Title 15—Commerce and Foreign Trade--Volume 1
PART 2017—PETITION PROCESS TO REVIEW ELIGIBILITY OF COUNTRIES UNDER THE AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (AGOA)
§ 2017.0   Definitions.
For purposes of this part:
AGOA means the African Growth and Opportunity Act, as amended (Title I of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, Pub. L. 106-200) (19 U.S.C. 2466a et seq. ).
TPC means the Trade Policy Committee.
TPRG means the Trade Policy Review Group.
TPSC means the Trade Policy Staff Committee.
USTR means the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
§ 2017.1   Petition for review.
(a) Any person may submit a petition to USTR in accordance with this section with respect to the compliance of any country listed in section 107 of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3706), with the eligibility requirements set forth in section 104 of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3703) and the eligibility criteria set forth in section 502 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462).
(b) A petition must:
(1) Identify the sub-Saharan African country that would be subject to the review;
(2) Indicate the specific eligibility requirement or criterion that the petitioner believes warrants review; and
(3) Include all available supporting arguments and information to explain why review is warranted.
(c) A petition requesting an out-of-cycle review under section 111(d)(4) of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 2466a(d)(4)) must contain a statement indicating the existence of exceptional circumstances warranting the out-of-cycle review.
(d) The TPSC may request additional information.
§ 2017.2   Action following receipt of a petition.
(a) USTR will consider a petition received in accordance with the schedule published in the Federal Register for the annual (normal cycle) AGOA review process under section 111 of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 2466a) in conjunction with that annual review.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, USTR will consider a petition received at any time other than the time described in paragraph (a) of this section, in accordance with the schedule published in the Federal Register for the next annual (normal cycle) AGOA review process.
(c)(1) If a petition received at any time other than the time described in paragraph (a), requests an out-of-cycle review under section 111(d)(4) of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 2466a(d)(4)), within 60 days:
(i) The AGOA Implementation Subcommittee will review the petition and report to the TPSC whether there are exceptional circumstances warranting an out-of-cycle review;
(ii) The TPSC will conduct further review as necessary;
(iii) The TPSC Chair will report the results of the TPSC review to the U.S. Trade Representative; and
(iv) The U.S. Trade Representative may convene the TPRG or the TPC for further review of the TPSC recommendations and other decisions.
(2) If the U.S. Trade Representative finds that there are exceptional circumstances warranting an out-of-cycle review, within 30 days of that determination USTR will announce a schedule for the review in the Federal Register. The schedule will include the deadline and guidelines for any party to submit written comments supporting, opposing or otherwise commenting on any proposed action.
(3) For any out-of-cycle review initiated under this paragraph (c), the AGOA Implementation Subcommittee will consider public input received by the applicable deadline and any other relevant information and report to the TPSC. The TPSC will conduct further review as necessary and prepare recommendations for the U.S. Trade Representative. The U.S. Trade Representative may convene the TPRG or the TPC for further review of recommendations and other decisions. The U.S. Trade Representative will make recommendations to the President, which may include a recommendation that no action be taken.
§ 2017.3   Publication regarding petitions.
USTR will publish in the Federal Register :
(a) A list of actions taken in response to a petition, such as the publication of a Presidential proclamation modifying the designation of a country or the application of duty-free treatment with respect to articles from a country pursuant to the AGOA; and
(b) A list of petitions upon which no decision was made, and thus which are pending further review.
§ 2017.4   Public inspection.
USTR will make publicly available at www.regulations.gov:
(a) Any written request, brief or similar submission of information made pursuant to this part; and
(b) Any stenographic record of any public hearing that may be held pursuant to this part.
(c)(1) USTR will grant business confidential status and withhold from public disclosure the information submitted if the petitioner certifies that the information customarily would not be released to the public and clearly designates the information as confidential business information.
(2) To request business confidential status the petitioner must mark the submission “BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL” at the top and bottom of the cover page and on each succeeding page, and the submission should indicate, via brackets, the specific information that is confidential.
(3) If the submission contains business confidential information, the petitioner also must submit a non-confidential version or summary, indicating where confidential information has been redacted, and a written explanation of why the material should be protected.
(4) The non-confidential version or summary will be made publicly available at www.regulations.gov.
(5) A request for exemption of any particular information may be denied if it is determined that such information is not entitled to exemption under law. In the event of such a denial, the information will be returned to the person who submitted it, with a statement of the reasons for the denial.
§ 2017.5   Expiration.
The Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 extended the AGOA until September 30, 2025 (Pub. L. 114-27, sec. 103, 129 Stat. 364). Accordingly, this part will expire on that date unless extended by statute.