[Federal Register: October 2, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 190)]
[Notices]
[Page 58016-58018]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02oc06-125]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Request for Public Comments on Annual Review of Country
Eligibility for Benefits Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The African Growth and Opportunity Act Implementation
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (the ``Subcommittee'')
is requesting written public comments for the annual review of the
eligibility of sub-Saharan African countries to receive the benefits of
the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Subcommittee will
consider these comments in developing recommendations on AGOA country
eligibility for the President. Comments received related to the child
labor criteria may also be considered by the Secretary of Labor for the
preparation of the Department of Labor's report on child labor as
required under section 412(c) of the Trade and Development Act of 2000.
This notice identifies the eligibility criteria that must be considered
under AGOA, and lists those sub-Saharan African countries that are
currently eligible for the benefits of the AGOA, and those that are
currently ineligible for such benefits.
DATES: Public comments are due at the Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative (USTR) by noon, Friday, October 20, 2006.
ADDRESSES: USTR prefers submission by electronic mail:
FR0269@ustr.eop.gov. If you are unable to make a submission by
[[Page 58017]]
e-mail, submissions should be made by facsimile to: Gloria Blue,
Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-6143.
The public is strongly encouraged to submit documents electronically
rather than by facsimile. See requirements for submissions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions, please
contact Gloria Blue, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, 600 17th
Street, NW., Room F516, Washington, DC 20508, at (202) 395-3475. All
other questions should be directed to Constance Hamilton, Deputy
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, Office of the U.S.
Trade Representative, at (202) 395-9514.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AGOA (Title I of the Trade and
Development Act of 2000, Pub. L. 106-200) (19 U.S.C. 3721 et seq.), as
amended, authorizes the President to designate sub-Saharan African
countries as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries eligible for
duty-free treatment for certain additional products under the
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act of
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) (the ``1974 Act'')), as well as for the
preferential treatment the AGOA provides for certain textile and
apparel articles.
The President may designate a country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan
African country eligible for both the additional GSP benefits and the
textile and apparel benefits of the AGOA for countries meeting certain
statutory requirements intended to prevent unlawful transshipment of
such articles, if he determines that the country meets the eligibility
criteria set forth in: (1) Section 104 of the AGOA; and (2) section 502
of the 1974 Act. For 2006, 37 countries have been designated as
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. These countries, as well as
the 11 countries currently ineligible, are listed below. Section 506A
of the 1974 Act provides that the President shall monitor, review, and
report to Congress annually on 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 sub-Saharan African country, should
be designated as such a country. The President's determinations will be
included in the annual report submitted to Congress as required by
Section 106 of the AGOA. Section 506A of the 1974 Act requires that, 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 Subcommittee is seeking public comments in connection with the
annual review of the eligibility of beneficiary sub-Saharan African
countries for the AGOA's benefits. The Subcommittee will consider any
such comments in developing recommendations on country eligibility for
the President. 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 2006:
Angola
Republic of Benin
Republic of Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Republic of Cape Verde
Republic of Cameroon
Republic of Chad
Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo
Republic of Djibouti
Ethiopia
Gabonese Republic
The Gambia
Republic of Ghana
Republic of Guinea
Republic of Guinea-Bissau
Republic of Kenya
Kingdom of Lesotho
Republic of Madagascar
Republic of Malawi
Republic of Mali
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 Seychelles
Republic of Sierra Leone
Republic of South Africa
Kingdom of Swaziland
United Republic of Tanzania
Republic of Uganda
Republic of Zambia
The following sub-Saharan African countries were not designated as
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries in 2006:
Central African Republic
Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros
Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
Republic of Equatorial Guinea
State of Eritrea
Republic of Liberia
Republic of Mauritania
Somalia
Republic of Togo
Republic of Sudan
Republic of Zimbabwe
Requirements for Submissions: In order to facilitate the prompt
processing of submissions, USTR strongly urges and prefers electronic
(e-mail) submissions to FR0629@ustr.eop.gov in response to this notice.
In the event that an e-mail submission is impossible, submissions
should be made by facsimile. Persons making submissions by e-mail
should use the following subject line: ``2006 AGOA Annual Country
Review.'' Documents should be submitted as WordPerfect, MSWord, or text
(.TXT) files. Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets are
acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel. For any document containing
business confidential information submitted electronically, the file
name of the business confidential version should begin with the
characters ``BC-'' and the file name of the public version should begin
with the characters ``P-''. The ``P-'' or ``BC-'' should be followed by
the name of the submitter. Persons who make submissions by e-mail
should not provide separate cover letters; information that might
appear in a cover letter should be included in the submission itself.
Similarly, to the extent possible, any attachments to the submission
should be included in the same file as the submission itself, and not
as separate files.
Written comments will be placed in a file open to public inspection
pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, except confidential business information
exempt from public inspection in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6.
Confidential business information submitted in accordance with 15 CFR
2003.6 must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of
each page, including any cover letter or cover page, and must be
accompanied by a nonconfidential summary of the confidential
information. All public documents and nonconfidential summaries shall
be available for public inspection in the USTR Reading Room. The USTR
Reading Room is open to the public, by appointment only, Monday through
Friday, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. An appointment to
review the file may be made by calling
[[Page 58018]]
(202) 395-6186. Appointments must be scheduled at least 48 hours in
advance.
Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. E6-16132 Filed 9-29-06; 8:45 am]
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