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[House Document 111-126]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

111th Congress, 2nd Session - - - - - - - - - - House Document 111-126

 
CONTINUATION OF WAIVER UNDER THE TRADE ACT OF 1974 WITH RESPECT TO THE 
                          REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

 THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY, LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE

                              transmitting

   NOTIFICATION OF THE DETERMINATION THAT A CONTINUATION OF A WAIVER 
  CURRENTLY IN EFFECT FOR THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS WILL SUBSTANTIALLY 
   PROMOTE THE OBJECTIVES OF SECTION 402, OF THE TRADE ACT OF 1974, 
                 PURSUANT TO 19 U.S.C. 2432(c) AND (d)

June 23, 2010.--Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and ordered 
                             to be printed
                         United States Department of State,
                                     Washington, DC, June 23, 2010.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Madam Speaker: On behalf of the Secretary, we are 
transmitting to you the Presidential determination and Report 
to the Congress, referred to in subsection 402(d)(1) of the 
Trade Act of 1974 (the ``Act''), as amended, with respect to 
the continuation of a waiver of application of subsections (a) 
and (b) of section 402 of the Act for Belarus.
    This document constitutes the Secretary's recommendation to 
continue this waiver for a further twelve-month period and 
includes her determination that continuation of the waiver 
currently in effect for Belarus will substantially promote the 
objectives of section 402 of the Act, and the reasons for such 
determination.
    We hope that this information will be helpful to you and 
other Members of Congress. Please do not hesitate to contact us 
if we can be of further assistance.
            Sincerely,
                                          Richard R. Verma,
                          Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs.
    Enclosure: As stated.
Report to the Congress Concerning the Extension of Waiver Authority for 
                                Belarus

    Pursuant to subsection 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, 
as amended (``the Act''), and the authority assigned to me by 
the President in Executive Order 13346 concerning Delegation of 
Certain Waiver, Determination, Certification, and Reporting 
Functions, dated July 8, 2004, I hereby recommend a further 
extension for twelve months of the waiver authority granted by 
subsection 402(c) of the Act.
    I have determined that such extension will substantially 
promote the objectives of section 402 of the Act, and that a 
continuation of the waiver currently applicable to Belarus will 
also substantially promote the objectives of section 402 of the 
Act.
    Exercise of the waiver authority conferred by Section 402 
of the Act has permitted the United States to conclude and 
maintain in force a bilateral trade relationship agreement with 
Belarus. (Exercise of the waiver authority with respect to 
Belarus would also allow the U.S. government to engage in 
credit and investment activities in Belarus, but those programs 
have been suspended in Belarus due to strong concerns over the 
Belarusian authorities' repressive economic and human rights 
policies.)

                    FREEDOM OF EMIGRATION SITUATION

    The Belarusian Constitution of November 1996, although 
adopted illegitimately, specifically grants citizens the right 
to leave and return as they wish. Soviet-era restrictions on 
emigration in Belarus have largely, but not entirely, been 
dismantled, and existing restrictions are applied in a manner 
generally allowing free emigration. None of the human rights or 
religious minority organizations, including Jewish 
organizations, in Belarus report discriminatory restrictions 
limiting the ability of citizens to emigrate on the basis of 
ethnic or religious identity. However, Soviet-era legislation 
restricting emigration by those with access to ``state 
secrets'' does remain in force in Belarus. There are also exit 
restrictions on those who are involved in criminal 
investigations, convicted of crimes, attempting to evade 
military service, or have outstanding debts to a court, such as 
a fine or child support obligations. These exit restrictions on 
Belarusian citizens apply equally whether they are exiting for 
the purpose of temporary travel or for emigration. In practice, 
these restrictions have arbitrarily restricted the temporary 
travel of opposition activists and we believe they could impact 
activists' freedom of emigration.
    The procedure for administering these exit restrictions was 
changed with Presidential Decree No. 643 of December 17, 2007, 
which took effect on January 1, 2008. The decree abolished a 
system of passport exit stamps used previously to grant 
permission for travel abroad. Under the new procedures, 
individuals presenting a passport to a border enforcement 
official at most border points are checked against a database 
of persons ineligible for exit. The Belarusian Committee for 
State Security (BKGB) and the Ministries of Justice, Internal 
Affairs, and Defense provide names of such persons to the 
Citizenship and Migration Office of the Ministry of Internal 
Affairs, which maintains the database. We have not received any 
reports this procedure is affecting freedom of emigration. 
However, we are concerned it is less transparent and more 
subject to manipulation than the old system, and may have been 
used to arbitrarily discourage temporary travel abroad. During 
2009 and the first part of 2010, we received several reports 
from opposition politicians and civil society activists that 
they were detained and harassed when they appeared at a border 
crossing, before being allowed to depart the country. Although 
freedom to travel abroad for non-emigrant purposes is not the 
explicit focus of section 402 of the Act, it is relevant 
because restrictions on temporary travel can be problematic in 
themselves and could potentially be used to restrict the 
freedom of emigration as well.
    Other existing restrictions that impede the ability of 
Belarusians to exit the country remained in place during 2009 
and the first half of 2010. These restrictions included a 
presidential decree signed in March 2005 on measures to combat 
trafficking in persons, which required, among other provisions, 
any organization responsible for facilitating student exchanges 
to first receive approval for its program from the Ministry of 
Education. Non-governmental organizations have expressed 
concern the Belarusian authorities may be using this law to 
prevent Belarusians from traveling abroad for legitimate 
purposes. A presidential decree from November 2005, which 
required students to get permission from the Ministry before 
even brief study, work, sports, cultural, or other events 
abroad during the school year, also remained in effect.
    The Belarusian authorities have engaged the Governments of 
Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland on agreements to allow visa-free, 
temporary cross-border travel for their citizens. An agreement 
with Poland has been signed and is awaiting ratification by the 
Polish Parliament. Discussions with Latvia and Lithuania are 
continuing. We believe these agreements will substantially 
improve the ability of Belarusian citizens residing along the 
border with these countries to travel abroad temporarily.
    We have repeatedly expressed our concerns to the Belarusian 
authorities about the manner in which restrictions on exit from 
Belarus are applied, either for the purpose of emigration or 
for temporary travel. We have also repeatedly encouraged the 
Belarusian authorities to move forward their discussions with 
Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland on visa-free, temporary cross-
border travel. In an October 2008 meeting, the Government of 
Belarus provided assurances it would address restrictions on 
temporary travel. We will continue to monitor the 
implementation of exit restrictions, especially as they apply 
to opposition and civil society activists.
    Extending the waiver will substantially promote the 
objectives of Section 402 of this Act, because it will allow us 
to continue our constructive engagement with the Government of 
Belarus on expanding the freedom of emigration. We will 
continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Belarus 
about emigration-related policies, noting efforts to restrict 
emigration may result in revocation of the waiver and Normal 
Trade Relations.
                                                      May 27, 2010.
Determination Under Subsection 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
        Amended--Continuation of Waiver Authority for Belarus.

    Pursuant to the authority vested in the President under the 
Trade Act of 1974, as amended, Pub. L. 93-618, 88 Stat. 1978 
(hereinafter ``the Act''), and assigned to the Secretary of 
State by virtue of Section 1(a) of Executive Order 13346 of 
July 8, 2004, I determine, pursuant to Section 402(d)(1) of the 
Act, 19 U.S.C. 2432(d)(1), that the further extension of the 
waiver authority granted by Section 402 of the Act will 
substantially promote the objectives of Section 402 of the Act. 
I further determine that continuation of the waiver applicable 
to Belarus will substantially promote the objectives of Section 
402 of the Act.
    This determination shall be published in the Federal 
Register.

                                    Hillary Rodham Clinton,
                                                Secretary of State.

                                  
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