[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 190 (Wednesday, October 1, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59342-59343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23414]



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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 
in Calendar Year 2015

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 (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 calendar year 2015 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 AGOA, and lists those sub-
Saharan African countries that are currently eligible for the benefits 
of AGOA and those that were ineligible for such benefits in 2014.

DATES: To ensure consideration, public comments must be submitted to 
the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) by October 25, 2014.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2014-0018 See ``Requirements 
for Submission,'' below. If you are unable to make a submission at 
www.regulations.gov, please contact Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy Staff 
Committee, at (202) 395-3475 to make other arrangements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions, please 
contact Yvonne Jamison, 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: 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 
beneficiaries 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.) (1974 Act)), as well as 
for preferential treatment for certain textile and apparel articles.
    The President may designate a sub-Saharan country as a beneficiary 
eligible for both the additional GSP benefits and the textile and 
apparel benefits of AGOA if he determines that the country meets the 
eligibility criteria set forth in: (1) section 104 of AGOA (19 U.S.C. 
3703); and (2) section 502 of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462).
    Section 104 of AGOA includes requirements that the country has 
established or is making continual 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 AGOA and section 502 of the 1974 Act for a 
complete list of AGOA eligibility criteria.
    Section 506A of the 1974 Act requires that, if the President 
determines that a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country is not 
meeting the eligibility requirements, he must terminate the designation 
of the country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country. For 2014, 
41 countries were 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 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 2014:

Angola
Republic of Benin
Republic of Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Republic of Cabo 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 Kenya
Kingdom of Lesotho
Republic of Liberia
Republic of Madagascar
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
Republic of South Sudan
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 2014:

Central African Republic
Democratic Republic of Congo
Republic of Equatorial Guinea
State of Eritrea
Republic of Guinea-Bissau
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

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petitions, USTR has arranged to accept on-line submissions via http://www.regulations.gov. To submit petitions via this site, enter docket 
number USTR-2014-0018 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-2014-0018.

Douglas Bell,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 2014-23414 Filed 9-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F4-P