[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 35 (Monday, September 1, 2003)]
[Pages 1119-1121]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7696--To Extend Duty-Free Treatment for Certain 
Agricultural Products of Israel

 August 27, 2003

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    1. On April 22, 1985, the United States 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 (FTA), which the 
Congress approved in the United States-Israel Free Trade Area 
Implementation Act of 1985 (the ``FTA Act'')(19 U.S.C. 2112 Note).
    2. On November 4, 1996, the United States entered into an agreement 
with Israel concerning certain aspects of trade in agricultural 
products, effective from December 4, 1996, through December 31, 2001 
(the ``1996 Agreement''), in order to maintain the general level of 
reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions with respect to 
agricultural trade while acknowledging differing interpretations as to 
the meaning of certain

[[Page 1120]]

rights and obligations in the FTA as to such trade.
    3. Section 4(b) of the FTA 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 
provided for by the FTA, 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 FTA.
    4. Consistent with section 4(b) of the FTA Act, President Clinton 
issued Proclamation 6962 of December 2, 1996, to provide to Israel 
through the close of December 31, 2001, access into the United States 
customs territory for specified quantities of certain agricultural 
products of Israel free of duty or certain fees or other import charges, 
consistent with the 1996 Agreement.
    5. On December 31, 2001, the United States entered into an agreement 
with Israel to extend the 1996 Agreement through December 31, 2002, in 
order to allow for additional time to negotiate a successor arrangement 
to the 1996 Agreement. Consistent with section 4(b) of the FTA Act, I 
issued Proclamation 7554, of May 3, 2002, to provide to Israel through 
the close of December 31, 2002, access into the United States customs 
territory for specified quantities of certain agricultural products of 
Israel free of duty or certain fees or other import charges. Several 
rounds of negotiations were held in 2002 but did not result in 
conclusion of a successor arrangement to the 1996 Agreement.
    6. On December 31, 2002, the 1-year extension of the 1996 Agreement 
expired. In order to allow additional time to conclude negotiations, the 
United States and Israel each have elected to extend through 2003 the 
tariff treatment provided for agricultural products in 2002 under the 
1996 Agreement. Israel has already extended through 2003 the tariff 
benefits for United States agricultural imports provided in 2002 under 
the 1996 Agreement.
    7. Consistent with section 4(b) of the FTA 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 FTA, to provide through the close of December 31, 
2003, duty-free treatment for specified quantities of certain 
agricultural products of Israel.
    8. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2483) (the 
``Trade Act'') authorizes the President to embody in the Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) the substance of the relevant 
provisions of that act, and of other acts affecting import treatment, 
and actions thereunder, including removal, modification, continuance, or 
imposition of any rate of duty or other import restriction.
     Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States 
of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution 
and the laws of the United States, including section 4 of the FTA Act 
and section 604 of the Trade Act, do hereby proclaim:
    (1) In order to maintain the general level of reciprocal and 
mutually advantageous concessions with respect to Israel provided for by 
the FTA, and, in particular, to provide duty-free treatment for 
specified quantities of certain agricultural products of Israel, 
subchapter VIII of chapter 99 of the HTS is modified as provided in the 
Annex to this proclamation.
    (2) 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.
    (3)(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, 2003, including entries for which 
the liquidation of duties has not become final under section 514 of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1514).
    (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 the close of December 31, 2003.

[[Page 1121]]

     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh 
day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand three, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
eighth.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., August 28, 
2003]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on August 
29.