[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 191 (Monday, October 4, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61239-61240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24781]


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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 the 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, Thursday, October 21, 2010.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2010-0024. See ``Requirements 
for Submission,'' below. If you are unable to make a submission at 
http://www.regulations.gov, please contact Gloria Blue, Executive 
Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-6143 to make 
other arrangements.

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 2010, 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 and review 
annually 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. 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 2010:Q P=02>
Angola,
Republic of Benin,
Republic of Botswana,
Burkina Faso,
Burundi,
Republic of Cape Verde,
Republic of Cameroon,
Republic of Chad,
Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros,
Republic of Congo,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Republic of Djibouti,
Ethiopia,
Gabonese Republic,
The Gambia,
Republic of Ghana,
Republic of Guinea-Bissau,
Republic of Kenya,
Kingdom of Lesotho,
Republic of Liberia,
Republic of Malawi,
Republic of Mali,
Islamic Republic of Mauritania,
Republic of Mauritius,
Republic of Mozambique,
Republic of Namibia,
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 Togo,
Republic of Uganda,
Republic of Zambia.

    The following sub-Saharan African countries were not designated as 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries in 2010:

Central African Republic,
Republic of Cote d'Ivoire,

[[Page 61240]]

Republic of Guinea,
Republic of Equatorial Guinea,
State of Eritrea,
Republic of Madagascar,
Republic of Niger,
Somalia,
Republic of Sudan,
Republic of Zimbabwe.

    Requirements for Submissions: Comments must be submitted in 
English. To ensure the most timely and expeditious receipt and 
consideration of petitions, USTR has arranged to accept on-line 
submissions via http://www.regulations.gov. To submit petitions via 
this site, enter docket number USTR-2010-0024 on the home page and 
click ``search.'' The site will provide a search-results page listing 
all documents associated with this docket. Find a reference to this 
notice by selecting ``notice'' under ``Document Type'' on search-
results page and click on the link entitled ``Submit a Comment.'' (For 
further information on using the http://www.regulations,gov Web site, 
please consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on 
``Help'' at the top of the home page.)
    The http://www.regulations.gov Web site provides the option of 
making submissions by filling in a ``Type comment & Upload file'' 
field, or by attaching a document. USTR prefers comments to be 
submitted as attachments. When doing this, it is sufficient to type 
``See attached'' in the ``Type comment & Upload file'' field. 
Submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (pdf) are 
preferred.
    Persons wishing to file comments containing business confidential 
information must submit both a business confidential version and a 
public version. Persons submitting business confidential information 
should write ``See attached BC comments'' in the ``Type comment & 
Upload file'' field. Any page containing business confidential 
information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top 
of that page. Persons submitting a business confidential comment must 
also submit a separate public version of that comment with the business 
confidential information deleted. Persons should write ``See attached 
public version'' in the ``Type comment & Upload file'' field of the 
public submission. Submissions should not attach separate cover 
letters; rather, information that might appear in the cover letter 
should be included in the comments you submit. Similarly, to the extent 
possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments to 
a submission in the same file as the submission itself and not as 
separate files.
    Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be 
available for review no later than two weeks after the due date at 
http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2010-0024.

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 2010-24781 Filed 10-1-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W0-P