[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 187 (Thursday, September 27, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54951-54952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-19054]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Request for 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 the benefits of the AGOA, and those that are 
currently ineligible for such benefits.

DATES: Public comments are due at the Office of the U.S. Trade 
Representative (USTR) by noon, Monday, October 22, 2007.

ADDRESSES: USTR prefers submission by electronic mail: 
[email protected]. If you are unable to make a submission by e-mail, 
submissions should be made by facsimile to: 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 U.S. Trade Representative, 600 17th 
Street, NW., Room F516, Washington, DC 20508, at (202) 395-3475. All 
other questions should be directed to Constance Hamilton, Deputy 
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, Office of the U.S. 
Trade Representative, at (202) 395-9514.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AGOA (Title I of the Trade and 
Development Act of 2000, Pub. L. 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 treatment for certain additional 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 for countries meeting 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 2007, 39 countries have been designated as 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. These countries, as well as 
the 9 countries currently ineligible, 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.
    The following sub-Saharan African countries were designated as 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries in 2007:

Angola
Republic of Benin
Republic of Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Republic of Cape Verde
Republic of Cameroon
Republic of Chad
Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo
Republic of Djibouti
Ethiopia
Gabonese Republic
The Gambia
Republic of Ghana
Republic of Guinea
Republic of Guinea-Bissau
Republic of Kenya

[[Page 54952]]

Kingdom of Lesotho
Republic of Liberia
Republic of Madagascar
Republic of Malawi
Republic of Mali
Republic of Mauritius
Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Republic of Mozambique
Republic of Namibia
Republic of Niger
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Republic of Rwanda
Sao Tome & Principe
Republic of Senegal
Republic of Seychelles
Republic of Sierra Leone
Republic of South Africa
Kingdom of Swaziland
United Republic of Tanzania
Republic of Uganda
Republic of Zambia

    The following sub-Saharan African countries were not designated as 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries in 2007:

Central African Republic
Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros
Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
Republic of Equatorial Guinea
State of Eritrea
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 FR0720.eop.gov 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: ``2007 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, Monday through 
Friday, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 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. E7-19054 Filed 9-26-07; 8:45 am]
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