[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 16971-16972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-3299]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 64 / Tuesday, April 4, 2006 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 16971]]


                Proclamation 7996 of March 31, 2006

                
To Implement the Dominican Republic-Central 
                America-United States Free Trade Agreement With Respect 
                to Honduras and Nicaragua

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                1. On August 5, 2004, the United States entered into 
                the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States 
                Free Trade Agreement (Agreement) with Costa Rica, the 
                Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, 
                and Nicaragua (Agreement countries). The Agreement was 
                approved by the Congress in section 101(a) of the 
                Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free 
                Trade Agreement Implementation Act (the ``Act'') 
                (Public Law 109-53, 119 Stat. 462) (19 U.S.C. 4001 
                note).

                2. Section 201 of the Act authorizes the President to 
                proclaim such modifications or continuation of any 
                duty, such continuation of duty-free or excise 
                treatment, or such additional duties, as the President 
                determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out 
                or apply Articles 3.3 and 3.28, and Annexes 3.3 
                (including the schedule of United States duty 
                reductions with respect to originating goods) and 3.28 
                of the Agreement.

                3. Consistent with section 201(a)(2) of the Act, each 
                Agreement country is to be removed from the enumeration 
                of designated beneficiary developing countries eligible 
                for the benefits of the Generalized System of 
                Preferences (GSP) on the date the Agreement enters into 
                force with respect to that country.

                4. Consistent with section 201(a)(3) of the Act, each 
                Agreement country is to be removed from the enumeration 
                of designated beneficiary countries under the Caribbean 
                Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) (19 U.S.C. 2701 et 
                seq.) on the date the Agreement enters into force with 
                respect to that country, subject to the exceptions set 
                out in section 201(a)(3)(B) of the Act.

                5. Consistent with section 213(b)(5)(D) of the CBERA, 
                as amended by the United States-Caribbean Basin Trade 
                Partnership Act (CBTPA) (Public Law 106-200), each 
                Agreement country is to be removed from the enumeration 
                of designated CBTPA beneficiary countries on the date 
                the Agreement enters into force with respect to that 
                country.

                6. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 (the ``1974 
                Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2483), as amended, authorizes the 
                President to embody in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
                of the United States (HTS) the substance of relevant 
                provisions of that Act, or other acts affecting import 
                treatment, and of actions taken thereunder.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the 
                United States of America, acting under the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States of America, including but not limited to 
                section 201 of the Act, section 301 of title 3, United 
                States Code, and section 604 of the 1974 Act, and the 
                Act having taken effect pursuant to section 107(a), do 
                proclaim that:

                    (1) In order to provide generally for the 
                preferential tariff treatment being accorded under the 
                Agreement to Honduras and Nicaragua, to provide certain

[[Page 16972]]

                other treatment to originating goods for the purposes 
                of the Agreement, to provide tariff-rate quotas with 
                respect to certain goods, to reflect the removal of 
                Honduras and Nicaragua from the enumeration of 
                designated beneficiary developing countries for 
                purposes of the GSP, to reflect the removal of Honduras 
                and Nicaragua from the enumeration of designated 
                beneficiary countries for purposes of the CBERA and the 
                CBTPA, and to make technical and conforming changes in 
                the general notes to the HTS, the HTS is modified as 
                set forth in Annex I of Publication 3845 of the United 
                States International Trade Commission, entitled 
                Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
                United States to Implement the Dominican Republic-
                Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement With 
                Respect to Honduras and Nicaragua (Publication 3845), 
                which is incorporated by reference into this 
                proclamation.
                    (2) In order to implement the initial stage of duty 
                elimination provided for in the Agreement and to 
                provide for future staged reductions in duties for 
                originating goods for purposes of the Agreement, the 
                HTS is modified as provided in Annex II of Publication 
                3845, effective on the dates specified in the relevant 
                sections of such publication and on any subsequent 
                dates set forth for such duty reductions in that 
                publication.
                    (3)(a) The amendments to the HTS made by paragraphs 
                (1) and (2) of this proclamation shall be effective 
                with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from 
                warehouse for consumption, on or after the relevant 
                dates indicated in Annex I and Annex II to Publication 
                3845.
                    (b) Except as provided in paragraph (3)(a) of this 
                proclamation, this proclamation shall be effective with 
                respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse 
                for consumption, on or after April 1, 2006.
                    (4) 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 
                thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand six, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 06-3299
Filed 4-3-06; 11:06 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P