[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 20, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28217-28218]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-12784]
[[Page 28217]]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR-2017-0008]
Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning an
Out-of-Cycle Review of Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda Eligibility for
Benefits Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice of initiation of review, public hearing and request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR),
in consultation with the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC), is
announcing the initiation of an out-of-cycle review of the eligibility
of the Republic of Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Republic of
Uganda to receive benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act
(AGOA) in response to a petition. The AGOA Subcommittee of the TPSC
(Subcommittee) will consider written comments, written testimony, and
oral testimony in response to this notice to develop recommendations
for the President as to whether the Republic of Rwanda, United Republic
of Tanzania, and Republic of Uganda are meeting the AGOA eligibility
criteria.
DATES:
June 30, 2017: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the July
13, 2017 public hearing, and for filing pre-hearing briefs, statements,
or comments on the AGOA eligibility of the Republic of Rwanda, United
Republic of Tanzania, and Republic of Uganda.
July 13, 2017: The AGOA Implementation Subcommittee of the TPSC
will convene a public hearing on the AGOA eligibility of the Republic
of Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Republic of Uganda.
July 21, 2017: Deadline for filing post-hearing briefs, statements,
or comments on this matter.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments in section 3 below. The docket
number is USTR-2017-0008. For alternatives to on-line submissions,
please contact Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202)
395-3475.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
written comments or participating in the public hearing, contact Yvonne
Jamison at (202) 395-3475. Direct all other questions regarding this
notice to Alan Treat, Director for African Affairs, at (202) 395-9514.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
AGOA (Title I of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, Pub. L.
106-200) (19 U.S.C. 2466a, et seq.), as amended, authorizes the
President to designate sub-Saharan African countries as beneficiaries
eligible for duty-free treatment for certain additional products not
included for duty-free treatment 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 the preferential treatment for certain
textile and apparel articles.
The President may designate a country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan
African country eligible for these AGOA benefits if he determines that
the country meets the eligibility criteria set forth in section 104 of
the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3703) and section 502 of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C.
2462).
Section 104 of AGOA includes requirements that the beneficiary
country has established or is making continual 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 the 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 506 of the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (TPEA)
requires the President to establish a petition process to allow any
interested person, at any time, to file a petition with USTR concerning
compliance of any sub-Saharan African country listed in section 107 of
the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3706), with the eligibility requirements set forth
in section 104 of the AGOA and section 502 of the 1974 Act. On February
26, 2016, the President delegated this authority to the United States
Trade Representative. USTR has established a petition process. See 15
CFR part 2017.
II. The Petition
On March 21, 2017, the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles
Association (SMART) submitted a petition to USTR requesting an out-of-
cycle review to determine whether the Republic of Kenya, Republic of
Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Republic of Uganda are meeting
the AGOA eligibility criteria. The SMART petition asserts that a March
2016 decision by the East African Community (EAC), which includes the
Republic of Kenya, Republic of Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, and
Republic of Uganda, to phase in a ban on imports of used clothing and
footwear is imposing significant economic hardship on the U.S. used
clothing industry, and is in violation of the AGOA statutory
eligibility criteria to make continual progress toward establishing a
market based economy and eliminating barriers to U.S. trade and
investment.
In response to the SMART petition, USTR has determined, in
consultation with the TPSC, that there are exceptional circumstances
warranting an out-of-cycle review of the AGOA eligibility of the
Republic of Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Republic of
Uganda. With respect to the Republic of Kenya, USTR has determined that
an out-of-cycle review of Kenya's AGOA eligibility is not warranted at
this time, due to recent actions Kenya has taken, including reversing
tariff increases, effective July 1, 2017, and committing not to ban
imports of used clothing through policy measures that are more trade-
restrictive than necessary to protect human health. USTR will continue
to monitor Kenya's actions to ensure that Kenya follows through on its
commitments. The USTR has consulted with Congress about these
determinations.
Section 506A of the 1974 Act requires the President to terminate
the designation of a country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African
country if he determines that the beneficiary country is not making
continual progress in meeting the eligibility requirements. As amended
by the TPEA, the President may withdraw, suspend, or limit the
application of duty-free treatment with respect to articles from the
country if he determines that it would be more effective in promoting
compliance with AGOA-eligibility requirements than terminating the
designation of the country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African
country.
The Subcommittee is seeking public comments in connection with this
out-of-cycle review of the AGOA eligibility of the Republic of Rwanda,
United Republic of Tanzania, and Republic of Uganda. The Subcommittee
will consider the written comments, written testimony, and oral
testimony in developing recommendations for the
[[Page 28218]]
President as to whether the Republic of Rwanda, United Republic of
Tanzania, and Republic of Uganda are meeting the AGOA eligibility
criteria.
III. Notice of Public Hearing
In addition to written comments from the public on the matters
listed above, the Subcommittee will convene a public hearing at 10:00
a.m. on Friday, July 13, 2017, to receive testimony related to the AGOA
eligibility of the Republic of Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, and
Republic of Uganda. The hearing will be held at 1724 F Street NW.,
Washington, DC 20508 and will be open to the public and to the press.
We will make a transcript of the hearing available on
www.regulations.gov within approximately two weeks of the date of the
hearing.
We must receive your written requests to present oral testimony at
the hearing and pre-hearing briefs, statements, or comments by noon on
Friday, June 30, 2017. You must make the intent to testify notification
in the ``Type Comment'' field under docket number USTR-2017-0008 on the
www.regulations.gov Web site and you should include the name, address,
telephone number and email address, if available, of the person
presenting the testimony. You should attach a summary of the testimony
by using the ``Upload File'' field. The name of the file also should
include who will be presenting the testimony. Remarks at the hearing
should be limited to no more than five minutes to allow for possible
questions from the Subcommittee.
You should submit all documents in accordance with the instructions
in section IV below.
IV. Requirements for Submissions
In order to be assured of consideration, persons submitting a
notification of intent to testify and/or written comments must do so in
English by noon on Friday, June 30, 2017. USTR strongly encourages
commenters to make on-line submissions, using the www.regulations.gov
Web site. To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket
number USTR-2017-0008 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 and click on the link
entitled ``Comment Now!'' For further information on using the
www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult the resources provided on
the Web site by clicking on ``How to Use Regulations.gov'' on the
bottom of the home page. We will not accept hand-delivered submissions.
For any comments submitted electronically containing business
confidential information, the file name of the business confidential
version should begin with the characters ``BC''. Any page containing
business confidential information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS
CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page. Filers of submissions
containing business confidential information also must submit a public
version of their comments that we will place in the docket for public
inspection. The file name of the public version should begin with the
character ``P''. The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be followed by the name of
the person or entity submitting the comments or reply comments. Filers
submitting comments containing no business confidential information
should name their file using the name of the person or entity
submitting the comments.
Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic
submissions; rather, include any information that might appear in a
cover letter in the comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent
possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in
the same file as the submission itself, not as separate files.
As noted, USTR strongly urges submitters to file comments through
www.regulations.gov. You must make any alternative arrangements with
Yvonne Jamison in advance of transmitting a comment. You can contact
Ms. Jamison at (202) 395-3475. General information concerning USTR is
available at www.ustr.gov.
We will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except
business confidential information. You can view comments on the
www.regulations.gov Web site by entering the relevant docket number in
the search field on the home page.
Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2017-12784 Filed 6-19-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F7-P