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[House Document 110-120]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                     

110th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 110-
120
 
                CONTINUATION OF A WAIVER AUTHORITY WITH

                   RESPECT TO THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

  THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, THE DEPARTMENT OF 
                                 STATE

                              transmitting

 NOTIFICATION OF THE DETERMINATION THAT A WAIVER OF THE APPLICATION OF 
 SUBSECTIONS (a) AND (b) OF SECTION 402 OF THE TRADE ACT OF 1974 WITH 
   RESPECT TO THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS WILL SUBSTANTIALLY PROMOTE THE 
    OBJECTIVES OF SECTION 402, PURSUANT TO 19 U.S.C. 2432(c) AND (d)

June 4, 2008.--Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and ordered 
                             to be printed
                                       Department of State,
                                      Washington, DC, June 3, 2008.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
    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 to 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,
                                Jeffrey T. Bergner,
                                       Assistant Secretary,
                                               Legislative Affairs.
    Enclosures: As stated.

 Determination Under Subsection 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
          Amended Continuation of Waiver Authority for Belarus

                                                      June 2, 2008.
    Pursuant to the authority vested in the President under the 
Trade Act of 1974, as amended, Public Law 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.

                                          Condoleezza Rice,
                                                Secretary of State.
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 relations 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 
that generally allows free emigration. None of the human rights 
or Jewish organizations in Belarus report discriminatory 
restrictions limiting the ability of citizens to emigrate on 
the basis of ethnic 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.
    The procedure for administering these exit restrictions has 
recently been changed. Presidential Decree No. 643 of 17 
December 2007, which took effect on January 1, 2008, abolished 
a system of passport exit stamps that had been previously used 
to grant permission for travel abroad. Under the new 
procedures, individuals presenting a passport at most border 
points to a border enforcement official 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 to the 
Citizenship and Migration Office of the Ministry of Internal 
Affairs, which maintains the database.
    Since the Decree has only recently come into force, we do 
not have a clear picture of the extent to which the new 
procedure may be affecting freedom of emigration. We have 
serious concerns, however, that the new procedures are less 
transparent and more subject to manipulation than the old 
system. In fact, the new procedures appear to have had a 
negative impact on the freedom to travel abroad. At least 18 
opposition politicians and civil society activists who had 
previously been able to exit Belarus for temporary travel 
reported that they were denied permission to exit when they 
appeared at a border crossing after the new decree came into 
force on January 1, 2008. In some cases, the persons denied 
exit were not given any legal basis for denial of their right 
to exit. In one case an opposition political leader was told 
the reason for denial of exit was an open investigation into 
statements critical of the regime that he had made in 2004. 
(This opposition leader met with President Bush in the Oval 
Office in December 2007.)
    Although freedom to travel abroad for non-emigrant purposes 
is not the specific focus of section 402 of the Act, the 
government has continued to impose restrictions on this 
freedom. Other existing restrictions that impede the ability of 
Belarusians to exit the country remained in place during 2007 
and 2008. These included a presidential decree signed in March 
2005 on measures to combat trafficking in persons, which 
required, among other provisions, that any organization 
responsible for facilitating student exchanges must first 
receive approval for its program from the Ministry of 
Education. Non-governmental organizations have expressed 
concern that 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.
Extension of the waiver
    We have repeatedly expressed our concerns to Belarus about 
the manner in which restrictions on exit from Belarus are 
applied, either for the purpose of emigration or for temporary 
travel. Insofar as we retain the ability to engage with the 
Government of Belarus on these issues, extending the current 
waiver will allow us to continue to promote progress by 
Belarus, while giving us leverage to prevent any rollback. We 
have expressed our deep concerns to the Belarusian authorities 
and condemned their actions in March and April 2008 to limit 
the size of our Embassy in Minsk. A reduced diplomatic presence 
in Minsk will hinder our efforts to engage with Belarus on 
freedom of emigration issues as well as our ability to 
accurately report on potential progress by Belarus in this 
area. Nevertheless, we will continue to raise our concerns with 
the Government of Belarus about emigration-related practices, 
noting that efforts to restrict emigration may result in 
revocation of the waiver and normal trade relations.
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