[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 11, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32042-32044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14436]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2017-0005]


African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Request for Public 
Comments on Annual Review of Country Eligibility for Benefits Under 
AGOA in Calendar Year 2018; Scheduling of Hearing, and Request for 
Public Comments

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: This notice announces the initiation of the annual review of 
the eligibility of the sub-Saharan African countries to receive the 
benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The AGOA 
Implementation Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee 
(Subcommittee) is developing recommendations for the President on AGOA 
country eligibility for calendar year 2018. The Subcommittee is 
requesting written public comments for this review and will conduct a 
public hearing on this matter. The Subcommittee will consider the 
written comments, written testimony, and oral testimony in developing 
recommendations 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 504 of the Trade Act of 1974. This notice 
identifies the eligibility criteria under AGOA that

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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 2017.

DATES: August 4, 2017: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the 
August 23, 2017 public hearing, and for filing pre-hearing briefs, 
statements, or comments on sub-Saharan African countries' AGOA 
eligibility.
    August 23, 2017: AGOA Implementation Subcommittee of the TPSC will 
convene a public hearing on AGOA country eligibility.
    August 30, 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-2017-0005. 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, please 
contact Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395-3475. All other questions should be 
directed to Alan Treat, Director for African Affairs, Office of the 
U.S. Trade Representative, 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 benefits of AGOA if he determines 
that the country meets the eligibility criteria set forth in Section 
104 of AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3703) 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 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 
1874 Act for a complete list of the AGOA eligibility criteria.
    Section 502 of the 1974 Act provides for country eligibility 
criteria under GSP, which is generally reviewed as a result of a 
petition process. For more information on the GSP criteria and review 
process, see section 502 of the 1974 Act and the annual Federal 
Register notice initiating the GSP product and country practices 
review.
    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, should be designated as such a 
country. 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 President may 
also withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment 
with respect to specific articles from a 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.
    For 2017, 38 countries were designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African countries. These countries, as well as the countries currently 
designated as ineligible, are listed below. The Subcommittee is seeking 
public comments in connection with the annual review of sub-Saharan 
African countries' eligibility for AGOA's benefits. The Subcommittee 
will consider any such comments in developing recommendations to the 
President related to this review. 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 2017:

Angola
Republic of Benin
Republic of Botswana
Burkina Faso
Republic of Cabo Verde
Republic of Cameroon
Central African Republic
Republic of Chad
Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros
Republic of Congo
Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
Republic of Djibouti
Ethiopia
Gabonese Republic
Republic of Ghana
Republic of Guinea
Republic of Guinea-Bissau
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 Sierra Leone
Republic of South Africa
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 2017:

BurundiDemocratic Republic of Congo
The Gambia
Republic of Equatorial Guinea (graduated from GSP)
State of Eritrea
Republic of Seychelles (graduated from GSP)
Somalia
Republic of South Sudan
Republic of Sudan
Kingdom of Swaziland
Republic of Zimbabwe

II. Notice of Public Hearing

    In addition to written comments from the public on the matters 
listed above, the Subcommittee of the TPSC will convene a public 
hearing at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 23, 2017, to receive 
testimony related to sub-Saharan African countries' eligibility for 
AGOA's benefits. Requests to present oral testimony at the hearing and 
pre-hearing briefs, statements, or comments must be received by noon 
August 4, 2017.
    The hearing will be held at 1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20508 
and will be open to the public and to the

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press. We will make a transcript of the hearing available on 
www.regulations.gov within approximately two weeks 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, August 4, 2017. You must make the intent to testify 
notification in the ``Type Comment'' field under docket number USTR-
2017-0005 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 III below.

III. 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, August 4, 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-2017-0005 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.

IV. Petitions

    15 CFR part 2017 permits any interested party to submit a petition 
to USTR, at any time, with respect to whether a beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African country is meeting the AGOA eligibility requirements. An 
interested party may file such a petition through www.regulations.gov, 
under docket number USTR-2017-0005.

Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States 
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2017-14436 Filed 7-10-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3290-F7-P