Presidential Documents

437 

Federal Register 

Vol. 89, No. 3 

Thursday, January 4, 2024 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 10692 of December 29, 2023 

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. In Proclamation 9834 of December 21, 2018, the President determined 

that the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (Mauritania) was not making continual progress in meeting the requirements described in section 506A(a)(1) 

of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the ‘‘Trade Act’’), as added by 

section 111(a) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (the ‘‘AGOA’’) 

(title I of Public Law 106–200, 114 Stat. 251, 257–58), 19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(1). 

Thus, pursuant to section 506A(a)(3) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(3)), 

the President terminated the designation of Mauritania as a beneficiary subSaharan African country for purposes of section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade 

Act. 

2. Section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act 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 Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462). 

3. Pursuant to section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act, based on actions the 

Government of Mauritania has taken, I have determined that Mauritania 

meets the eligibility requirements set forth in section 104 of the AGOA 

and the eligibility criteria set forth in section 502 of the Trade Act, and 

I have decided to designate Mauritania as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

country. 

4. Section 112(c) of the AGOA, as amended in section 6002(a)(3) of the 

Africa Investment Incentive Act of 2006 (division D, title VI, Public Law 

109–432, 120 Stat. 2922, 3190–93), 19 U.S.C. 3721(c), provides special rules 

for certain apparel articles imported from ‘‘lesser developed beneficiary subSaharan African countries.’’ 

5. I have also determined that Mauritania satisfies the criterion for treatment 

as a ‘‘lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African country’’ under section 112(c) of the AGOA. 

6. In Proclamation 7350 of October 2, 2000, the President initially designated 

the Central African Republic, the Gabonese Republic (Gabon), Republic of 

Niger (Niger), and the Republic of Uganda (Uganda) as beneficiary subSaharan African countries for purposes of section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade 

Act. 

7. Section 506A(a)(3) of the Trade Act provides that the President shall 

terminate the designation of a country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

country for purposes of section 506A if the President determines that the 

country is not meeting the requirements described in section 506A(a)(1) 

of the Trade Act. 

8. Pursuant to section 506A(a)(3) of the Trade Act, I have determined that 

the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, and Uganda do not meet the 

requirements described in section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act. Accordingly, 


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I have decided to terminate the designations of the Central African Republic, 

Gabon, Niger, and Uganda as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries for 

purposes of section 506A of the Trade Act, effective January 1, 2024. 

9. 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 (USIFTA), which 

the Congress approved in section 3 of the United States-Israel Free Trade 

Area Implementation Act of 1985 (the ‘‘USIFTA Implementation Act’’) (Public 

Law 99–47, 99 Stat. 82 (19 U.S.C. 2112 note)). Section 4(b) of the USIFTA 

Implementation 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 duty-free or excise 

treatment, or such additional duties, as the President determines to be required or appropriate to carry out the USIFTA. 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 (United States-Israel Agreement Concerning Certain Aspects of 

Trade in Agricultural Products (the ‘‘2004 Agreement’’)). 

10. In Proclamation 7826 of October 4, 2004, the President determined, 

pursuant to section 4(b) of the USIFTA Implementation Act and consistent 

with the 2004 Agreement, that, in order to maintain the general level of 

reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions with respect to Israel 

provided for by the USIFTA, it was necessary to provide duty-free access 

into the United States through December 31, 2008, for specified quantities 

of certain agricultural products of Israel. Each year from 2008 through 2022, 

the United States and Israel entered into agreements to extend the period 

that the 2004 Agreement was in force for 1-year periods to allow additional 

time for the two governments to conclude an agreement to replace the 

2004 Agreement. To carry out the extension agreements, the President in 

Proclamations 8334 of December 31, 2008; 8467 of December 23, 2009; 

8618 of December 21, 2010; 8770 of December 29, 2011; 8921 of December 

20, 2012; 9072 of December 23, 2013; 9223 of December 23, 2014; 9383 

of December 21, 2015; 9555 of December 15, 2016; 9687 of December 22, 

2017; 9834 of December 21, 2018; 9974 of December 26, 2019; 10128 of 

December 22, 2020; 10326 of December 23, 2021; and 10509 of December 

23, 2022, modified the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 

(HTS) to provide duty-free access into the United States for specified quantities of certain agricultural products of Israel, each time for an additional 

1-year period. On November 13, 2023, the United States entered into an 

agreement with Israel to extend the period that the 2004 Agreement is 

in force for an additional 1-year period, through December 31, 2024, to 

allow for further negotiations on an agreement to replace the 2004 Agreement. 

Pursuant to section 4(b) of the USIFTA Implementation 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 for an 

additional 1-year period, through the close of December 31, 2024, for specified quantities of certain agricultural products of Israel, as provided in 

Annex I of this proclamation. 

11. Section 604 of the Trade Act, 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 taken 

thereunder, including the removal, modification, continuance, or imposition 

of any rate of duty or other import restriction. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 


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and the laws of the United States of America, including but not limited 

to section 111(a) of the AGOA, sections 506A(a)(1) and 506A(a)(3) of the 

Trade Act, section 4(b) of the USIFTA Implementation Act, and section 

604 of the Trade Act, as amended, do proclaim that: 

(1) Mauritania is designated as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country 

for purposes of section 506A of the Trade Act. 

(2) In order to reflect this designation in the HTS, general note 16(a) 

to the HTS is modified by inserting in alphabetical sequence in the list 

of beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries ‘‘Islamic Republic of Mauritania’’. 

(3) For purposes of section 112(c) of the AGOA, Mauritania is a lesser 

developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African country. 

(4) In order to provide the tariff treatment intended under section 112(c) 

of the AGOA, note 2(d) to subchapter XIX of chapter 98 of the HTS is 

modified by inserting in alphabetical sequence in the list of lesser developed 

beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries ‘‘Islamic Republic of Mauritania;’’. 

(5) The designations of the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, and 

Uganda as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries for purposes of section 

506A of the Trade Act are terminated, effective January 1, 2024. 

(6) In order to reflect in the HTS that beginning January 1, 2024, the 

Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, and Uganda shall no longer be 

designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries, general note 16(a) 

to the HTS is modified by deleting ‘‘Central African Republic’’, ‘‘Gabonese 

Republic’’, ‘‘Republic of Niger’’, and ‘‘Republic of Uganda’’ from the list 

of beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. Note 7(a) to subchapter II 

and note 1 to subchapter XIX of chapter 98 of the HTS are each modified 

by deleting ‘‘Uganda’’ from the list of beneficiary countries. Further, note 

2(d) to subchapter XIX of chapter 98 of the HTS is modified by deleting 

‘‘Central African Republic;’’, ‘‘Niger;’’, and ‘‘Republic of Uganda;’’ from the 

list of lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. 

(7) The modifications to the HTS set forth in paragraphs (1) through 

(6) of this proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods entered 

for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or 

after January 1, 2024. 

(8) In order to implement tariff commitments under the 2004 Agreement 

through December 31, 2024, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex 

I of this proclamation. 

(9) The modifications and technical rectifications to the HTS made by 

Annex I of this proclamation shall enter into effect on the applicable dates 

set forth in Annex I of this proclamation. 

(10) 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. 


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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth 

day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and 

of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 

and forty-eighth. 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 3 / Thursday, January 4, 2024 / Presidential Documents 441 

[FR Doc. 2024–00051 

Filed 1–3–24; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 7020–02–C 


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ANNEXI 

TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF 

THE HARMONIZED TARIFF SCHEDULE OF THE UNITED STATES 

Effective with respect to eligible agricultural products of Israel which are entered for 

consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after January 1, 2024, and 

through the close of December 31, 2024, subchapter VIII of chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States is hereby modified as follows: 

1. U.S. note 1 to such subchapter is modified by striking "December 31, 2023," and by inserting 

in lieu thereof "December 31, 2024". 

2. U.S. note 3 to such subchapter is modified by adding at the end of the "Applicable time 

period" column in the table "Calendar year 2024" and by adding at the end of the "Quantity 

(kg)" column opposite such year the quantity "466,000". 

3. U.S. note 4 to such subchapter is modified by adding at the end of the "Applicable time 

period" column in the table "Calendar year 2024" and by adding at the end of the "Quantity 

(kg)" column opposite such year the quantity "1,304,000". 

4. U.S. note 5 to such subchapter is modified by adding at the end of the "Applicable time 

period" column in the table "Calendar year 2024" and by adding at the end of the "Quantity 

(kg)" column opposite such year the quantity "1,534,000". 

5. U.S. note 6 to such subchapter is modified by adding at the end of the "Applicable time 

period" column in the table "Calendar year 2024" and by adding at the end of the "Quantity 

(kg)" column opposite such year the quantity "131,000". 

6. U.S. note 7 to such subchapter is modified by adding at the end of the "Applicable time 

period" column in the table "Calendar year 2024" and by adding at the end of the "Quantity 

(kg)" column opposite such year the quantity "707,000".