[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 28, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4199-4200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1745]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


United States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act; 
Designation of Qualifying Industrial Zones

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Under the United States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation 
Act (IFTA Act), articles of qualifying industrial zones (QIZs) 
encompassing portions of Israel and Jordan or Israel and Egypt are 
eligible to receive duty-free treatment. Effective upon publication of 
this notice, the United States Trade Representative, pursuant to 
authority delegated by the President, is designating the Resources 
Company for Development and Investment Zone (RCDI), the Al Hallabat 
Industrial Park, and the expanded Al Tajamouat Industrial Park as 
qualifying industrial zones under the IFTA Act.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edmund Saums, Director for Middle East 
Affairs, (202) 395-4987, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to authority granted under section 
9 of the United States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act of 
1985 (IFTA Act), as amended (19 U.S.C. 2112 note), Presidential 
Proclamation 6955 of November 13, 1996 (61 FR 58761) proclaimed certain 
tariff treatment for articles of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and 
qualifying industrial zones. In particular, the Presidential 
Proclamation modified general notes 3 and 8 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States: (a) To provide duty-free treatment to 
qualifying articles that are the product of the West Bank, the Gaza 
Strip or a qualifying industrial zone and are entered in accordance 
with the provisions of section 9 of the IFTA Act; (b) to provide that 
articles of Israel may be treated as though they were articles directly 
shipped from Israel for the purposes of the United States-Israel Free 
Trade Area Agreement (``the Agreement'') even if shipped to the United 
States from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or a qualifying industrial 
zone, if the articles otherwise meet the requirements of the Agreement; 
and (c) to provide that the cost or value of materials produced in the 
West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or a qualifying industrial zone may be 
included in the cost or value of materials produced in Israel under 
section 1(c)(i) of Annex 3 of the Agreement and that the direct costs 
of

[[Page 4200]]

processing operations performed in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or a 
qualifying industrial zone may be included in the direct costs of 
processing operations performed in Israel under section 1(c)(ii) of 
Annex 3 of the Agreement.
    Section 9(e) of the IFTA Act defines a ``qualifying industrial 
zone'' as an area that ``(1) encompasses portions of the territory of 
Israel and Jordan or Israel and Egypt; (2) has been designated by local 
authorities as an enclave where merchandise may enter without payment 
of duty or excise taxes; and (3) has been specified by the President as 
a qualifying industrial zone.''
    Presidential Proclamation 6955 delegated to the United States Trade 
Representative the authority to designate qualifying industrial zones.
    The United States Trade Representative has previously designated 
qualifying industrial zones under section 9 of the IFTA Act on March 
13, 1998 (63 FR 12572), March 19, 1999 (64 FR 13623), October 15, 1999 
(64 FR 56015), October 24, 2000 (65 FR 64472), December 12, 2000 (65 FR 
77688), and June 15, 2001 (66 FR 32660).
    The governments of Israel and Jordan agreed in protocols submitted 
in July 2003 to the designation of a zone to be developed by RCDI and 
the designation of the Al Hallabat Industrial Park, registered under 
the name of Jordan International Industries Company, as QIZs. Israel 
and Jordan also agreed in a protocol submitted in July 2003 to the 
expansion of the already-designated QIZ area of the Al Tajamouat 
Industrial Park. Israel and Jordan further agreed that merchandise may 
enter, without payment of duty or excise taxes, areas under their 
respective customs control in association with RCDI, Al Hallabat, and 
the expanded Al Tajamouat qualifying industrial zones. Accordingly, 
RCDI, Al Hallabat, and the expanded Al Tajamouat qualifying industrial 
zones meet the criteria under paragraphs 9(e)(1) and (2) of the IFTA 
Act. Therefore, pursuant to the authority delegated to me by 
Presidential Proclamation 6955, I hereby designate the Resources 
Company for Development and Investment Zone, the Al Hallabat Industrial 
Park, and the expanded Al Tajamouat Industrial Park, as established by 
the 2003 Amending Protocols to the Agreement Between the Government of 
the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Government of the State of 
Israel on Irbid Qualifying Industrial Zone, as qualifying industrial 
zones under section 9 of the IFTA Act, effective upon the date of 
publication of this notice, applicable to articles shipped from these 
qualifying industrial zones after such date.


Robert B. Zoellick,
United States Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 04-1745 Filed 1-27-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W3-P