IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2845 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To promote access to benefits under the African Growth 

and Opportunity Act, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AGOA Enhancement 

3 Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

5 It is the policy of the United States to support efforts 

6 to— 

7 (1) improve the rule of law, promote free and 

8 fair elections, strengthen and expand the private sec9 tor, and fight corruption in sub-Saharan Africa; and 

10 (2) promote the role of women in social, polit11 ical, and economic development in sub-Saharan Afri12 ca. 

13 SEC. 3. ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF TRANSPARENCY. 

14 (a) AGOA WEBSITE.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish 

16 a website for the collection and dissemination of in17 formation regarding the African Growth and Oppor18 tunity Act (in this section referred to as the ‘‘AGOA 

19 website’’). 

20 (2) CONTENTS.—The President shall publish on 

21 the AGOA website the information described in 

22 paragraph (1), including— 

23 (A) information and technical assistance 

24 provided at United States Agency for Inter25 national Development regional trade hubs; and 


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1 (B) a link to websites of United States em2 bassies located in eligible sub-Saharan African 

3 countries. 

4 (3) ACTIONS BY UNITED STATES EMBASSIES.— 

5 The Secretary of State should direct United States 

6 embassies located in eligible sub-Saharan African 

7 countries to— 

8 (A) promote the use by such countries of 

9 the benefits available under the African Growth 

10 and Opportunity Act; and 

11 (B) include on a publicly available Internet 

12 website of such diplomatic missions a link to 

13 the AGOA website. 

14 (b) AGOA FORUM.—The President should, after 

15 each meeting of the United States-Sub-Saharan Africa 

16 Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum, publish on the 

17 AGOA website established under subsection (a) the fol18 lowing: 

19 (1) All outcomes of the meeting of the Forum, 

20 including any commitments made by member coun21 tries and the private sector. 

22 (2) An assessment of progress made with re23 spect to any commitments made by member coun24 tries and the private sector from the previous meet25 ing of the Forum. 


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1 (c) OTHER INFORMATION.—The President should 

2 disseminate information required by this section in a dig3 ital format to the public and publish such information on 

4 the AGOA website established under subsection (a). 

5 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘eligible 

6 sub-Saharan African country’’ means a country that the 

7 President has determined meets the eligibility require8 ments set forth in section 104 of the African Growth and 

9 Opportunity Act. 

10 SEC. 4. ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF TRADE CAPACITY 

11 BUILDING. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President should take the fol13 lowing actions: 

14 (1) Develop and implement policies to— 

15 (A) encourage and facilitate trans-bound16 ary cooperation among eligible sub-Saharan Af17 rican countries in order to facilitate trade; and 

18 (B) encourage the provision of technical 

19 assistance to eligible sub-Saharan African coun20 tries to establish and sustain adequate trade ca21 pacity development. 

22 (2) Provide specific training for business in eli23 gible sub-Saharan African countries and government 

24 trade officials of eligible sub-Saharan African coun25 tries on utilizing access to the benefits of the African 


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1 Growth and Opportunity Act and other trade pref2 erence programs. 

3 (3) Provide capacity building for African entre4 preneurs and trade associations on production strat5 egies, quality standards, formation of cooperatives, 

6 and market research and market development. 

7 (4) Provide capacity building training to pro8 mote diversification of African products and value9 added processing. 

10 (5) Provide capacity building and technical as11 sistance funding for African businesses and institu12 tions to help such businesses and institutions comply 

13 with United States counter-terrorism initiatives and 

14 policies. 

15 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘eligible 

16 sub-Saharan African country’’ means a country that the 

17 President has determined meets the eligibility require18 ments set forth in section 104 of the African Growth and 

19 Opportunity Act. 

20 SEC. 5. CONCURRENT COMPACTS UNDER THE MILLENNIUM 

21 CHALLENGE ACT OF 2003. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 609 of the Millennium 

23 Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7708) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking the first sentence of subsection 

25 (k); 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsection (k) (as so 

2 amended) as subsection (l); and 

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(k) CONCURRENT COMPACTS.—An eligible country 

6 that has entered into and has in effect a Compact under 

7 this section may enter into and have in effect at the same 

8 time not more than one additional Compact in accordance 

9 with the requirements of this title if— 

10 ‘‘(1) one or both of the Compacts are or will be 

11 for purposes of regional economic integration, in12 creased regional trade, or cross-border collabora13 tions; and 

14 ‘‘(2) the Board determines that the country is 

15 making considerable and demonstrable progress in 

16 implementing the terms of the existing Compact and 

17 supplementary agreements thereto.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

19 613(b)(2)(A) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7712(b)(2)(A)) is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘the’’ before ‘‘Compact’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘any’’. 

22 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

23 section apply with respect to Compacts entered into be24 tween the United States and an eligible country under the 


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1 Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 before, on, or after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 7, 

2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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