[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 247 (Monday, December 27, 2010)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 81077-81081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32610]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 245 / Monday, December 27, 2010 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

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                Proclamation 8618 of December 21, 2010

                
To Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth 
                and Opportunity Act, and for Other Purposes

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                1. Section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
                amended (the ``1974 Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(1)), as 
                added by section 111(a) of the African Growth and 
                Opportunity Act (title I of Public Law 106-200) (AGOA), 
                authorizes the President to designate a country listed 
                in section 107 of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3706) as a 
                ``beneficiary sub-Saharan African country'' if the 
                President determines that the country meets the 
                eligibility requirements set forth in section 104 of 
                the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3703), as well as the eligibility 
                criteria set forth in section 502 of the 1974 Act (19 
                U.S.C. 2462).

                2. Section 104 of the AGOA authorizes the President to 
                designate a country listed in section 107 of the AGOA 
                as an ``eligible sub-Saharan African country'' if the 
                President determines that the country meets certain 
                eligibility requirements.

                3. In Proclamation 7657 of March 28, 2003, the 
                President designated the Democratic Republic of Congo 
                (DRC) as an eligible sub-Saharan African country 
                pursuant to section 104 of the AGOA.

                4. Proclamation 7657 also authorized the United States 
                Trade Representative (USTR) to exercise the authority 
                provided to the President under section 506A(a)(1) of 
                the 1974 Act to designate the DRC as a beneficiary sub-
                Saharan African country.

                5. Pursuant to the authority delegated to the USTR, on 
                October 31, 2003, the USTR designated the DRC as a 
                beneficiary sub-Saharan African country (68 FR 62158-
                04).

                6. Section 506A(a)(3) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 
                2466a(a)(3)) authorizes the President to terminate the 
                designation of a country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan 
                African country for purposes of section 506A if he 
                determines that the country is not making continual 
                progress in meeting the requirements described in 
                section 506A(a)(1) of the 1974 Act.

                7. Pursuant to section 506A(a)(3) of the 1974 Act, I 
                have determined that the DRC is not making continual 
                progress in meeting the requirements described in 
                section 506A(a)(1) of the 1974 Act. Accordingly, I have 
                decided to terminate the designation of the DRC as a 
                beneficiary sub-Saharan African country for purposes of 
                section 506A of the 1974 Act, effective on January 1, 
                2011.

                8. On April 22, 1985, the United States and Israel 
                entered into the Agreement on the Establishment of a 
                Free Trade Area between the Government of the United 
                States of America and the Government of Israel (the 
                ``USIFTA''), which the Congress approved in the United 
                States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act of 
                1985 (the ``USIFTA Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2112 note).

                9. Section 4(b) of the USIFTA Act provides that, 
                whenever the President determines that it is necessary 
                to maintain the general level of reciprocal and 
                mutually advantageous concessions with respect to 
                Israel provided for by the USIFTA, the President may 
                proclaim such withdrawal, suspension, modification, or 
                continuance of any duty, or such continuance of 
                existing

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                duty-free or excise treatment, or such additional 
                duties as the President determines to be required or 
                appropriate to carry out the USIFTA.

                10. In order to maintain the general level of 
                reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions with 
                respect to agricultural trade with Israel, on July 27, 
                2004, the United States entered into an agreement with 
                Israel concerning certain aspects of trade in 
                agricultural products during the period January 1, 
                2004, through December 31, 2008 (the ``2004 
                Agreement'').

                11. In Proclamation 7826 of October 4, 2004, consistent 
                with the 2004 Agreement, the President determined, 
                pursuant to section 4(b) of the USIFTA Act, that it was 
                necessary in order to maintain the general level of 
                reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions with 
                respect to Israel provided for by the USIFTA, to 
                provide duty-free access into the United States through 
                December 31, 2008, for specified quantities of certain 
                agricultural products of Israel.

                12. On December 10, 2008, the United States entered 
                into an agreement with Israel to extend the period that 
                the 2004 Agreement is in force through December 31, 
                2009, to allow additional time for the two governments 
                to conclude an agreement to replace the 2004 Agreement.

                13. In Proclamation 8334 of December 31, 2008, the 
                President determined that it was necessary in order to 
                maintain the general level of reciprocal and mutually 
                advantageous concessions with respect to Israel 
                provided for by the USIFTA to extend such duty-free 
                treatment through December 31, 2009. In that 
                proclamation, the President also modified the 
                Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) 
                to provide duty-free access into the United States 
                through December 31, 2009, for specified quantities of 
                certain agricultural products of Israel.

                14. On December 6, 2009, the United States entered into 
                a further agreement with Israel to extend the period 
                that the 2004 Agreement is in force through December 
                31, 2010, to allow for further negotiations on an 
                agreement to replace the 2004 Agreement.

                15. In Proclamation 8467 of December 23, 2009, I 
                determined that it was necessary in order to maintain 
                the general level of reciprocal and mutually 
                advantageous concessions with respect to Israel 
                provided for by the USIFTA to extend such duty-free 
                treatment through December 31, 2010. In that 
                proclamation, I also modified the HTS to provide duty-
                free access into the United States through December 31, 
                2010, for specified quantities of certain agricultural 
                products of Israel.

                16. On December 12, 2010, the United States entered 
                into a further agreement with Israel to extend the 
                period that the 2004 Agreement is in force through 
                December 31, 2011, to allow for further negotiations on 
                an agreement to replace the 2004 Agreement.

                17. Pursuant to section 4(b) of the USIFTA Act, I have 
                determined that it is necessary, in order to maintain 
                the general level of reciprocal and mutually 
                advantageous concessions with respect to Israel 
                provided for by the USIFTA, to provide duty-free access 
                into the United States through the close of December 
                31, 2011, for specified quantities of certain 
                agricultural products of Israel.

                18. During the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade 
                Negotiations (the ``Uruguay Round''), a group of major 
                trading countries agreed to reciprocal elimination of 
                tariffs on certain pharmaceuticals and chemical 
                intermediates, and that participants in this agreement 
                would revise periodically the list of products subject 
                to duty-free treatment. On December 13, 1996, as the 
                result of negotiations under the auspices of the World 
                Trade Organization (WTO), the United States and 16 
                other WTO members agreed to eliminate tariffs on 
                additional pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates. 
                The United States implemented this agreement in 
                Proclamation 6982 of April 1, 1997. In 1998, the United 
                States and 21 other WTO members negotiated a second 
                revision to the list of products subject to duty-free 
                treatment. The United

[[Page 81079]]

                States implemented this revision in Proclamation 7207 
                of July 1, 1999. In 2006, the United States and 30 
                other WTO members concluded negotiations, under the 
                auspices of the WTO, on a further revision to the list 
                of pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates subject 
                to duty-free treatment. The United States implemented 
                this revision in Proclamation 8095 of December 29, 
                2006. The United States and 31 other WTO members have 
                negotiated, under the auspices of the WTO, a fourth 
                revision to the list of pharmaceuticals and chemical 
                intermediates subject to duty-free treatment.

                19. Section 111(b) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act 
                (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3521(b)) authorizes the President 
                under specified circumstances to proclaim the 
                modification of any duty or staged rate reduction of 
                any duty set forth in Schedule XX-United States of 
                America, annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 
                1994 (Schedule XX) for products that were the subject 
                of reciprocal duty elimination negotiations during the 
                Uruguay Round, if the United States agrees to such 
                action in a multilateral negotiation under the auspices 
                of the WTO.

                20. On September 15, 2010, consistent with section 115 
                of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3524), the USTR submitted a 
                report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 
                of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 
                Senate that set forth the proposed further revision to 
                the list of pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates 
                subject to duty-free treatment. The consultation and 
                layover period specified in section 115 ended on 
                November 14, 2010.

                21. Pursuant to section 111(b) of the URAA, I have 
                determined that Schedule XX should be modified to 
                reflect the implementation by the United States of the 
                multilateral agreement on certain pharmaceuticals and 
                chemical intermediates negotiated under the auspices of 
                the WTO. In addition, I have determined that the 
                pharmaceuticals appendix to the HTS should be modified 
                to reflect the duty eliminations provided for in that 
                agreement.

                22. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended 
                (19 U.S.C. 2483), authorizes the President to embody in 
                the HTS the substance of the relevant provisions of 
                that Act, and of other Acts affecting import treatment, 
                and actions thereunder, including the removal, 
                modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate of 
                duty or other import restriction.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States of America, including but not limited to 
                section 104 of the AGOA, title V and section 604 of the 
                1974 Act, section 4 of the USIFTA Act, and section 111 
                of the URAA do proclaim that:

                    (1) The designation of the DRC as a beneficiary 
                sub-Saharan African country for purposes of section 
                506A of the 1974 Act is terminated, effective on 
                January 1, 2011.
                    (2) In order to reflect in the HTS that beginning 
                on January 1, 2011, the DRC shall no longer be 
                designated as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African 
                country, general note 16(a) to the HTS is modified by 
                deleting ``Democratic Republic of Congo'' from the list 
                of beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries.
                    (3) In order to implement U.S. tariff commitments 
                under the 2004 Agreement through December 31, 2011, the 
                HTS is modified as provided in the Annex to this 
                proclamation.
                    (4)(a) The modifications to the HTS made by the 
                Annex to this proclamation shall be effective with 
                respect to goods that are the product of Israel and are 
                entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, 
                on or after January 1, 2011.

(b) The provisions of subchapter VIII of chapter 99 of the HTS, as modified 
by the Annex to this proclamation, shall continue in effect through 
December 31, 2011.

                    (5) In order to implement the multilateral 
                agreement negotiated under the auspices of the WTO to 
                eliminate tariffs on certain pharmaceutical

[[Page 81080]]

                products and chemical intermediates, and to make 
                technical corrections in the tariff treatment accorded 
                to such products, the HTS is modified as set forth in 
                Publication 4208 of the United States International 
                Trade Commission, entitled ``Modifications to the 
                Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to 
                Implement Changes to the Pharmaceutical Appendix'' 
                (Publication 4208), which is incorporated by reference 
                into this proclamation.
                    (6) The modifications to the HTS made in 
                Publication 4208 shall be effective with respect to 
                articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for 
                consumption, on or after January 1, 2011.
                    (7) Any provisions of previous proclamations and 
                Executive Orders that are inconsistent with the actions 
                taken in this proclamation are superseded to the extent 
                of such inconsistency.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth. 
                <GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

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[FR Doc. 2010-32610
Filed 12-23-10; 8:45 am]

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