I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2579

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to establish procedures for identifying 

countries that deny market access for agricultural products of the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2003

Mr. CAMP (for himself, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. 

MCINNIS, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. BOEHNER, 

Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. UPTON, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. 

JANKLOW, Mr. ROSS, Mr. REHBERG, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. 

MANZULLO, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. BURNS, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. ROGERS

of Michigan, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. NUNES, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. KING

of Iowa, Mr. CASE, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. HAYES, Mr. OSE, Mr. POMBO, 

Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, and Mr. 

RAMSTAD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to establish procedures 

for identifying countries that deny market access for 

agricultural products of the United States, and for other 

purposes.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Agricul3 tural Products Market Access Act of 2003’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings: 

7 (1) The export of agricultural products is of 

8 vital importance to the economy of the United 

9 States. 

10 (2) In 2002, agriculture was a large positive 

11 contributor to the United States merchandise trade 

12 balance with a trade surplus of $12,300,000,000. 

13 (3) The growth of United States agricultural 

14 exports should continue to be an important factor in 

15 improving the United States merchandise trade bal16 ance. 

17 (4) Increasing the volume of agricultural ex18 ports will increase farm income in the United States, 

19 thereby protecting family farms and contributing to 

20 the economic well-being of rural communities in the 

21 United States. 

22 (5) Although the United States efficiently pro23 duces high-quality agricultural products, United 

24 States producers cannot realize their full export po25 tential because many foreign countries deny fair and 
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1 equitable market access to United States agricul2 tural products. 

3 (6) The Foreign Agricultural Service estimates 

4 that United States agricultural exports are reduced 

5 by $4,700,000,000 annually due to unjustifiable im6 position of sanitary and phytosanitary measures that 

7 deny or limit market access to United States prod8 ucts. 

9 (7) The denial of fair and equitable market ac10 cess for United States agricultural products impedes 

11 the ability of United States farmers to export their 

12 products, thereby harming the economic interests of 

13 the United States. 

14 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

15 (1) to reduce or eliminate foreign unfair trade 

16 practices and to remove constraints on fair and open 

17 trade in agricultural products; 

18 (2) to ensure fair and equitable market access 

19 for exports of United States agricultural products; 

20 and 

21 (3) to promote free and fair trade in agricul22 tural products. 
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1 SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY MAR2 KET ACCESS. 

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

4 I of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2241 et seq.) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 183. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY 

7 MARKET ACCESS FOR AGRICULTURAL PROD8 UCTS. 

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

10 30 days after the date on which the annual report is re11 quired to be submitted to Congressional committees under 

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

13 (in this section referred to as the ‘Trade Representative’) 

14 shall identify—

15 ‘‘(1) those foreign countries that—

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

17 to United States agricultural products, or 

18 ‘‘(B) apply standards for the importation 

19 of agricultural products from the United States 

20 that are not related to public health concerns or 

21 cannot be substantiated by reliable analytical 

22 methods, and 

23 ‘‘(2) those foreign countries identified under 

24 paragraph (1) that are determined by the Trade 

25 Representative to be priority foreign countries. 

26 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES FOR IDENTIFICATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA.—In identifying priority foreign 

2 countries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Rep3 resentative shall only identify those foreign coun4 tries—

5 ‘‘(A) that engage in or have the most oner6 ous or egregious acts, policies, or practices that 

7 deny fair and equitable market access to United 

8 States agricultural products, 

9 ‘‘(B) whose acts, policies, or practices de10 scribed in subparagraph (A) have the greatest 

11 adverse impact (actual or potential) on the rel12 evant United States products, and 

13 ‘‘(C) that are not—

14 ‘‘(i) entering into good faith negotia15 tions, or 

16 ‘‘(ii) making significant progress in 

17 bilateral or multilateral negotiations, 

18 to provide fair and equitable market access to 

19 United States agricultural products. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION AND CONSIDERATION RE21 QUIREMENTS.—In identifying priority foreign coun22 tries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Representa23 tive shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) consult with the Secretary of Agri2 culture and other appropriate officers of the 

3 Federal Government, and 

4 ‘‘(B) take into account information from 

5 such sources as may be available to the Trade 

6 Representative and such information as may be 

7 submitted to the Trade Representative by inter8 ested persons, including information contained 

9 in reports submitted under section 181(b) and 

10 petitions submitted under section 302. 

11 ‘‘(3) FACTUAL BASIS REQUIREMENT.—The 

12 Trade Representative may identify a foreign country 

13 under subsection (a)(1) only if the Trade Represent14 ative finds that there is a factual basis for the denial 

15 of fair and equitable market access as a result of the 

16 violation of international law or agreement, or the 

17 existence of barriers, referred to in subsection (d). 

18 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF HISTORICAL FAC19 TORS.—In identifying foreign countries under para20 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), the Trade Rep21 resentative shall take into account—

22 ‘‘(A) the history of agricultural trade rela23 tions with the foreign country, including any 

24 previous identification under subsection (a)(2), 

25 and 
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1 ‘‘(B) the history of efforts of the United 

2 States, and the response of the foreign country, 

3 to achieve fair and equitable market access for 

4 United States agricultural products. 

5 ‘‘(c) REVOCATIONS AND ADDITIONAL IDENTIFICA6 TIONS.—

7 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ACT AT ANY TIME.—If in8 formation available to the Trade Representative indi9 cates that such action is appropriate, the Trade 

10 Representative may at any time—

11 ‘‘(A) revoke the identification of any for12 eign country as a priority foreign country under 

13 this section, or 

14 ‘‘(B) identify any foreign country as a pri15 ority foreign country under this section. 

16 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION REPORTS.—The Trade Rep17 resentative shall include in the semiannual report 

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

19 detailed explanation of the reasons for the revocation 

20 under paragraph (1) of the identification of any for21 eign country as a priority foreign country under this 

22 section. 

23 ‘‘(d) DENIAL OF FAIR AND EQUITABLE MARKET AC24 CESS DEFINED.—For purposes of this section, a foreign 

25 country denies fair and equitable market access if the for-
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1 eign country effectively denies access to a market for a 

2 product through the use of laws, procedures, practices, or 

3 regulations which—

4 ‘‘(1) violate provisions of international law or 

5 international agreements to which both the United 

6 States and the foreign country are parties, or 

7 ‘‘(2) constitute discriminatory nontariff trade 

8 barriers. 

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

10 publish in the Federal Register a list of foreign countries 

11 identified under subsection (a) and shall make such revi12 sions to the list as may be required by reason of the action 

13 under subsection (c). 

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

15 shall, not later than the date by which countries are identi16 fied under subsection (a), transmit to the Committee on 

17 Ways and Means and the Committee on Agriculture of the 

18 House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance 

19 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For20 estry of the Senate, a report on the actions taken under 

21 this section during the 12 months preceding such report, 

22 and the reasons for such actions, including a description 

23 of progress made in achieving fair and equitable market 

24 access for United States agricultural products.’’. 
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

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

3 the item relating to section 182 the following:

‘‘183. Identification of countries that deny market access for agricultural products.’’.

4 (c) ADDITIONAL STAFF FOR OFFICE OF ASSISTANT

5 TRADE REPRESENTATIVE FOR AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS

6 AND OFFICE OF ASSISTANT TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

7 FOR MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

9 appropriated such sums as may be necessary for fis10 cal year 2004 for the salaries and expenses of 1 ad11 ditional specialist employee position within the Office 

12 of the Assistant United States Trade Representative 

13 for Agricultural Affairs and 1 additional specialist 

14 employee position within the Office of the Assistant 

15 United States Trade Representative for Monitoring 

16 and Enforcement. 

17 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur18 suant to the authorization of appropriations under 

19 paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available 

20 until expended. 

21 SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIONS. 

22 (a) INVESTIGATION REQUIRED.—Subparagraph (A) 

23 of section 302(b)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
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1 2412(b)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 183(a)(2)’’ after 

2 ‘‘section 182(a)(2)’’ in the matter preceding clause (i). 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subparagraph (D) 

4 of section 302(b)(2) of such Act is amended by inserting 

5 ‘‘concerning intellectual property rights that is’’ after 

6 ‘‘any investigation’’.

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