[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 64 (Thursday, April 3, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 16039-16051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-8838]



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Part VII





The President





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Proclamation 6982--To Implement an Agreement To Eliminate Tariffs on 
Certain Pharmaceuticals and Chemical Intermediates
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 64 / Thursday, April 3, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 6982 of April 1, 1997

                
To Implement an Agreement To Eliminate Tariffs on 
                Certain Pharmaceuticals and Chemical Intermediates

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                1. On December 13, 1996, members of the World Trade 
                Organization (WTO), including the United States and 16 
                other major trading countries, announced in the WTO 
                Singapore Ministerial Declaration an agreement to 
                eliminate tariffs on certain pharmaceuticals and 
                chemical intermediates that were the subject of 
                reciprocal duty elimination negotiations during the 
                Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations 
                (``Uruguay Round''). In addition, it was agreed that 
                the agreement on pharmaceutical products reached at the 
                conclusion of the Uruguay Round and consequently 
                Schedule XX--United States of America, annexed to the 
                Marrakesh Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs 
                and Trade (1994) (``Schedule XX'') erroneously included 
                25 products.

                2. (a) Section 111(b) of the Uruguay Round Agreements 
                Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3521(b)) authorizes the President 
                to proclaim the modification of any duty or staged rate 
                reduction of any duty set forth in Schedule XX for 
                products that were the subject of reciprocal duty 
                elimination negotiations during the Uruguay Round if 
                the United States agrees to such action in a 
                multilateral negotiation under the auspices of the WTO 
                and after compliance with the consultation and layover 
                requirements of section 115 of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 
                3524). Section 111(b) also authorizes the President to 
                proclaim such modifications as are necessary to correct 
                technical errors in Schedule XX or to make other 
                rectifications to the Schedule.

                    (b) Section 111(a) of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3521(a)) 
                authorizes the President to proclaim such additional 
                duties as the President determines to be necessary or 
                appropriate to carry out Schedule XX.

                3. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 (1974 Act), as 
                amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), authorizes the President to 
                embody in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
                States (HTS) the substance of the relevant provisions 
                of that Act, and of other acts affecting import 
                treatment, and actions thereunder, including the 
                removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of 
                any rate of duty or other import restriction.

                4. (a) Pursuant to section 111(b) of the URAA, I have 
                determined that modifications to Schedule XX are 
                necessary and that Schedule XX should be modified 
                accordingly. In addition, I have determined to modify 
                the HTS to implement the multilateral agreement on 
                pharmaceuticals negotiated under the auspices of the 
                WTO.

                    (b) Pursuant to section 111(a) of the URAA, I have 
                determined that it is necessary or appropriate to 
                modify the HTS to increase tariffs on products that 
                were included erroneously in the pharmaceuticals 
                agreement reached at the end of the Uruguay Round.
                    (c) On January 29, 1997, pursuant to section 115 of 
                the URAA, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 
                submitted a report to the Committee on Ways and Means 
                of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
                Finance of the Senate (``the Committees'') that set 
                forth the proposed tariff eliminations and corrections 
                in existing tariff treatment, together with

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                the advice received from the appropriate private sector 
                advisory committee and the U.S. International Trade 
                Commission regarding such actions. During the 60-day 
                period thereafter, the USTR consulted with the 
                Committees on the proposed tariff eliminations and 
                corrections.

                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 
                111(a) and (b) of the URAA and section 604 of the 1974 
                Act, do hereby proclaim that:

                    (1) In order to implement the multilateral 
                agreement negotiated under the auspices of the WTO to 
                eliminate tariffs on certain pharmaceutical products 
                and chemical intermediates, and to correct errors, 
                Schedule XX and the pharmaceutical appendix to the HTS 
                are modified as set forth in the Annex to this 
                proclamation.
                    (2) The modifications to the HTS set forth in this 
                proclamation shall be effective as provided in the 
                Annex to this proclamation.
                    (3) Any provisions of previous proclamations and 
                Executive orders that are inconsistent with the actions 
                taken in this proclamation are superseded to the extent 
                of such inconsistency.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
                hundred and ninety-seven, and of the Independence of 
                the United States of America the two hundred and 
                twenty-first.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

                Billing code 3195-01-P

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[FR Doc. 97-8838 Filed 4-2-97; 1:54 pm]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-C