[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 165 (Thursday, August 26, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52536-52537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-19556]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


African Growth and Opportunity Act Implementation Subcommittee of 
the Trade Policy Staff Committee; Public Comments on Annual Review of 
Country Eligibility for Benefits Under the African Growth and 
Opportunity Act

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The African Growth and Opportunity Act Implementation 
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (the ``Subcommittee'') 
is requesting written public comments for the annual review of the 
eligibility of sub-Saharan African countries to receive the benefits of 
the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Subcommittee will 
consider these comments in developing recommendations on AGOA country 
eligibility for the President. Comments received related to the child 
labor criteria may also be considered by the Secretary of Labor for the 
preparation of the Department of Labor's report on child labor as 
required under section 412(c) of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. 
This notice identifies the eligibility criteria that must be considered 
under AGOA, and lists those sub-Saharan African countries that are 
currently eligible for AGOA and those that are currently ineligible for 
the AGOA.

DATES: Public comments are due at the Office of the United States Trade 
Representative (USTR) by noon, Friday, September 17, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Submission by electronic mail: [email protected]. Submissions 
by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff 
Committee, at (202) 395-6143. The public is strongly encouraged to 
submit documents electronically rather than by facsimile. See 
requirements for submissions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions, please 
contact Gloria Blue, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 
600 17th Street, NW., Room F516, Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-3475. 
All other questions should be directed to Constance Hamilton, Senior 
Director for African Affairs, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-
9514.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AGOA (Title I of the Trade and 
Development Act of 2000, Public Law 106-200) (19 U.S.C. 3721 et seq.), 
as amended, authorizes the President to designate sub-Saharan African 
countries as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries eligible for 
duty-free tariff treatment for certain products under the Generalized 
System of Preferences (GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) (the ``1974 Act'')), as well as for the 
preferential treatment the AGOA provides for certain textile and 
apparel articles.
    The President may designate a country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African country eligible for both the additional GSP benefits and the 
textile and apparel benefits of the AGOA (if the country also meets 
certain statutory requirements intended to prevent unlawful 
transshipment of such articles) if he determines that the country meets 
the eligibility criteria set forth in: (1) Section 104 of the AGOA; and 
(2) section 502 of the 1974 Act. For 2004, 37 countries have been 
designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. These 
countries, as well as the 11 currently ineligible countries, are listed 
below. Section 506A of the 1974 Act provides that the President shall 
monitor, review, and report to Congress annually on the progress of 
each sub-Saharan African country in meeting the foregoing eligibility 
criteria in order to determine whether each beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African country should continue to be eligible, and whether each sub-
Saharan African country that is currently not a beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African country should be designated as such a country. The President's 
determinations will be included in the annual report submitted to 
Congress as required by Section 106 of the AGOA. Section 506A of the 
1974 Act requires that, if the President determines that a beneficiary 
sub-Saharan African country is not making continual progress in meeting 
the eligibility requirements, he must terminate the designation of the 
country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country.
    The Subcommittee is seeking public comments in connection with the 
annual review of the eligibility of beneficiary sub-Saharan African 
countries for the AGOA's benefits. The Subcommittee will consider any 
such comments in developing recommendations on country eligibility for 
the President. Comments related to the child labor criteria may also be 
considered by the Secretary of Labor in making the findings required 
under section 504 of the 1974 Act.

Beneficiary Sub-Saharan African Countries

    The following have been designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African countries for 2004:
    Republic of Angola, Republic of Benin, Republic of Botswana, 
Republic of Cameroon, Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Chad, 
Republic of the Congo, Republic of C[ocirc]te d'Ivoire, Democratic 
Republic of the Congo, Republic of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabonese 
Republic, Republic of The Gambia, Republic of Ghana, Republic of 
Guinea, Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Kenya, Kingdom of 
Lesotho, Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Mali, 
Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Republic of Mauritius, Republic of 
Mozambique, Republic of Namibia, Republic of Niger, Federal Republic of 
Nigeria, Republic of Rwanda, Democratic Republic of S[atilde]o 
Tom[egrave] and Principe, Republic of Senegal, Republic of Seychelles, 
Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of South Africa, Kingdom of 
Swaziland,

[[Page 52537]]

United Republic of Tanzania, Republic of Uganda, Republic of Zambia.

Sub-Saharan African Countries Not Designated as Beneficiary Countries

    The following have not been designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African countries for 2004:
    Burkina Faso, Republic of Burundi, Central African Republic, 
Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, 
State of Eritrea, Republic of Liberia, Somalia, Republic of Togo, 
Republic of Sudan, Republic of Zimbabwe.
    Requirements for Submissions: In order to facilitate the prompt 
processing of submissions, USTR strongly urges and prefers electronic 
(e-mail) submissions to [email protected] in response to this notice. In 
the event that an e-mail submission is impossible, submissions should 
be made by facsimile. Persons making submissions by e-mail should use 
the following subject line: ``2004 AGOA Annual Country Review.'' 
Documents should be submitted as WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) 
files. Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets are 
acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel. For any document containing 
business confidential information submitted electronically, the file 
name of the business confidential version should begin with the 
characters
``BC-'' and the file name of the public version should begin with the 
characters ``P-''. The ``P-'' or ``BC-''should be followed by the name 
of the submitter. Persons who make submissions by e-mail should not 
provide separate cover letters; information that might appear in a 
cover letter should be included in the submission itself. Similarly, to 
the extent possible, any attachments to the submission should be 
included in the same file as the submission itself, and not as separate 
files.
    Written comments will be placed in a file open to public inspection 
pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, except confidential business information 
exempt from public inspection in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. 
Confidential business information submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 
2003.6 must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of 
each page, including any cover letter or cover page, and must be 
accompanied by a nonconfidential summary of the confidential 
information. All public documents and nonconfidential summaries shall 
be available for public inspection in the USTR Reading Room. The USTR 
Reading Room is open to the public, by appointment only, from 10 a.m. 
to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. An appointment 
to review the file may be made by calling (202) 395-6186. Appointments 
must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 04-19556 Filed 8-25-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W4-P