    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 124, 111th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    PROCLAMATION 8618--DEC. 21, 2010

    Proclamation 8618 of December 21, 2010
    To Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act,
    and for Other Purposes
    By the President of the United States of America
    A Proclamation

    1. Section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the ``1974
    Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(1)), as added by section 111(a) of the
    African Growth and Opportunity Act (title I of Public Law 106-200)
    (AGOA), authorizes the President to designate a country listed in
    section 107 of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3706) as a ``beneficiary sub-Saharan
    African country'' if the President determines that the country meets the
    eligibility requirements set forth in section 104 of the AGOA (19 U.S.C.
    3703), as well as the eligibility criteria set forth in section 502 of
    the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462).
    2. Section 104 of the AGOA authorizes the President to designate a
    country listed in section 107 of the AGOA as an ``eligible sub-Saharan
    African country'' if the President determines that the country meets
    certain eligibility requirements.
    3. In Proclamation 7657 of March 28, 2003, the President designated the
    Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as an eligible sub-Saharan African
    country pursuant to section 104 of the AGOA.
    4. Proclamation 7657 also authorized the United States Trade
    Representative (USTR) to exercise the authority provided to the
    President under section 506A(a)(1) of the 1974 Act to designate the DRC
    as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country.
    5. Pursuant to the authority delegated to the USTR, on October 31, 2003,
    the USTR designated the DRC as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country
    (68 FR 62158-04).
    6. Section 506A(a)(3) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(3)) authorizes
    the President to terminate the designation of a country as a beneficiary
    sub-Saharan African country for purposes of section 506A if he
    determines that the country is not making continual progress in meeting
    the requirements described in section 506A(a)(1) of the 1974 Act.
    7. Pursuant to section 506A(a)(3) of the 1974 Act, I have determined
    that the DRC is not making continual progress in meeting the
    requirements described in section 506A(a)(1) of the 1974 Act.
    Accordingly, I have decided to terminate the designation of the DRC as a
    beneficiary sub-Saharan African country for purposes of section 506A of
    the 1974 Act, effective on January 1, 2011.
    8. On April 22, 1985, the United States and Israel entered into the
    Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area between the
    Government of the United States of America and the Government of Israel
    (the ``USIFTA''), which the Congress approved in the United States-
    Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act of 1985 (the ``USIFTA Act'')
    (19 U.S.C. 2112 note).

    9. Section 4(b) of the USIFTA Act provides that, whenever the President
    determines that it is necessary to maintain the general level of
    reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions with respect to Israel

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    provided for by the USIFTA, the President may proclaim such withdrawal,
    suspension, modification, or continuance of any duty, or such
    continuance of existing duty-free or excise treatment, or such
    additional duties as the President determines to be required or
    appropriate to carry out the USIFTA.
    10. In order to maintain the general level of reciprocal and mutually
    advantageous concessions with respect to agricultural trade with Israel,
    on July 27, 2004, the United States entered into an agreement with
    Israel concerning certain aspects of trade in agricultural products
    during the period January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2008 (the ``2004
    Agreement'').
    11. In Proclamation 7826 of October 4, 2004, consistent with the 2004
    Agreement, the President determined, pursuant to section 4(b) of the
    USIFTA Act, that it was necessary in order to maintain the general level
    of reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions with respect to
    Israel provided for by the USIFTA, to provide duty-free access into the
    United States through December 31, 2008, for specified quantities of
    certain agricultural products of Israel.
    12. On December 10, 2008, the United States entered into an agreement
    with Israel to extend the period that the 2004 Agreement is in force
    through December 31, 2009, to allow additional time for the two
    governments to conclude an agreement to replace the 2004 Agreement.
    13. In Proclamation 8334 of December 31, 2008, the President determined
    that it was necessary in order to maintain the general level of
    reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions with respect to Israel
    provided for by the USIFTA to extend such duty-free treatment through
    December 31, 2009. In that proclamation, the President also modified the
    Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) to provide duty-
    free access into the United States through December 31, 2009, for
    specified quantities of certain agricultural products of Israel.
    14. On December 6, 2009, the United States entered into a further
    agreement with Israel to extend the period that the 2004 Agreement is in
    force through December 31, 2010, to allow for further negotiations on an
    agreement to replace the 2004 Agreement.
    15. In Proclamation 8467 of December 23, 2009, I determined that it was
    necessary in order to maintain the general level of reciprocal and
    mutually advantageous concessions with respect to Israel provided for by
    the USIFTA to extend such duty-free treatment through December 31, 2010.
    In that proclamation, I also modified the HTS to provide duty-free
    access into the United States through December 31, 2010, for specified
    quantities of certain agricultural products of Israel.
    16. On December 12, 2010, the United States entered into a further
    agreement with Israel to extend the period that the 2004 Agreement is in
    force through December 31, 2011, to allow for further negotiations on an
    agreement to replace the 2004 Agreement.
    17. Pursuant to section 4(b) of the USIFTA Act, I have determined that
    it is necessary, in order to maintain the general level of reciprocal
    and mutually advantageous concessions with respect to Israel provided
    for by the USIFTA, to provide duty-free access into the United States
    through the close of December 31, 2011, for specified quantities of
    certain agricultural products of Israel.

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    18. During the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (the
    ``Uruguay Round''), a group of major trading countries agreed to
    reciprocal elimination of tariffs on certain pharmaceuticals and
    chemical intermediates, and that participants in this agreement would
    revise periodically the list of products subject to duty-free treatment.
    On December 13, 1996, as the result of negotiations under the auspices
    of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United States and 16 other
    WTO members agreed to eliminate tariffs on additional pharmaceuticals
    and chemical intermediates. The United States implemented this agreement
    in Proclamation 6982 of April 1, 1997. In 1998, the United States and 21
    other WTO members negotiated a second revision to the list of products
    subject to duty-free treatment. The United States implemented this
    revision in Proclamation 7207 of July 1, 1999. In 2006, the United
    States and 30 other WTO members concluded negotiations, under the
    auspices of the WTO, on a further revision to the list of
    pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates subject to duty-free
    treatment. The United States implemented this revision in Proclamation
    8095 of December 29, 2006. The United States and 31 other WTO members
    have negotiated, under the auspices of the WTO, a fourth revision to the
    list of pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates subject to duty-free
    treatment.
    19. Section 111(b) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C.
    3521(b)) authorizes the President under specified circumstances to
    proclaim the modification of any duty or staged rate reduction of any
    duty set forth in Schedule XX-United States of America, annexed to the
    Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 1994 (Schedule XX) for products that were
    the subject of reciprocal duty elimination negotiations during the
    Uruguay Round, if the United States agrees to such action in a
    multilateral negotiation under the auspices of the WTO.
    20. On September 15, 2010, consistent with section 115 of the URAA (19
    U.S.C. 3524), the USTR submitted a report to the Committee on Ways and
    Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of
    the Senate that set forth the proposed further revision to the list of
    pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates subject to duty-free
    treatment. The consultation and layover period specified in section 115
    ended on November 14, 2010.
    21. Pursuant to section 111(b) of the URAA, I have determined that
    Schedule XX should be modified to reflect the implementation by the
    United States of the multilateral agreement on certain pharmaceuticals
    and chemical intermediates negotiated under the auspices of the WTO. In
    addition, I have determined that the pharmaceuticals appendix to the HTS
    should be modified to reflect the duty eliminations provided for in that
    agreement.
    22. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483),
    authorizes the President to embody in the HTS the substance of the
    relevant provisions of that Act, and of other Acts affecting import
    treatment, and actions thereunder, including the removal, modification,
    continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import
    restriction.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
    America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
    the laws of the United States of America, including but not limited to
    section 104 of the AGOA, title V and section 604 of the

    [[Page 4772]]

    1974 Act, section 4 of the USIFTA Act, and section 111 of the URAA do
    proclaim that:
    (1) The designation of the DRC as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African
    country for purposes of section 506A of the 1974 Act is terminated,
    effective on January 1, 2011.
    (2) In order to reflect in the HTS that beginning on January 1,
    2011, the DRC shall no longer be designated as a beneficiary sub-Saharan
    African country, general note 16(a) to the HTS is modified by deleting
    ``Democratic Republic of Congo'' from the list of beneficiary sub-
    Saharan African countries.
    (3) In order to implement U.S. tariff commitments under the 2004
    Agreement through December 31, 2011, the HTS is modified as provided in
    the Annex to this proclamation.
    (4)(a) The modifications to the HTS made by the Annex to this
    proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods that are the
    product of Israel and are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for
    consumption, on or after January 1, 2011.
    (b) The provisions of subchapter VIII of chapter 99 of the HTS, as
    modified by the Annex to this proclamation, shall continue in effect
    through December 31, 2011.
    (5) In order to implement the multilateral agreement negotiated
    under the auspices of the WTO to eliminate tariffs on certain
    pharmaceutical products and chemical intermediates, and to make
    technical corrections in the tariff treatment accorded to such products,
    the HTS is modified as set forth in Publication 4208 of the United
    States International Trade Commission, entitled ``Modifications to the
    Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to Implement Changes to
    the Pharmaceutical Appendix'' (Publication 4208), which is incorporated
    by reference into this proclamation.
    (6) The modifications to the HTS made in Publication 4208 shall be
    effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse
    for consumption, on or after January 1, 2011.
    (7) Any provisions of previous proclamations and Executive Orders
    that are inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation are
    superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of
    December, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the
    Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
    fifth.
    BARACK OBAMA

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