I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 817

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1999

Mr. EWING (for himself, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BARRETT

of Nebraska, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. MINGE, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr.

WELLER, and Mr. BEREUTER) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the

Committees on International Relations, and Agriculture, for a period to

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. OBJECTIVES FOR AGRICULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS.

2 It is the sense of the Congress that—

3 The principal agricultural trade negotiating objec4 tives of the United States for future multilateral and bilat5 eral trade negotiations, including the World Trade Organi6 zation, shall be to achieve, on an expedited basis, and to

7 the maximum extent feasible, more open and fair condi8 tions for trade in agricultural commodities by—

9 (1) developing, strengthening, and clarifying

10 rules for agricultural trade, including disciplines on

11 restrictive or trade-distorting import and export

12 practices, including—

13 (A) enhancing the operation and effective14 ness of the relevant Uruguay Round Agree15 ments designed to define, deter, and discourage

16 the persistent use of unfair trade practices; and

17 (B) enforcing and strengthening rules of

18 the World Trade Organization regarding—

19 (i) trade-distorting practices of state

20 trading enterprises; and

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

22 foreign government which unreasonably—

23 (I) require that substantial direct

24 investment in the foreign country be

25 made as a condition for carrying on

26 business in the foreign country;
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1 (II) require that intellectual

2 property be licensed to the foreign

3 country or to any firm of the foreign

4 country; or

5 (III) delay or preclude implemen6 tation of a report of a dispute panel

7 of the World Trade Organization;

8 (2) increasing United States agricultural ex9 ports by eliminating barriers to trade (including

10 transparent and nontransparent barriers);

11 (3) eliminating other specific constraints to fair

12 trade and more open markets access in foreign mar13 kets, such as export subsidies, quotas, and other

14 nontariff import barriers;

15 (4) developing, strengthening, and clarifying

16 rules that address practices that unfairly limit

17 United States market access opportunities or distort

18 agricultural markets to the detriment of the United

19 States, including—

20 (A) unfair or trade-distorted activities of

21 state trading enterprises and other administra22 tive mechanisms that result in inadequate price

23 transparency;
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1 (B) unjustified restrictions or commercial

2 requirements affecting new technologies, includ3 ing biotechnology;

4 (C) unjustified sanitary or phytosanitary

5 restrictions; and

6 (D) restrictive rules in the establishment

7 and administration of tariff-rate quotas;

8 (5) ensuring that there are reliable suppliers of

9 agricultural commodities in international commerce

10 by encouraging countries to treat foreign buyers no

11 less favorably than domestic buyers of the commod12 ity or product involved; and

13 (6) eliminating barriers for meeting the food

14 needs of an increasing world population through the

15 use of biotechnology by ensuring access to United

16 States commodities derived from biotechnology that

17 is scientifically defensible, opposing the establish18 ment of projectionist trade measures disguised as

19 health standards, and protecting continual delays by

20 other countries in their approval processes—which

21 constitute non-tariff trade barriers.

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

23 As used in this Act, the terms ‘‘agricultural commod24 ity’’ and ‘‘United States agricultural commodity’’ have the
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1 meanings provided in section 102 (1) and (7) of the Agri2 cultural Trade Act of 1978, respectively.

3 SEC. 4. AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, LIVESTOCK, AND

4 PRODUCTS EXEMPT FROM SANCTIONS.

5 (a) DEFINITION.—Unilateral Economic Sanction.

6 The term ‘‘unilateral economic sanction’’ means any pro7 hibition, restriction, or condition on economic activity, in8 cluding economic assistance, with respect to a foreign

9 country or foreign entity that is imposed after the date

10 of the enactment of this Act by the United States for rea11 sons of foreign policy or national security, except in a case

12 in which the United States imposes the measure pursuant

13 to a multilateral regime and the other members of that

14 regime have agreed to impose substantially equivalent

15 measures.

16 (b) EXEMPTION.—

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

18 and notwithstanding any other provision of law, in

19 the case of a unilateral economic sanction imposed

20 by the United States on another country, the follow21 ing shall be exempt from the unilateral economic

22 sanction—

23 (A) programs administered through Public

24 Law 480 (7 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
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1 (B) programs administered through section

2 416 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C.

3 1431);

4 (C) the program administered through sec5 tion 1113 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7

6 U.S.C. 1736–1); and

7 (D) commercial sales and humanitarian as8 sistance involving agricultural commodities,

9 which includes fertilizer.

10 (2) DETERMINATION BY PRESIDENT.—If the

11 President determines that the exemption under

12 paragraph (1) should not apply to the unilateral eco13 nomic sanction for reasons of foreign policy or na14 tional security, the President may include the activi15 ties described in paragraph (1) in the unilateral eco16 nomic sanction.

17 (d) REPORT.—

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

19 that the exemption under subsection (b) should not

20 apply to a unilateral economic sanction, the Presi21 dent shall provide a report to the Committee on Ag22 riculture in the House of Representatives, and the

23 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

24 in the Senate at the time of the imposition of the

25 sanction.
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1 (2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report shall

2 contain—

3 (A) an explanation why, because of reasons

4 of foreign policy or national security, the ex5 emption should not apply to the unilateral eco6 nomic sanction; and

7 (B) an assessment by the Secretary of

8 Agriculture—

9 (i) of the extent to which any country

10 or countries to be sanctioned or likely to be

11 sanctioned are markets that accounted for,

12 in the preceding calendar year, more than

13 3 percent of all export sales from the

14 United States of an agricultural commod15 ity;

16 (ii) of the likelihood that exports of

17 agricultural commodities from the United

18 States will be affected by the unilateral

19 economic sanction or by retaliation by any

20 country to be sanctioned or likely to be

21 sanctioned, and specific commodities which

22 are most likely to be affected;

23 (iii) of the likely effect on incomes of

24 producers of the commodities involved;
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1 (iv) of the extent to which the unilat2 eral economic sanction would permit for3 eign suppliers to replace United States

4 suppliers; and

5 (v) of the likely effect of the proposed

6 sanction on the reputation of United

7 States farmers as reliable suppliers of agri8 cultural commodities in general, and of

9 specific commodities identified by the Sec10 retary.

11 SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT AND CONSULTATION

12 FOR AGRICULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS.

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

14 2211) is amended by adding at the end a new subsection

15 (d) that reads as follows:

16 ‘‘(d) CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT GROUP FOR AGRI17 CULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) There is established a Congressional Over19 sight Group for Agricultural Negotiations (Oversight

20 Group) that shall provide oversight and guidance

21 with respect to agricultural trade policy and negotia22 tion of agricultural trade issues.

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

24 Oversight Group shall consist of 3 members of

25 the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
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1 Forestry of the Senate and 3 members of the

2 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep3 resentatives.

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

5 Senate, upon the recommendation of the

6 Chairman of the Committee on Agri7 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry, shall se8 lect two members from the majority party,

9 and one member from the minority party,

10 of the Senate.

11 ‘‘(ii) The Speaker of the House of

12 Representatives, upon the recommendation

13 of the Chairman of the Committee on Ag14 riculture, shall select 2 members from the

15 majority party, and one member from the

16 minority party, of the House of Represent17 atives.

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

19 who are selected as members of the Oversight

20 Group shall be accredited by the United States

21 Trade Representative as official advisers to the

22 United States delegations to international con23 ferences, meetings, and negotiating sessions re24 lating to agricultural trade policy and negotia25 tion of agricultural trade issues.
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1 ‘‘(2) All negotiating proposals by the United

2 States and negotiations that affect agricultural trade

3 shall be reviewed by the Oversight Group prior to an

4 agreement being initiated by the President.

5 ‘‘(3) All information about negotiating propos6 als by the United States and foreign countries af7 fecting agricultural trade negotiations shall be made

8 available to the Oversight Group by the United

9 States Trade Representative.

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

11 the United States Trade Representative shall estab12 lish guidelines for ensuring the useful and timely

13 supply of information to the Oversight Group and

14 the communication of the oversight and guidance by

15 the Oversight Group to the United States Trade

16 Representative.

17 ‘‘(A) The guidelines shall establish proce18 dures for the United States Trade Representa19 tive to provide to the Oversight Group—

20 ‘‘(i) information regarding the prin21 cipal multilateral and bilateral negotiating

22 objectives affecting agricultural trade, and

23 the progress being made toward their

24 achievement;
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1 ‘‘(ii) information regarding the imple2 mentation, administration, and effective3 ness of recently concluded multilateral and

4 bilateral agricultural trade agreements and

5 the resolution of agricultural trade dis6 putes;

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

8 prior to the commencement of negotiations

9 involving agricultural trade, between the

10 Oversight Group and the United States

11 Trade Representative, about the objectives

12 of the negotiations;

13 ‘‘(iv) written or oral briefings about

14 the status of ongoing negotiations involving

15 agricultural trade;

16 ‘‘(v) prior to the President initialing

17 the trade agreement, written or oral brief18 ings about the results of negotiations in19 volving agricultural trade;

20 ‘‘(vi) information about changes in

21 United States laws that are necessary as a

22 result of the negotiations; and

23 ‘‘(vii) a schedule and procedure for

24 the Oversight Group to provide advice and
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1 guidance to the United States Trade Rep2 resentative regarding—

3 ‘‘(I) the negotiations involving

4 agricultural trade; and

5 ‘‘(II) changes in United States

6 laws that are necessary as a result of

7 the negotiations.

8 ‘‘(B) The United States Trade Representa9 tive shall meet with the Oversight Group at a

10 minimum on a quarterly basis, and as needed

11 during a negotiation involving agricultural

12 trade.

13 ‘‘(C) If determined necessary by either

14 party, consultations between the Oversight

15 Group and the United States Trade Represent16 ative may be conducted in executive session.’’.

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

18 It is the sense of Congress that—

19 The amendment to section 203 of the Agricultural

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

21 480) made in section 208 of the Federal Agriculture Im22 provement and Reform Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 101–127)

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

24 agricultural commodities included in United States food

25 assistance only within the recipient country or countries
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1 adjacent to the recipient country, unless such sale or bar2 ter within the recipient country or adjacent countries—

3 (1) is not practicable; and

4 (2) will not disrupt commercial markets for the

5 agricultural commodity involved.

6 SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL

7 COMMODITIES, LIVESTOCK, AND AGRICUL8 TURAL PRODUCTS.

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

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

11 end the following:

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

13 IN UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES AFFECTING

14 UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL COMMOD15 ITIES.

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

17 30 days after the date on which the annual report is re18 quired to be submitted to congressional committees under

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

20 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Trade Rep21 resentative’) shall identify—

22 ‘‘(1) those foreign countries that—

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

24 to United States agricultural commodities

25 through discriminatory nontariff trade barriers;
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1 ‘‘(B) employ unfair export subsidies that

2 adversely affect market share of United States

3 exports of agricultural commodities; or

4 ‘‘(C) unreasonably delay or preclude imple5 mentation of a report of a dispute panel of the

6 World Trade Organization; or

7 ‘‘(2) those foreign countries identified under

8 paragraph (1) that are determined by the Trade

9 Representative to be priority foreign countries.

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

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

12 countries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Rep13 resentative shall only identify those foreign countries

14 that—

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

16 or egregious acts, policies, or practices that

17 deny fair and equitable market access to United

18 States agricultural commodities;

19 ‘‘(B) engage in discriminatory nontariff

20 trade barriers for the importation of United

21 States agricultural commodities that are not

22 based on public health concerns or cannot be

23 substantiated by reliable analytical methods;

24 ‘‘(C) use unfair export subsidies;
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1 ‘‘(D) unreasonably delay or preclude imple2 mentation of a report of a dispute panel of the

3 World Trade Organization;

4 ‘‘(E) whose acts, policies, or practices de5 scribed in subparagraphs (A)–(D) have the

6 greatest adverse impact (actual or potential) on

7 the relevant United States agricultural com8 modities; or

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

10 about adopting fair and equitable trade prac11 tices, or making significant progress in bilateral

12 or multilateral negotiations, in regard to United

13 States agricultural commodities.

14 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION AND CONSIDERATION RE15 QUIREMENTS.—In identifying priority foreign coun16 tries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Representa17 tive shall—

18 ‘‘(A) consult with the Secretary of Agri19 culture and other appropriate officers of the

20 Federal Government; and

21 ‘‘(B) take into account information from

22 such sources as may be available to the Trade

23 Representative and such information as may be

24 submitted to the Trade Representative by inter25 ested persons, including information contained
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1 in reports submitted under section 181(b) and

2 petitions submitted under section 302.

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

4 Trade Representative may identify a foreign country

5 under subsection (a)(1) only if the Trade Represent6 ative finds that there is a factual basis for identify7 ing the foreign country as engaging in a trade prac8 tice under subsection (a)(1).

9 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF HISTORICAL FAC10 TORS.—In identifying foreign countries under para11 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), the Trade Rep12 resentative shall take into account—

13 ‘‘(A) the history of agricultural trade rela14 tions with the foreign country, including any

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

16 and

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

18 States, and the response of the foreign country,

19 to achieve fair trade practices affecting trade in

20 the United States agricultural commodities.

21 ‘‘(c) REVOCATIONS AND ADDITIONAL IDENTIFICA22 TIONS.—

23 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ACT AT ANY TIME.—If in24 formation available to the Trade Representative indi-
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1 cates that such action is appropriate, the Trade

2 Representative may at any time—

3 ‘‘(A) revoke the identification of any for4 eign country as a priority foreign country under

5 this section; or

6 ‘‘(B) identify any foreign country as a pri7 ority foreign country under this section.

8 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION REPORTS.—The Trade Rep9 resentative shall include in the semiannual report

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

11 detailed explanation of the reasons for the revocation

12 under paragraph (1) of the identification of any for13 eign country as a priority foreign country under this

14 section.

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

16 terms ‘agricultural commodity’ and ‘United States agricul17 tural commodity’ have the meanings provided in section

18 102 (1) and (7) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978,

19 respectively.

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

21 publish in the Federal Register a list of foreign countries

22 identified under subsection (a) and shall make such revi23 sions to the list as may be required by reason of the action

24 under subsection (c).
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1 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Trade Representative

2 shall, not later than the date by which countries are identi3 fied under subsection (a), transmit to the Committee on

4 Ways and Means and the Committee on Agriculture of the

5 House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance

6 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For7 estry of the Senate, a report on the actions taken under

8 this section during the 12 months preceding such report,

9 and the reasons for such actions, including a description

10 of progress made in achieving fair and equitable market

11 access for United States agricultural commodities.’’.

12 (b) REMEDIAL ACTIONS TO UNFAIR TRADE PRAC13 TICES INVOLVING UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL COM14 MODITIES, LIVESTOCK, AND AGRICULTURAL PROD15 UCTS.—

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

17 U.S.C. 2411) is amended—

18 (A) in subsection (a)(1) by inserting ‘‘sec19 tion 183(a) or’’ after ‘‘determines under’’;

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

21 183(a) or’’ after ‘‘determines under’’;

22 (C) in subsection (c)(1)—

23 (i) in subparagraph (C) by striking

24 ‘‘section; or’’ and inserting ‘‘section;’’
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1 (ii) in subparagraph (D) by striking

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

3 (4); or’’; and

4 (iii) by adding a new subparagraph

5 (E) as follows:

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

7 country identified under section 183(a)—

8 ‘‘(I) take any action authorized

9 under this subsection; and

10 ‘‘(II) to request that the Sec11 retary of Agriculture target the use of

12 existing United States export pro13 grams that are administered within

14 the Department of Agriculture to the

15 commodity that is subject to the un16 fair trade practice by the priority for17 eign country.’’.

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

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

20 the item relating to section 182 the following:

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

Affecting United States Agricultural Commodities.’’.

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

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

23 2412(b)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 183(a)(2)’’
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1 after ‘‘section 182(a)(2)’’ in the matter preceding clause

2 (i).

3 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

4 (1) Subparagraph (D) of section 302(b)(2) of

5 such Act is amended by inserting ‘‘concerning intel6 lectual property rights that is’’ after ‘‘any investiga7 tion’’.

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

9 such Act is amended—

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

11 (ii);

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

13 (iii); and

14 (C) by inserting immediately after clause

15 (iii) the following new clause:

16 ‘‘(iv) the foreign country involved in

17 the investigation is making substantial

18 progress in drafting or implementing legis19 lative or administrative measures that en20 sure the country engages in fair and equi21 table trade practices affecting United

22 States agricultural commodities.’’.
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1 SEC. 8. DUTIES OF AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT REGARD2 ING SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY ISSUES.

3 (a) LEAD AGENCY STATUS.—Title I of the Agricul4 tural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.) is amend5 ed by adding at the end the following new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 107. SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY ISSUES.

7 ‘‘The Department of Agriculture shall be the lead

8 agency in the Federal Government for sanitary and

9 phytosanitary issues that affect agricultural exports.’’.

10 (b) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORT.—The Sec11 retary shall identify sanitary and phytosanitary measures

12 currently negatively affecting agricultural exports, by

13 country and commodity, noting—

14 (1) whether such measures are consistent with

15 the World Trade Organization sanitary and

16 phytosanitary agreement; and

17 (2) whether issues arising from such measures

18 are being addressed and resolved;

19 and report the Secretary’s findings thereon to Congress

20 not later than July 31, 1999.

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