Determinations Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act

AGENCY:

Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has determined that Benin has adopted an effective visa system and related procedures to prevent unlawful transshipment and the use of counterfeit documents in connection with shipments of textile and apparel articles and has implemented and follows, or is making substantial progress toward implementing and following, the customs procedures required by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Therefore, imports of eligible products from Benin qualify for the textile and apparel benefits provided under the AGOA.

DATES:

Effective, January 28, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patrick Coleman, Director for African Affairs, Office of the United States Trade Representative, (202) 395-9514.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The AGOA (Title I of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-200) provides preferential tariff treatment for imports of certain textile and apparel products of beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. The textile and apparel trade benefits under the AGOA are available to imports of eligible products from countries that the President designates as “beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries,” provided that these countries: (1) Have adopted an effective visa system and related procedures to prevent unlawful transshipment and the use of counterfeit documents; and (2) have implemented and follow, or are making substantial progress toward implementing and following, certain customs procedures that assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection in verifying the origin of the products.

In Proclamation 7350 (Oct. 2, 2000), the President designated Benin as a “beneficiary sub-Saharan African country.” Proclamation 7350 delegated to the USTR the authority to determine whether designated countries have met the two requirements described above. The President directed the USTR to announce any such determinations in the Federal Register and to implement them through modifications of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS). Based on actions that Benin has taken, I have determined that Benin has satisfied these two requirements.

Accordingly, pursuant to the authority vested in the USTR by Proclamation 7350, U.S. note 7(a) to subchapter II of chapter 98 of the HTS and U.S. note 1 to subchapter XIX of chapter 98 of the HTS are each modified by inserting “Benin” in alphabetical sequence in the list of countries. The foregoing modifications to the HTS are effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the date of publication of this notice. Importers claiming preferential tariff treatment under the AGOA for entries of textile and apparel articles should ensure that those entries meet the applicable visa requirements. See Visa Requirements Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, 66 FR 7837 (2001).