[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 184 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58855-58856]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-24312]


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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 (the AGOA). The Subcommittee 
will consider these comments in developing recommendations on AGOA 
country eligibility for calendar year 2012 for the President. Comments 
received related to the child labor criteria may also be considered by 
the Secretary of Labor in 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 were ineligible for such benefits in 2011.

DATES: To ensure consideration, public comments must be submitted to 
the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) by October 11, 2011.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-. See ``Requirements for 
Submission,'' below. If you are unable to make a submission at 
www.regulations.gov, please contact Laura Newport, Trade Policy Staff 
Committee, at (202) 395-3475 to make other arrangements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions, please 
contact Laura Newport, 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, Public Law 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 (19 U.S.C. 3703); 
and (2) section 502 of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462).
    Section 104 of the AGOA includes requirements that the country has 
established or is making substantial progress toward establishing: a 
market-based economy; the rule of law, political pluralism, and the 
right to due process; the elimination of barriers to U.S. trade and 
investment; economic policies to reduce poverty; a system to combat 
corruption and bribery; and protection of internationally recognized 
worker rights. In addition, the country may not engage in activities 
that undermine U.S. national security or foreign policy interests or 
engage in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. 
Please see section 104 of the AGOA and section 502 of the 1974 Act for 
a complete list of the AGOA eligibility criteria.
    For 2011, 37 countries have been designated as beneficiary sub-
Saharan African countries. These countries, as well as the 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 2011:
    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, 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.
    Three countries that were not designated as AGOA beneficiary 
countries for 2011 are the subject of a separate out-of-cycle review 
that is ongoing, so they are not part of this annual review. These 
countries are Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger. Written public comments 
regarding AGOA eligibility for these three countries were separately 
solicited through a notice in the Federal Register (76 FR 50284, August 
12, 2011).
    The following sub-Saharan African countries that were not 
designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries in 2011 that 
are up for review are:
    Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of 
Equatorial Guinea, State of Eritrea,

[[Page 58856]]

Republic of Madagascar, 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-2011-0010 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'' 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'' 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'' 
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'' 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-2011-0010.

Donald W. Eiss,
Acting Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 2011-24312 Filed 9-21-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W1-P