82 FR 32042 - African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Request for Public Comments on Annual Review of Country Eligibility for Benefits Under AGOA in Calendar Year 2018; Scheduling of Hearing, and Request for Public Comments
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 131 (July 11, 2017)
Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 131 (July 11, 2017)
| Page Range | 32042-32044 | |
| FR Document | 2017-14436 |
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 11, 2017)] [Notices] [Pages 32042-32044] From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org] [FR Doc No: 2017-14436] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE [Docket Number USTR-2017-0005] African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Request for Public Comments on Annual Review of Country Eligibility for Benefits Under AGOA in Calendar Year 2018; Scheduling of Hearing, and Request for Public Comments AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative. ACTION: Notice of initiation of review, public hearing and request for comments. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This notice announces the initiation of the annual review of the eligibility of the sub-Saharan African countries to receive the benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The AGOA Implementation Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (Subcommittee) is developing recommendations for the President on AGOA country eligibility for calendar year 2018. The Subcommittee is requesting written public comments for this review and will conduct a public hearing on this matter. The Subcommittee will consider the written comments, written testimony, and oral testimony in developing recommendations for the President. Comments received related to the child labor criteria may also be considered by the Secretary of Labor in the preparation of the Department of Labor's report on child labor as required under section 504 of the Trade Act of 1974. This notice identifies the eligibility criteria under AGOA that [[Page 32043]] must be considered under AGOA, and lists those sub-Saharan African countries that are currently eligible for the benefits of AGOA and those that were ineligible for such benefits in 2017. DATES: August 4, 2017: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the August 23, 2017 public hearing, and for filing pre-hearing briefs, statements, or comments on sub-Saharan African countries' AGOA eligibility. August 23, 2017: AGOA Implementation Subcommittee of the TPSC will convene a public hearing on AGOA country eligibility. August 30, 2017: Deadline for filing post-hearing briefs, statements, or comments on this matter. ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through the Federal eRulemaking portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments in section 3 below. The docket number is USTR-2017-0005. For alternatives to on-line submissions, please contact Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-3475. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions, please contact Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395-3475. All other questions should be directed to Alan Treat, Director for African Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, at (202) 395-9514. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1. Background AGOA (Title I of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, Pub. L. 106-200) (19 U.S.C. 2466a et seq.), as amended, authorizes the President to designate sub-Saharan African countries as beneficiaries eligible for duty-free treatment for certain additional products not included for duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) (1974 Act), as well as for the preferential treatment for certain textile and apparel articles. The President may designate a country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country eligible for these benefits of AGOA if he determines that the country meets the eligibility criteria set forth in Section 104 of AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3703) section 502 of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462). Section 104 of AGOA includes requirements that the country has established or is making continual progress toward establishing, inter alia: A market-based economy; the rule of law, political pluralism, and the right to due process; the elimination of barriers to U.S. trade and investment; economic policies to reduce poverty; a system to combat corruption and bribery; and the protection of internationally recognized worker rights. In addition, the country may not engage in activities that undermine U.S. national security or foreign policy interests or engage in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. Please see section 104 of the AGOA and section 502 of the 1874 Act for a complete list of the AGOA eligibility criteria. Section 502 of the 1974 Act provides for country eligibility criteria under GSP, which is generally reviewed as a result of a petition process. For more information on the GSP criteria and review process, see section 502 of the 1974 Act and the annual Federal Register notice initiating the GSP product and country practices review. 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, should be designated as such a country. 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 President may also withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment with respect to specific articles from a country if he determines that it would be more effective in promoting compliance with AGOA- eligibility requirements than terminating the designation of the country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country. For 2017, 38 countries were designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. These countries, as well as the countries currently designated as ineligible, are listed below. The Subcommittee is seeking public comments in connection with the annual review of sub-Saharan African countries' eligibility for AGOA's benefits. The Subcommittee will consider any such comments in developing recommendations to the President related to this review. 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 2017: Angola Republic of Benin Republic of Botswana Burkina Faso Republic of Cabo Verde Republic of Cameroon Central African Republic Republic of Chad Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros Republic of Congo Republic of Cote d'Ivoire Republic of Djibouti Ethiopia Gabonese Republic Republic of Ghana Republic of Guinea Republic of Guinea-Bissau Republic of Kenya Kingdom of Lesotho Republic of Liberia Republic of Madagascar Republic of Malawi Republic of Mali Islamic Republic of Mauritania 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 Sierra Leone Republic of South Africa 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 2017: BurundiDemocratic Republic of Congo The Gambia Republic of Equatorial Guinea (graduated from GSP) State of Eritrea Republic of Seychelles (graduated from GSP) Somalia Republic of South Sudan Republic of Sudan Kingdom of Swaziland Republic of Zimbabwe II. Notice of Public Hearing In addition to written comments from the public on the matters listed above, the Subcommittee of the TPSC will convene a public hearing at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 23, 2017, to receive testimony related to sub-Saharan African countries' eligibility for AGOA's benefits. Requests to present oral testimony at the hearing and pre-hearing briefs, statements, or comments must be received by noon August 4, 2017. The hearing will be held at 1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20508 and will be open to the public and to the [[Page 32044]] press. We will make a transcript of the hearing available on www.regulations.gov within approximately two weeks of the hearing. We must receive your written requests to present oral testimony at the hearing and pre-hearing briefs, statements, or comments by noon on Friday, August 4, 2017. You must make the intent to testify notification in the ``Type Comment'' field under docket number USTR- 2017-0005 on the www.regulations.gov Web site and you should include the name, address, telephone number and email address, if available, of the person presenting the testimony. You should attach a summary of the testimony by using the ``Upload File'' field. The name of the file also should include who will be presenting the testimony. Remarks at the hearing should be limited to no more than five minutes to allow for possible questions from the Subcommittee. You should submit all documents in accordance with the instructions in section III below. III. Requirements for Submissions In order to be assured of consideration, persons submitting a notification of intent to testify and/or written comments must do so in English by noon on Friday, August 4, 2017. USTR strongly encourages commenters to make on-line submissions, using the www.regulations.gov Web site. To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2017-0005 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 and click on the link entitled ``Comment Now!'' For further information on using the www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on ``How to Use Regulations.gov'' on the bottom of the home page. We will not accept hand-delivered submissions. For any comments submitted electronically containing business confidential information, the file name of the business confidential version should begin with the characters ``BC''. Any page containing business confidential information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page. Filers of submissions containing business confidential information also must submit a public version of their comments that we will place in the docket for public inspection. The file name of the public version should begin with the character ``P''. The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be followed by the name of the person or entity submitting the comments or reply comments. Filers submitting comments containing no business confidential information should name their file using the name of the person or entity submitting the comments. Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic submissions; rather, include any information that might appear in a cover letter in the comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in the same file as the submission itself, not as separate files. As noted, USTR strongly urges submitters to file comments through www.regulations.gov. You must make any alternative arrangements with Yvonne Jamison in advance of transmitting a comment. You can contact Ms. Jamison at (202) 395-3475. General information concerning USTR is available at www.ustr.gov. We will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except business confidential information. You can view comments on the www.regulations.gov Web site by entering the relevant docket number in the search field on the home page. IV. Petitions 15 CFR part 2017 permits any interested party to submit a petition to USTR, at any time, with respect to whether a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country is meeting the AGOA eligibility requirements. An interested party may file such a petition through www.regulations.gov, under docket number USTR-2017-0005. Edward Gresser, Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative. [FR Doc. 2017-14436 Filed 7-10-17; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3290-F7-P
![32042 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 131 / Tuesday, July 11, 2017 / Notices
requirements, export or import and the Secretary of State or the Secretary’s Article 13. This permit shall expire
customs regulations, measurement delegate. five years from the date of issuance in
capabilities and procedures, Article 8. (1) The permittee is the event that the permittee has not
requirements pertaining to the responsible for acquiring any right-of- commenced construction of the United
pipeline’s capacity, and other pipeline way grants or easements, permits, and States facilities by that deadline.
regulations. This permit shall continue other authorizations as may become In witness whereof, I, Acting Assistant
in force and effect only so long as the necessary and appropriate. Secretary of State for Oceans and
permittee shall continue the operations (2) The permittee shall hold harmless International Environmental and
hereby authorized in accordance with and indemnify the United States from Scientific Affairs, have hereunto set my
such limitations, terms, and conditions. any claimed or adjudged liability arising hand this 28th day of June 2017 in the
Article 5. Upon the termination, out of construction, connection, City of Washington, District of
revocation, or surrender of this permit, operation, or maintenance of the Columbia.
and unless otherwise agreed by the facilities, including but not limited to Judith G. Garber
Secretary of State or the Secretary’s environmental contamination from the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for
delegate, the United States facilities in release or threatened release or Oceans and International Environmental
the immediate vicinity of the discharge of hazardous substances and and Scientific Affairs
international boundary shall be hazardous waste. End of permit text.
removed by and at the expense of the (3) The permittee shall maintain the Matthew T. McManus,
permittee within such time as the United States facilities and every part
Secretary of State or the Secretary’s Deputy Director, Office of Policy Analysis and
thereof in a condition of good repair for Public Diplomacy, Energy Resources Bureau,
delegate may specify, and upon failure their safe operation, and in compliance Department of State.
of the permittee to remove, or to take with prevailing environmental [FR Doc. 2017–14440 Filed 7–10–17; 8:45 am]
such other appropriate action with standards and regulations.
respect to, this portion of the United BILLING CODE 4710–AE–P
Article 9. The permittee shall take all
States facilities as ordered, the Secretary necessary measures to prevent or
of State or the Secretary’s delegate may mitigate adverse impacts on or
direct that possession of such facilities OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
disruption of the human environment in TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
be taken and that they be removed or
connection with the construction,
other appropriate action taken, at the [Docket Number USTR–2017–0005]
connection, operation, and maintenance
expense of the permittee; and the
of the United States facilities. Such
permittee shall have no claim for African Growth and Opportunity Act
measures will include the resource
damages by reason of such possession, (AGOA): Request for Public Comments
protection measures identified in the
removal, or other action. on Annual Review of Country Eligibility
Article 6. When, in the opinion of the Final EA and any that are approved in
the future by the Department of State or for Benefits Under AGOA in Calendar
President of the United States, the Year 2018; Scheduling of Hearing, and
national security of the United States other relevant federal or state agencies,
as well as any other measures deemed Request for Public Comments
demands it, due notice being given by
the Secretary of State or the Secretary’s prudent by the permittee. AGENCY: Office of the United States
delegate, the United States shall have Article 10. The permittee shall file Trade Representative.
the right to enter upon and take with the appropriate agencies of the ACTION: Notice of initiation of review,
possession of any of the United States U.S. government such statements or public hearing and request for
facilities or parts thereof; to retain reports under oath with respect to the comments.
possession, management, or control United States facilities, and/or
thereof for such length of time as may permittee’s activities and operations in SUMMARY: This notice announces the
appear to the President to be necessary; connection therewith, as are now, or initiation of the annual review of the
and thereafter to restore possession and may hereafter, be required under any eligibility of the sub-Saharan African
control to the permittee. In the event laws or regulations of the U.S. countries to receive the benefits of the
that the United States shall exercise government or its agencies. The African Growth and Opportunity Act
such right, it shall pay to the permittee permittee shall file electronic Export (AGOA). The AGOA Implementation
just and fair compensation for the use of Information where required. Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff
such United States facilities upon the Article 11. The permittee shall Committee (Subcommittee) is
basis of a reasonable profit in normal provide information upon request to the developing recommendations for the
conditions, and the cost of restoring said Department of State with regard to the President on AGOA country eligibility
facilities to as good condition as existed United States facilities. Such requests for calendar year 2018. The
at the time of entering and taking over could include, for example, information Subcommittee is requesting written
the same, less the reasonable value of concerning current conditions or public comments for this review and
any improvements that may have been anticipated changes in ownership or will conduct a public hearing on this
made by the United States. control, construction, connection, matter. The Subcommittee will consider
Article 7. Any transfer of ownership operation, or maintenance of the United the written comments, written
or control of the United States facilities States facilities. testimony, and oral testimony in
or any part thereof shall be immediately Article 12. The permittee shall developing recommendations for the
notified in writing to the Department of provide written notice to the President. Comments received related to
mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES
State, including the submission of Department of State at such time as the the child labor criteria may also be
information identifying the transferee. construction authorized by this permit considered by the Secretary of Labor in
This permit shall remain in force subject is begun, at such time as construction is the preparation of the Department of
to all the conditions, permissions and completed, interrupted, or Labor’s report on child labor as required
requirements of this permit and any discontinued, and at other times as may under section 504 of the Trade Act of
amendments thereto unless be designated by the Department of 1974. This notice identifies the
subsequently terminated or amended by State. eligibility criteria under AGOA that
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![32044 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 131 / Tuesday, July 11, 2017 / Notices
press. We will make a transcript of the ‘‘P’’ should be followed by the name of on the operation of the Caribbean Basin
hearing available on the person or entity submitting the Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), as
www.regulations.gov within comments or reply comments. Filers amended by the Caribbean Basin Trade
approximately two weeks of the hearing. submitting comments containing no Partnership Act (CBTPA) (19 U.S.C.
We must receive your written requests business confidential information 2701 et seq.). Section 212(f) of the
to present oral testimony at the hearing should name their file using the name CBERA, as amended, requires the
and pre-hearing briefs, statements, or of the person or entity submitting the United States Trade Representative to
comments by noon on Friday, August 4, comments. submit a report to Congress regarding
2017. You must make the intent to Please do not attach separate cover the operation of the CBERA and CBTPA
testify notification in the ‘‘Type letters to electronic submissions; rather, (together commonly referred to as the
Comment’’ field under docket number include any information that might Caribbean Basin Initiative, or CBI) on or
USTR–2017–0005 on the appear in a cover letter in the comments before December 31, 2017. The TPSC
www.regulations.gov Web site and you themselves. Similarly, to the extent invites written comments concerning
should include the name, address, possible, please include any exhibits, the operation of the CBI, including the
telephone number and email address, if annexes, or other attachments in the performance of each CBERA and CBTPA
available, of the person presenting the same file as the submission itself, not as beneficiary country under the criteria
testimony. You should attach a separate files. described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and
summary of the testimony by using the As noted, USTR strongly urges 213(b)(5)(B) of CBERA, as amended. The
‘‘Upload File’’ field. The name of the submitters to file comments through TPSC will use this information to
file also should include who will be www.regulations.gov. You must make prepare the report to Congress on the
presenting the testimony. Remarks at any alternative arrangements with operation of the program.
the hearing should be limited to no Yvonne Jamison in advance of DATES: The TPSC must receive your
more than five minutes to allow for transmitting a comment. You can written comment by September 15,
possible questions from the contact Ms. Jamison at (202) 395–3475. 2017.
Subcommittee. You should submit all General information concerning USTR ADDRESSES: The TPSC strongly prefers
documents in accordance with the is available at www.ustr.gov. electronic submissions made through
instructions in section III below. We will post comments in the docket the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
for public inspection, except business www.regulations.gov. Follow the
III. Requirements for Submissions
confidential information. You can view instructions for submitting comments in
In order to be assured of comments on the www.regulations.gov section III below. The docket number is
consideration, persons submitting a Web site by entering the relevant docket USTR–2017–0007. For alternatives to
notification of intent to testify and/or number in the search field on the home on-line submissions, please contact
written comments must do so in English page. Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395–3475.
by noon on Friday, August 4, 2017. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
IV. Petitions
USTR strongly encourages commenters procedural questions concerning written
to make on-line submissions, using the 15 CFR part 2017 permits any
comments, contact Yvonne Jamison at
www.regulations.gov Web site. To interested party to submit a petition to
(202) 395–3475. Direct all other
submit comments via USTR, at any time, with respect to
questions to Albert Pyott at (202) 395–
www.regulations.gov, enter docket whether a beneficiary sub-Saharan
9539.
number USTR–2017–0005 on the home African country is meeting the AGOA
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
page and click ‘‘search.’’ The site will eligibility requirements. An interested
provide a search-results page listing all party may file such a petition through I. Background
documents associated with this docket. www.regulations.gov, under docket Section 212(f)(1) of CBERA (19 U.S.C.
Find a reference to this notice and click number USTR–2017–0005. 2702(f)(1)) requires the United States
on the link entitled ‘‘Comment Now!’’ Edward Gresser, Trade Representative to report on the
For further information on using the performance of each CBERA or CBTPA
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee,
www.regulations.gov Web site, please Office of the United States Trade beneficiary country. Barbados, Belize,
consult the resources provided on the Representative. Curacao, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint
Web site by clicking on ‘‘How to Use [FR Doc. 2017–14436 Filed 7–10–17; 8:45 am] Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago receive
Regulations.gov’’ on the bottom of the benefits under both CBERA and CBTPA.
BILLING CODE 3290–F7–P
home page. We will not accept hand- Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the
delivered submissions. Bahamas, British Virgin Islands,
For any comments submitted OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint
electronically containing business TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the
confidential information, the file name Grenadines currently receive benefits
of the business confidential version [Docket Number USTR–2017–0007]
only under CBERA.
should begin with the characters ‘‘BC’’. As described in more detail below,
Request for Comments on Operation
Any page containing business the TSPC seeks comments on any aspect
of the Caribbean Basin Economic
confidential information must be clearly of the program’s operation, including
Recovery Act and the Caribbean Basin
marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’ the performance of CBERA and CBTPA
Trade Partnership Act
on the top of that page. Filers of beneficiary countries under the criteria
mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES
submissions containing business AGENCY: Office of the United States described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and
confidential information also must Trade Representative. 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended.
submit a public version of their ACTION: Notice and request for You can access these criteria at http://
comments that we will place in the comments. www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-
docket for public inspection. The file title19/html/USCODE-2011-title19-
name of the public version should begin SUMMARY:The Trade Policy Staff chap15.htm. The report also will
with the character ‘‘P’’. The ‘‘BC’’ and Committee (TPSC) is seeking comments examine the CBI’s effect on the volume
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Document Created: 2018-11-14 10:22:06
Document Modified: 2018-11-14 10:22:06
| Category | Regulatory Information | |
| Collection | Federal Register | |
| sudoc Class | AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106: | |
| Publisher | Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration | |
| Section | Notices | |
| Action | Notice of initiation of review, public hearing and request for comments. | |
| Dates | August 4, 2017: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the August 23, 2017 public hearing, and for filing pre-hearing briefs, statements, or comments on sub-Saharan African countries' AGOA eligibility. | |
| Contact | For procedural questions, please contact Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395-3475. All other questions should be directed to Alan Treat, Director for African Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, at (202) 395-9514. | |
| FR Citation | 82 FR 32042 |
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