[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 191 (Monday, October 4, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61239-61240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24781]
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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 the 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, Thursday, October 21, 2010.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2010-0024. See ``Requirements
for Submission,'' below. If you are unable to make a submission at
http://www.regulations.gov, please contact Gloria Blue, Executive
Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-6143 to make
other arrangements.
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 2010, 39 countries have been designated as
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. These countries, as well as
the 9 countries currently ineligible, are listed below. 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 sub-Saharan African country, should be designated as such a
country. 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 2010:Q P=02>
Angola,
Republic of Benin,
Republic of Botswana,
Burkina Faso,
Burundi,
Republic of Cape Verde,
Republic of Cameroon,
Republic of Chad,
Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros,
Republic of Congo,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Republic of Djibouti,
Ethiopia,
Gabonese Republic,
The Gambia,
Republic of Ghana,
Republic of Guinea-Bissau,
Republic of Kenya,
Kingdom of Lesotho,
Republic of Liberia,
Republic of Malawi,
Republic of Mali,
Islamic Republic of Mauritania,
Republic of Mauritius,
Republic of Mozambique,
Republic of Namibia,
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 Togo,
Republic of Uganda,
Republic of Zambia.
The following sub-Saharan African countries were not designated as
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries in 2010:
Central African Republic,
Republic of Cote d'Ivoire,
[[Page 61240]]
Republic of Guinea,
Republic of Equatorial Guinea,
State of Eritrea,
Republic of Madagascar,
Republic of Niger,
Somalia,
Republic of Sudan,
Republic of Zimbabwe.
Requirements for Submissions: Comments must be submitted in
English. To ensure the most timely and expeditious receipt and
consideration of petitions, USTR has arranged to accept on-line
submissions via http://www.regulations.gov. To submit petitions via
this site, enter docket number USTR-2010-0024 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 by selecting ``notice'' under ``Document Type'' on search-
results page and click on the link entitled ``Submit a Comment.'' (For
further information on using the http://www.regulations,gov Web site,
please consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on
``Help'' at the top of the home page.)
The http://www.regulations.gov Web site provides the option of
making submissions by filling in a ``Type comment & Upload file''
field, or by attaching a document. USTR prefers comments to be
submitted as attachments. When doing this, it is sufficient to type
``See attached'' in the ``Type comment & Upload file'' field.
Submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (pdf) are
preferred.
Persons wishing to file comments containing business confidential
information must submit both a business confidential version and a
public version. Persons submitting business confidential information
should write ``See attached BC comments'' in the ``Type comment &
Upload file'' field. Any page containing business confidential
information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top
of that page. Persons submitting a business confidential comment must
also submit a separate public version of that comment with the business
confidential information deleted. Persons should write ``See attached
public version'' in the ``Type comment & Upload file'' field of the
public submission. Submissions should not attach separate cover
letters; rather, information that might appear in the cover letter
should be included in the comments you submit. Similarly, to the extent
possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments to
a submission in the same file as the submission itself and not as
separate files.
Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be
available for review no later than two weeks after the due date at
http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2010-0024.
Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 2010-24781 Filed 10-1-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W0-P