    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 52 (Monday, December 27, 2004)]
    [Pages 3010-3011]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 7858--To Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth and
    Opportunity Act

     December 21, 2004

     By the President of the United States

     of America

     A Proclamation

        1. In Proclamation 7561 of May 16, 2002, I designated the Republic
    of Cote d'Ivoire as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country pursuant
    to 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)). I also provided that Cote d'Ivoire would be considered a lesser
    developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African country for purposes of
    section 112(b)(3)(B) of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3721(b)(3)(B)).
        2. In Proclamation 7350 of October 2, 2000, President Clinton
    delegated to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) the authority
    to perform the function specified in section 113(b)(1)(B) of the AGOA
    (19 U.S.C. 3722(b)(1)(B)). In a Federal Register notice dated December
    17, 2003, the USTR determined that Cote d'Ivoire had adopted an
    effective visa system and related procedures to prevent unlawful
    transshipment and the use of counterfeit documents and that Cote
    d'Ivoire had implemented and followed, or was making substantial
    progress toward implementing and following, certain customs procedures
    that assist the United States Customs Service in verifying the origin of
    the products.
        3. 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, effective on January 1 of the year following the year in which such
    determination is made.
        4. Pursuant to section 506A(a)(3) of the 1974 Act, I have determined
    that Cote d'Ivoire 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 Cote
    d'Ivoire as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country for purposes of
    section 506A of the 1974 Act, effective on January 1, 2005.
        5. Section 604 of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2483) 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 the 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 sections 506A and 604 of the
    1974 Act and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, do proclaim
    that:
        (1) The designation of Cote d'Ivoire as a beneficiary sub-Saharan
    African country for purposes of section 506A of the 1974 Act is
    terminated, effective on January 1, 2005.
        (2) In order to reflect in the HTS that beginning January 1, 2005,
    Cote d'Ivoire shall no longer be designated as a beneficiary sub-Saharan
    African country, general note 16(a) to the HTS is modified by deleting
    ``Republic of Cote d'Ivoire'' from the list of beneficiary sub-Saharan
    African countries. Further, U.S. note 2(d) to subchapter XIX of chapter
    98 is modified by removing ``Cote d'Ivoire'' from the list of lesser
    developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries, and U.S. note 7(a)
    to subchapter II and U.S. note 1 to subchapter XIX of chapter 98 of the
    HTS are modified by deleting ``Cote d'Ivoire'' from the list of
    beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries eligible for certain textile
    and apparel benefits.
        (3) The modification to the HTS made by this proclamation shall be
    effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse
    for consumption, on or after January 1, 2005.
        (4) Any provisions of previous proclamations and executive orders
    that are inconsistent with this proclamation are superseded to the
    extent of such inconsistency.

    [[Page 3011]]

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

     [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., December 23,
    2004]

    Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on
    December 27.