[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 249 (Wednesday, December 29, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78094-78095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-28445]


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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 
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

[[Page 78095]]

delegated by the President, is designating the Greater Cairo zone, 
Alexandria zone, and Suez Canal zone 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 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), June 15, 2001 (66 FR 32660), and January 28, 2004 (69 FR 4199).
    The governments of Israel and Egypt jointly requested in a letter 
submitted to the United States Trade Representative on December 7, 
2004, the designation as qualifying industrial zones of areas 
comprising a Greater Cairo zone, Alexandria zone, and Suez Canal zone. 
The names and locations of the factories comprising these three zones 
are specified on maps and materials submitted by Egypt and Israel and 
on file with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Israel and 
Egypt have agreed that merchandise may enter, without payment of duty 
or excise taxes, areas under their respective customs control that 
comprise the Greater Cairo zone, Alexandria zone, and Suez Canal zone. 
In addition, Israel and Egypt have agreed to a ``Protocol Between the 
Government of the State of Israel and the Government of the Arab 
Republic of Egypt On Qualifying Industrial Zones' that provides for the 
operation and administration of these zones.
    Accordingly, the Greater Cairo zone, Alexandria zone, and Suez 
Canal zone meet the criteria under sections 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 areas occupied 
by the factories that comprise the Greater Cairo zone, Alexandria zone, 
and Suez Canal zone, as specified on maps and materials received from 
Egypt and Israel, 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.

    Dated: December 14, 2004.
Robert B. Zoellick,
United States Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 04-28445 Filed 12-28-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W5-P