the 
Committee on Finance:

To the Congress of the United States:
  In accordance with section 502(f)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
amended (the ``1974 Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2462(f)(2)), I am providing 
notification of my intent to terminate the designations of Seychelles, 
Uruguay, and Venezuela as beneficiary developing countries under

[[Page 15453]]

the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. Section 502(e) of 
the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(e)) provides that if the President 
determines that a beneficiary developing country has become a ``high 
income'' country, as defined by the official statistics of the 
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development of the World Bank 
(the ``World Bank''), the President shall terminate the designation of 
such country as a beneficiary developing country for purposes of the 
GSP program, effective on January 1 of the second year following the 
year in which such determination is made.
  Pursuant to section 502(e) of the 1974 Act, I have determined that it 
is appropriate to terminate the designations of Seychelles, Uruguay, 
and Venezuela as beneficiary developing countries under the GSP 
program, because they have become high income countries as defined by 
the World Bank. Accordingly, their eligibility for trade benefits under 
the GSP program will end on January 1, 2017.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, September 30, 2015.

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