[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 16, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69622-69623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-22750]


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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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DATES: This provision will become effective upon publication.

SUMMARY: Under the United States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation 
Act of 1985 (``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 delegated by the President, is designating the Central Delta 
zone of Egypt as a qualifying industrial zone and expanding the 
already-designated Greater Cairo and Suez Canal qualified 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 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

[[Page 69623]]

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), January 28, 2004 (69 FR 4199) , 
and December 29, 2004 (69 FR 78094).
    The governments of Israel and Egypt jointly requested in a letter 
submitted to the United States Trade Representative on August 24, 2005, 
the designation as a qualifying industrial zone of areas comprising the 
Central Delta zone, as well as the expansion of the already designated 
Greater Cairo and Suez Canal qualified industrial zones. The names and 
locations of the factories comprising the Central Delta zone and the 
expanded areas of the Greater Cairo zone and Suez Canal zone 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 Central Delta zone, Greater Cairo zone and Suez Canal 
zone. Further, the operation and administration of these zones are 
provided for in the previously agreed ``Protocol between the Government 
of the State of Israel and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt 
On Qualifying Industrial Zones.'' Accordingly, the Central Delta zone, 
Greater Cairo 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 Central Delta zone and the expanded 
Greater Cairo and Suez Canal zones 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.

Rob Portman,
United States Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 05-22750 Filed 11-15-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P