II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 101

To promote trade in United States agricultural commodities, livestock, and

value-added products, and to prepare for future bilateral and multilateral

trade negotiations.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. LUGAR (for himself, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. FITZGERALD, and Mr.

COCHRAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To promote trade in United States agricultural commodities,

livestock, and value-added products, and to prepare for

future bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Agricul5 tural Trade Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. OBJECTIVES FOR AGRICULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS.

7 It is the sense of the Congress that—

8 The principal agricultural trade negotiating objec9 tives of the United States for future multilateral and bilat-
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1 eral trade negotiations, including the World Trade Organi2 zation, shall be to achieve, on an expedited basis, and to

3 the maximum extent feasible, more open and fair condi4 tions for trade in agricultural commodities by—

5 (1) developing, strengthening, and clarifying

6 rules for agricultural trade, including disciplines on

7 restrictive or trade-distorting import and export

8 practices, including—

9 (A) enhancing the operation and effective10 ness of the relevant Uruguay Round Agree11 ments designed to define, deter, and discourage

12 the persistent use of unfair trade practices; and

13 (B) enforcing and strengthening rules of

14 the World Trade Organization regarding—

15 (i) trade-distorting practices of state

16 trading enterprises; and

17 (ii) the acts, practices, or policies of a

18 foreign government which unreasonably—

19 (I) require that substantial direct

20 investment in the foreign country be

21 made as a condition for carrying on

22 business in the foreign country;

23 (II) require that intellectual

24 property be licensed to the foreign
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1 country or to any firm of the foreign

2 country; or

3 (III) delay or preclude implemen4 tation of a report of a dispute panel

5 of the World Trade Organization;

6 (2) increasing United States agricultural ex7 ports by eliminating barriers to trade (including

8 transparent and nontransparent barriers);

9 (3) eliminating other specific constraints to fair

10 trade and more open markets access in foreign mar11 kets, such as export subsidies, quotas, and other

12 nontariff import barriers;

13 (4) developing, strengthening, and clarifying

14 rules that address practices that unfairly limit

15 United States market access opportunities or distort

16 agricultural markets to the detriment of the United

17 States, including—

18 (A) unfair or trade-distorted activities of

19 state trading enterprises and other administra20 tive mechanisms that result in inadequate price

21 transparency;

22 (B) unjustified restrictions or commercial

23 requirements affecting new technologies, includ24 ing biotechnology;
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1 (C) unjustified sanitary or phytosanitary

2 restrictions; and

3 (D) restrictive rules in the establishment

4 and administration of tariff-rate quotas;

5 (5) ensuring that there are reliable suppliers of

6 agricultural commodities in international commerce

7 by encouraging countries to treat foreign buyers no

8 less favorably than domestic buyers of the commod9 ity or product involved; and

10 (6) eliminating barriers for meeting the food

11 needs of an increasing world population through the

12 use of biotechnology by ensuring access to United

13 States commodities derived from biotechnology that

14 is scientifically defensible, opposing the establish15 ment of projectionist trade measures disguised as

16 health standards, and protecting continual delays by

17 other countries in their approval processes—which

18 constitute non-tariff trade barriers.

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

20 As used in this Act, the terms ‘‘agricultural commod21 ity’’ and ‘‘United States agricultural commodity’’ have the

22 meanings provided in section 102 (1) and (7) of the Agri23 cultural Trade Act of 1978, respectively.
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1 SEC. 4. AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, LIVESTOCK, AND

2 PRODUCTS EXEMPT FROM SANCTIONS.

3 (a) DEFINITION.—Unilateral Economic Sanction.

4 The term ‘‘unilateral economic sanction’’ means any pro5 hibition, restriction, or condition on economic activity, in6 cluding economic assistance, with respect to a foreign

7 country or foreign entity that is imposed by the United

8 States for reasons of foreign policy or national security,

9 except in a case in which the United States imposes the

10 measure pursuant to a multilateral regime and the other

11 members of that regime have agreed to impose substan12 tially equivalent measures.

13 (b) EXEMPTION.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

15 and notwithstanding any other provision of law, in

16 the case of a unilateral economic sanction imposed

17 by the United States on another country, the follow18 ing shall be exempt from the unilateral economic

19 sanction—

20 (A) programs administered through Public

21 Law 480 (7 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);

22 (B) programs administered through section

23 416 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C.

24 1431);
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1 (C) the program administered through sec2 tion 1113 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7

3 U.S.C. 1736–1); and

4 (D) commercial sales and humanitarian as5 sistance involving agricultural commodities.

6 (2) DETERMINATION BY PRESIDENT.—If the

7 President determines that the exemption under

8 paragraph (1) should not apply to the unilateral eco9 nomic sanction for reasons of foreign policy or na10 tional security, the President may include the activi11 ties described in paragraph (1) in the unilateral eco12 nomic sanction.

13 (c) CURRENT SANCTIONS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

15 the exemption under subsection (b) shall apply to

16 unilateral economic sanctions that are in effect as of

17 the date of the enactment of this Act.

18 (2) PRESIDENTIAL REVIEW.—The President

19 shall, within 90 days of the date of enactment of

20 this Act, review all unilateral economic sanctions

21 under this subsection to determine whether the ex22 emption under subsection (b) should apply to the

23 sanction.

24 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The exemption under

25 subsection (b) shall become effective for unilateral
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1 economic sanctions that are in effect on the date of

2 enactment of this Act 180 days after the date of en3 actment of this Act unless the President has deter4 mined that the exemption should not apply to the

5 sanction.

6 (d) REPORT.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the President determines

8 that the exemption under subsection (b) should not

9 apply to a unilateral economic sanction, the Presi10 dent shall provide a report to the Committee on Ag11 riculture in the House of Representatives, and the

12 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

13 in the Senate—

14 (A) in the case of a unilateral economic

15 sanction reviewed under subsection (c), within

16 15 days from the date of the determination in

17 paragraph (2) of that subsection; and

18 (B) in the case of a unilateral economic

19 sanction that is imposed after the date of enact20 ment of this Act, at the time of the imposition

21 of the sanction.

22 (2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report shall

23 contain—

24 (A) an explanation why, because of reasons

25 of foreign policy or national security, the ex-
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1 emption should not apply to the unilateral eco2 nomic sanction; and

3 (B) an assessment by the Secretary of

4 Agriculture—

5 (i) regarding export sales—

6 (I) in the case of a sanction in

7 effect as of the date of enactment of

8 this Act, whether markets in the sanc9 tioned country or countries present a

10 substantial trade opportunity for ex11 port sales of an United States agricul12 tural commodity; or

13 (II) in the case of any other

14 sanction, the extent to which any

15 country or countries to be sanctioned

16 or likely to be sanctioned are markets

17 that accounted for, in the preceding

18 calendar year, more than 3 percent of

19 all export sales from the United

20 States of an agricultural commodity;

21 (ii) regarding the effect on United

22 States agricultural commodities—

23 (I) in the case of a sanction in

24 effect as of the date of enactment of

25 this Act, the potential for exports of
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1 United States commodities in the

2 sanctioned country or countries; and

3 (II) in the case of any other

4 sanction, the likelihood that exports of

5 agricultural commodities from the

6 United States will be affected by the

7 unilateral economic sanction or by re8 taliation by any country to be sanc9 tioned or likely to be sanctioned, and

10 specific commodities which are most

11 likely to be affected;

12 (iii) regarding producer income—

13 (I) in the case of a sanction in

14 effect as of the date of enactment of

15 this Act, the potential for increasing

16 the income of producers of the com17 modities involved; and

18 (II) in the case of any other

19 sanction, the likely effect on incomes

20 of producers of the commodities in21 volved;

22 (iv) regarding displacement of United

23 States suppliers—

24 (I) in the case of a sanction in

25 effect as of the date of enactment of
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1 this Act, the potential for increased

2 competition for United States suppli3 ers of the agricultural commodity in

4 countries that are not subject to a

5 sanction; and

6 (II) in the case of any other

7 sanction, the extent to which the uni8 lateral economic sanction would per9 mit foreign suppliers to replace

10 United States suppliers; and

11 (v) regarding the reputation of United

12 States farmers as reliable suppliers—

13 (I) in the case of a sanction in

14 effect as of the date of enactment of

15 this Act, whether removing the sanc16 tion would increase the reputation of

17 United States farmers as reliable sup18 pliers of agricultural commodities in

19 general, and of specific commodities

20 identified by the Secretary; and

21 (II) in the case of any other

22 sanction, the likely effect of the pro23 posed sanction on the reputation of

24 United States farmers as reliable sup25 pliers of agricultural commodities in
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1 general, and of specific commodities

2 identified by the Secretary.

3 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub4 section (c)(3), this section shall become effective upon the

5 date of enactment of this Act.

6 SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT AND CONSULTATION

7 FOR AGRICULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS.

8 Section 161 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.

9 2211) is amended by adding at the end a new subsection

10 (d) that reads as follows:

11 ‘‘(d) CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT GROUP FOR AGRI12 CULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS.—

13 ‘‘(1) There is established a Congressional Over14 sight Group for Agricultural Negotiations (Oversight

15 Group) that shall provide oversight and guidance

16 with respect to agricultural trade policy and negotia17 tion of agricultural trade issues.

18 ‘‘(A) Subject to clauses (i) and (ii), the

19 Oversight Group shall consist of 3 members of

20 the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and

21 Forestry of the Senate and 3 members of the

22 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep23 resentatives.

24 ‘‘(i) The President pro tempore of the

25 Senate, upon the recommendation of the
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1 Chairman of the Committee on Agri2 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry, shall se3 lect two members from the majority party,

4 and one member from the minority party,

5 of the Senate.

6 ‘‘(ii) The Speaker of the House of

7 Representatives, upon the recommendation

8 of the Chairman of the Committee on Ag9 riculture, shall select 2 members from the

10 majority party, and one member from the

11 minority party, of the House of Represent12 atives.

13 ‘‘(B) Members of the House and Senate

14 who are selected as members of the Oversight

15 Group shall be accredited by the United States

16 Trade Representative as official advisers to the

17 United States delegations to international con18 ferences, meetings, and negotiating sessions re19 lating to agricultural trade policy and negotia20 tion of agricultural trade issues.

21 ‘‘(2) All negotiating proposals by the United

22 States and negotiations that affect agricultural trade

23 shall be reviewed by the Oversight Group prior to an

24 agreement being initiated by the President.
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1 ‘‘(3) All information about negotiating propos2 als by the United States and foreign countries af3 fecting agricultural trade negotiations shall be made

4 available to the Oversight Group by the United

5 States Trade Representative.

6 ‘‘(4) Within 60 days of enactment of this Act,

7 the United States Trade Representative shall estab8 lish guidelines for ensuring the useful and timely

9 supply of information to the Oversight Group and

10 the communication of the oversight and guidance by

11 the Oversight Group to the United States Trade

12 Representative.

13 ‘‘(A) The guidelines shall establish proce14 dures for the United States Trade Representa15 tive to provide to the Oversight Group—

16 ‘‘(i) information regarding the prin17 cipal multilateral and bilateral negotiating

18 objectives affecting agricultural trade, and

19 the progress being made toward their

20 achievement;

21 ‘‘(ii) information regarding the imple22 mentation, administration, and effective23 ness of recently concluded multilateral and

24 bilateral agricultural trade agreements and
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1 the resolution of agricultural trade dis2 putes;

3 ‘‘(iii) a schedule for an initial meeting,

4 prior to the commencement of negotiations

5 involving agricultural trade, between the

6 Oversight Group and the United States

7 Trade Representative, about the objectives

8 of the negotiations;

9 ‘‘(iv) written or oral briefings about

10 the status of ongoing negotiations involving

11 agricultural trade;

12 ‘‘(v) prior to the President initialing

13 the trade agreement, written or oral brief14 ings about the results of negotiations in15 volving agricultural trade;

16 ‘‘(vi) information about changes in

17 United States laws that are necessary as a

18 result of the negotiations; and

19 ‘‘(vii) a schedule and procedure for

20 the Oversight Group to provide advice and

21 guidance to the United States Trade Rep22 resentative regarding—

23 ‘‘(I) the negotiations involving

24 agricultural trade; and
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1 ‘‘(II) changes in United States

2 laws that are necessary as a result of

3 the negotiations.

4 ‘‘(B) The United States Trade Representa5 tive shall meet with the Oversight Group at a

6 minimum on a quarterly basis, and as needed

7 during a negotiation involving agricultural

8 trade.

9 ‘‘(C) If determined necessary by either

10 party, consultations between the Oversight

11 Group and the United States Trade Represent12 ative may be conducted in executive session.’’.

13 SEC. 6. SALE OR BARTER OF FOOD ASSISTANCE.

14 It is the sense of Congress that—

15 The amendment to section 203 of the Agricultural

16 Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (Pub. L.

17 480) made in section 208 of the Federal Agriculture Im18 provement and Reform Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 101–127)

19 was intended to allow the sale or barter of United States

20 agricultural commodities included in United States food

21 assistance only within the recipient country or countries

22 adjacent to the recipient country, unless such sale or bar23 ter within the recipient country or adjacent countries—

24 (1) is not practicable; and
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1 (2) will not disrupt commercial markets for the

2 agricultural commodity involved.

3 SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL

4 COMMODITIES, LIVESTOCK, AND AGRICUL5 TURAL PRODUCTS.

6 (a) IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Chapter 8 of title

7 I of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the

8 end the following:

9 ‘‘SEC. 183. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT ENGAGE

10 IN UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES AFFECTING

11 UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL COMMOD12 ITIES.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that is

14 30 days after the date on which the annual report is re15 quired to be submitted to congressional committees under

16 section 181(b), the United States Trade Representative

17 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Trade Rep18 resentative’) shall identify—

19 ‘‘(1) those foreign countries that—

20 ‘‘(A) deny fair and equitable market access

21 to United States agricultural commodities

22 through discriminatory nontariff trade barriers;

23 ‘‘(B) employ unfair export subsidies that

24 adversely affect market share of United States

25 exports of agricultural commodities; or
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1 ‘‘(C) unreasonably delay or preclude imple2 mentation of a report of a dispute panel of the

3 World Trade Organization; or

4 ‘‘(2) those foreign countries identified under

5 paragraph (1) that are determined by the Trade

6 Representative to be priority foreign countries.

7 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES FOR IDENTIFICATION.—

8 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA.—In identifying priority foreign

9 countries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Rep10 resentative shall only identify those foreign countries

11 that—

12 ‘‘(A) engage in or have the most onerous

13 or egregious acts, policies, or practices that

14 deny fair and equitable market access to United

15 States agricultural commodities;

16 ‘‘(B) engage in discriminatory nontariff

17 trade barriers for the importation of United

18 States agricultural commodities that are not

19 based on public health concerns or cannot be

20 substantiated by reliable analytical methods;

21 ‘‘(C) use unfair export subsidies;

22 ‘‘(D) unreasonably delay or preclude imple23 mentation of a report of a dispute panel of the

24 World Trade Organization;
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1 ‘‘(E) whose acts, policies, or practices de2 scribed in subparagraphs (A)–(D) have the

3 greatest adverse impact (actual or potential) on

4 the relevant United States agricultural com5 modities; or

6 ‘‘(F) that are not negotiating in good faith

7 about adopting fair and equitable trade prac8 tices, or making significant progress in bilateral

9 or multilateral negotiations, in regard to United

10 States agricultural commodities.

11 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION AND CONSIDERATION RE12 QUIREMENTS.—In identifying priority foreign coun13 tries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Representa14 tive shall—

15 ‘‘(A) consult with the Secretary of Agri16 culture and other appropriate officers of the

17 Federal Government; and

18 ‘‘(B) take into account information from

19 such sources as may be available to the Trade

20 Representative and such information as may be

21 submitted to the Trade Representative by inter22 ested persons, including information contained

23 in reports submitted under section 181(b) and

24 petitions submitted under section 302.
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1 ‘‘(3) FACTUAL BASIS REQUIREMENT.—The

2 Trade Representative may identify a foreign country

3 under subsection (a)(1) only if the Trade Represent4 ative finds that there is a factual basis for identify5 ing the foreign country as engaging in a trade prac6 tice under subsection (a)(1).

7 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF HISTORICAL FAC8 TORS.—In identifying foreign countries under para9 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), the Trade Rep10 resentative shall take into account—

11 ‘‘(A) the history of agricultural trade rela12 tions with the foreign country, including any

13 previous identification under subsection (a)(2);

14 and

15 ‘‘(B) the history of efforts of the United

16 States, and the response of the foreign country,

17 to achieve fair trade practices affecting trade in

18 the United States agricultural commodities.

19 ‘‘(c) REVOCATIONS AND ADDITIONAL IDENTIFICA20 TIONS.—

21 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ACT AT ANY TIME.—If in22 formation available to the Trade Representative indi23 cates that such action is appropriate, the Trade

24 Representative may at any time—
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1 ‘‘(A) revoke the identification of any for2 eign country as a priority foreign country under

3 this section; or

4 ‘‘(B) identify any foreign country as a pri5 ority foreign country under this section.

6 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION REPORTS.—The Trade Rep7 resentative shall include in the semiannual report

8 submitted to the Congress under section 309(3) a

9 detailed explanation of the reasons for the revocation

10 under paragraph (1) of the identification of any for11 eign country as a priority foreign country under this

12 section.

13 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

14 terms ‘agricultural commodity’ and ‘United States agricul15 tural commodity’ have the meanings provided in section

16 102 (1) and (7) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978,

17 respectively.

18 ‘‘(e) PUBLICATION.—The Trade Representative shall

19 publish in the Federal Register a list of foreign countries

20 identified under subsection (a) and shall make such revi21 sions to the list as may be required by reason of the action

22 under subsection (c).

23 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Trade Representative

24 shall, not later than the date by which countries are identi25 fied under subsection (a), transmit to the Committee on
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1 Ways and Means and the Committee on Agriculture of the

2 House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance

3 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For4 estry of the Senate, a report on the actions taken under

5 this section during the 12 months preceding such report,

6 and the reasons for such actions, including a description

7 of progress made in achieving fair and equitable market

8 access for United States agricultural commodities.’’.

9 (b) REMEDIAL ACTIONS TO UNFAIR TRADE PRAC10 TICES INVOLVING UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL COM11 MODITIES, LIVESTOCK, AND AGRICULTURAL PROD12 UCTS.—

13 (1) Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19

14 U.S.C. 2411) is amended—

15 (A) in subsection (a)(1) by inserting ‘‘sec16 tion 183(a) or’’ after ‘‘determines under’’;

17 (B) in subsection (b) by inserting ‘‘section

18 183(a) or’’ after ‘‘determines under’’;

19 (C) in subsection (c)(1)—

20 (i) in subparagraph (C) by striking

21 ‘‘section; or’’ and inserting ‘‘section;’’

22 (ii) in subparagraph (D) by striking

23 ‘‘paragraph (4).’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph

24 (4); or’’; and
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1 (iii) by adding a new subparagraph

2 (E) as follows:

3 ‘‘(E) with respect to an investigation of a

4 country identified under section 183(a)—

5 ‘‘(I) take any action authorized

6 under this subsection; and

7 ‘‘(II) to request that the Sec8 retary of Agriculture target the use of

9 existing United States export pro10 grams that are administered within

11 the Department of Agriculture to the

12 commodity that is subject to the un13 fair trade practice by the priority for14 eign country.’’.

15 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents

16 for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after

17 the item relating to section 182 the following:

‘‘Sec. 183. Identification of Countries That Engage in Unfair Trade Practices

Affecting United States Agricultural Commodities.’’.

18 (d) INVESTIGATION REQUIRED.—Subparagraph (A)

19 of section 302(b)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.

20 2412(b)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 183(a)(2)’’

21 after ‘‘section 182(a)(2)’’ in the matter preceding clause

22 (i).

23 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
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1 (1) Subparagraph (D) of section 302(b)(2) of

2 such Act is amended by inserting ‘‘concerning intel3 lectual property rights that is’’ after ‘‘any investiga4 tion’’.

5 (2) Subparagraph (B) of section 304(a)(3) of

6 such Act is amended—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause

8 (ii);

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause

10 (iii); and

11 (C) by inserting immediately after clause

12 (iii) the following new clause:

13 ‘‘(iv) the foreign country involved in

14 the investigation is making substantial

15 progress in drafting or implementing legis16 lative or administrative measures that en17 sure the country engages in fair and equi18 table trade practices affecting United

19 States agricultural commodities.’’.

20 SEC. 8. REALLOCATION OF UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture

22 shall, on or about April 1 and July 1 of each fiscal year

23 determine whether unobligated funds exist out of funds

24 made available for the fiscal year for the Export Enhance25 ment Program.
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1 (b) TRANSFER TO FOOD ASSISTANCE.—The Sec2 retary may, on or about April 1 and July 1 of each fiscal

3 year, with respect to any unobligated funds identified

4 under subsection (a), apply the funds to—

5 (1) one or more of the programs administered

6 through Public Law 480 (7 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);

7 (2) the purchase of agricultural commodities for

8 donation through one of the programs administered

9 through section 416 of the Agricultural Act of 1949

10 (7 U.S.C. 1431); and

11 (3) programs administered through Title II of

12 the Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5621–5641).

13 (c) USE WITHIN SAME FISCAL YEAR.—All funds

14 identified under subsection (a) shall be obligated within

15 the same fiscal year. Such funds may not be transferred

16 under subsection (b) in a fiscal year subsequent to the

17 fiscal year of the determination in subsection (a).

Æ