Notice2022-10082
Annual Review of Country Eligibility for Benefits Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
May 11, 2022
Issuing agencies
Trade Representative, Office of United States
Abstract
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is announcing 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 (AGOA TPSC Subcommittee) is developing recommendations for the President on AGOA country eligibility for calendar year 2023 and requests comments for this review. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AGOA TPSC Subcommittee will foster public participation via written submissions rather than an in-person hearing. This notice includes the schedule for submission of comments and responses to questions from the AGOA TPSC Subcommittee related to this review.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 91 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28856-28858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10082]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR-2022-0004]
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 Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is
announcing 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 (AGOA TPSC
Subcommittee) is developing recommendations for the President on AGOA
country eligibility for calendar year 2023 and requests comments for
this review. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AGOA TPSC Subcommittee
will foster public participation via written submissions rather than an
in-person hearing. This notice includes the schedule for submission of
comments and responses to questions from the AGOA TPSC Subcommittee
related to this review.
DATES:
June 23, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of written
comments on the eligibility of sub-Saharan African countries to receive
the benefits of AGOA.
July 7, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for the AGOA TPSC
Subcommittee to pose any questions on written comments.
July 15, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of
commenters' responses to questions from the AGOA TPSC Subcommittee.
July 22, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for replies from other
interested parties to the written comments and responses to the AGOA
TPSC Subcommittee questions.
August 3, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: The AGOA TPSC Subcommittee to
pose any additional questions on written comments.
August 12, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of
responses to any additional questions from the AGOA TPSC Subcommittee.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>
(<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>), using Docket Number USTR-2022-0004. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments in `Requirements for Submissions'
below. For alternatives to on-line submissions, please contact Jeremy
Streatfeild, Director of African Affairs, Office of African Affairs, in
advance of the relevant deadline at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#23694651464e5a0d660d70575146425745464a4f4763565057510d464c530d444c55"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c68ca3b4a3abbfe883e895b2b4a3a7b2a0a3afaaa286b3b5b2b4e8a3a9b6e8a1a9b0">[email protected]</span></a>
or (202) 395-8642.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeremy Streatfeild, Director of
African Affairs, Office of African Affairs, at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d892bdaabdb5a1f69df68bacaabdb9acbebdb1b4bc98adabacaaf6bdb7a8f6bfb7ae"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bcf6d9ced9d1c592f992efc8ced9ddc8dad9d5d0d8fcc9cfc8ce92d9d3cc92dbd3ca">[email protected]</span></a> or (202) 395-8642.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. 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 AGOA benefits if
he determines that the country meets the eligibility criteria set forth
in section 104 of AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3703) and 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, among
other things:
<bullet> A market-based economy
<bullet> the rule of law
<bullet> political pluralism
<bullet> the right to due process
<bullet> the elimination of barriers to U.S. trade and investment
[[Page 28857]]
<bullet> economic policies to reduce poverty
<bullet> a system to combat corruption and bribery
<bullet> 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. Section
502 of the 1974 Act provides for country eligibility criteria under
GSP. For a complete list of the AGOA eligibility criteria and more
information on the GSP criteria, see section 104 of the AGOA and
section 502 of the 1974 Act.
Section 506A of the 1974 Act requires the President to monitor and
annually review the progress of each sub-Saharan African country in
meeting the foregoing eligibility criteria in order to determine if a
beneficiary sub-Saharan African country should continue to be eligible,
and if a sub-Saharan African country that currently is not a
beneficiary, should be designated as a beneficiary. If the President
determines that a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country is not making
continual progress in meeting the eligibility requirements, the
President must terminate the designation of the country as a
beneficiary sub-Saharan African country. The President also may
withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment with
respect to specific articles from a country if they determine 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 2022 the President designated the following 36 countries as
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries:
1. Angola
2. Benin
3. Botswana
4. Burkina Faso
5. Cabo Verde
6. Central African Republic
7. Chad
8. Comoros
9. Democratic Republic of Congo (re-instated in 2021)
10. Republic of Congo
11. Cote d'Ivoire
12. Djibouti
13. Eswatini
14. Gabon
15. The Gambia
16. Ghana
17. Guinea-Bissau
18. Kenya
19. Lesotho
20. Liberia
21. Madagascar
22. Malawi
23. Mauritius
24. Mozambique
25. Namibia
26. Niger
27. Nigeria
28. Rwanda (AGOA apparel benefits suspended effective July 31, 2018)
29. Sao Tome & Principe
30. Senegal
31. Sierra Leone
32. South Africa
33. Tanzania
34. Togo
35. Uganda
36. Zambia
The President did not designate the following sub-Saharan African
countries as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries for 2022:
1. Burundi
2. Cameroon
3. Equatorial Guinea (graduated from GSP)
4. Eritrea
5. Ethiopia (terminated in 2022)
6. Guinea (terminated in 2022)
7. Mali (terminated in 2022)
8. Mauritania
9. Seychelles (graduated from GSP)
10. Somalia
11. South Sudan
12. Sudan
13. Zimbabwe
The AGOA TPSC Subcommittee is seeking public comments to develop
recommendations to the President in connection with the annual review
of sub-Saharan African countries' eligibility for AGOA benefits. The
Secretary of Labor may consider comments related to the child labor
criteria to prepare the U.S. Department of Labor's report on child
labor as required under section 504 of the 1974 Act.
II. Public Participation
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AGOA TPSC Subcommittee will
foster public participation via written submissions rather than an in-
person hearing for the 2023 AGOA Eligibility Review. USTR invites
public comment according to the schedule set out in the Dates section
above. The AGOA TPSC Subcommittee will review comments and replies to
comments, if any, and may ask clarifying questions to commenters
according to the schedule set out above. The AGOA TPSC Subcommittee
will post the questions it asks on the public docket, other than
questions that include properly designated business confidential
information (BCI). Any questions that include properly designated BCI
will not be posted on the docket for public viewing, but rather will be
sent via email to the relevant commenters. Replies to these questions
that also contain BCI must follow procedures laid out in section IV.
III. Requirements for Submissions
You must submit comments and answers to questions from the AGOA
TPSC Subcommittee by the applicable deadlines set forth in this notice.
You must make all submissions in English via <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, using
Docket Number USTR-2022-0004. USTR will not accept hand-delivered
submissions. To make a submission using <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, enter Docket
Number USTR-2022-0004 in the `search for' field 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' in the `refine documents
results' section on the left side of the screen and click on the link
entitled `comment.' The <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> website offers the option of
providing comments by filling in a `comment' field or by attaching a
document using the `attach files' field. The AGOA TPSC Subcommittee
prefers that you provide submissions in an attached document and note
`see attached' in the `comment' field on the online submission form. At
the beginning of the submission, or on the first page (if an
attachment) include the following text (in bold and underlined): (1)
``2023 AGOA Eligibility Review''; (2) the relevant country or
countries; and (3) whether the document is a comment, a reply to a
comment, or an answer to an AGOA Subcommittee question. Submissions
should not exceed 30 single-spaced, standard letter-size pages in 12-
point type, including attachments. Include any data attachments to the
submission in the same file as the submission itself, and not as
separate files. You will receive a tracking number upon completion of
the submission procedure at <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. The tracking number is
confirmation that <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> received the submission. Keep the
confirmation for your records. USTR is not able to provide technical
assistance for <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. USTR may not consider documents that
you do not submit in accordance with these instructions. If you are
unable to provide submissions as requested, please contact Jeremy
Streatfeild, Director of African, Office of African Affairs, in advance
of the relevant
[[Page 28858]]
deadline at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#400a2532252d396e056e1334322521342625292c2400353334326e252f306e272f36"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a5efc0d7c0c8dc8be08bf6d1d7c0c4d1c3c0ccc9c1e5d0d6d1d78bc0cad58bc2cad3">[email protected]</span></a> or (202) 395-8642, to
arrange for an alternative method of transmission.
General information concerning USTR is available at <a href="http://www.ustr.gov">www.ustr.gov</a>.
IV. Business Confidential Submissions
If you ask USTR to treat information you submitted as BCI, you must
certify that the information is business confidential and you would not
customarily release it to the public. You must clearly designate BCI by
marking the submission `BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL' at the top and bottom of
the cover page and each succeeding page, and indicating, via brackets,
the specific information that is BCI. Additionally, you must note that
the submission contains information that is business confidential by
including `Business Confidential' in the `comment' field. For any
submission containing BCI, you must separately submit a non-
confidential version, i.e., not as part of the same submission with the
confidential version, indicating where BCI has been redacted. USTR will
post the non-confidential version in the docket and it will be open to
public inspection.
V. Public Viewing of Review Submissions
USTR will make public versions of all documents relating to these
reviews available for public viewing pursuant to 15 CFR 2017.4, in
Docket Number USTR-2022-0004 on <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, upon completion of
processing. This usually is within two weeks of the relevant due date
or date of the submission.
VI. Petitions
At any time, any interested party may submit a petition to USTR
with respect to whether a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country is
meeting the AGOA eligibility requirements. An interested party may file
a petition through <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, under Docket Number USTR-2022-0004.
William Shpiece,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2022-10082 Filed 5-10-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F2-P
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