[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 182 (Wednesday, September 19, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58205-58206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-23144]


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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 2013 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 2012.

DATES: To ensure consideration, public comments must be submitted to 
the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) by October 12, 2012.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2012-0026 See ``Requirements 
for Submission,'' below. If you are unable to make a submission at 
www.regulations.gov, please contact Don Eiss, Trade Policy Staff 
Committee, at (202) 395-3475 to make other arrangements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions, please 
contact Don Eiss, 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, 
inter alia: 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.
    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. For 2012, 40 countries have been designated as 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. These countries, as well as 
the countries currently designated as 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.
    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 2012:

Angola

[[Page 58206]]

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 Cote d'Ivoire
Republic of Djibouti
Ethiopia
Gabonese Republic
The Gambia
Republic of Ghana
Republic of Guinea
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
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 Togo
Republic of Uganda
Republic of Zambia

    The following sub-Saharan African countries that were not 
designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries in 2012 that 
are up for review are:

Central African Republic
Democratic Republic of Congo
Republic of Equatorial Guinea
State of Eritrea
Republic of Madagascar
Somalia
Republic of South Sudan
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-2012-0026 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 
www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2012-0026.

William Shpiece,
Acting Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 2012-23144 Filed 9-18-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F2-P