Presidential Documents

16039

Federal Register

Vol. 62, No. 64

Thursday, April 3, 1997

Title 3—

The President

Proclamation 6982 of April 1, 1997

To Implement an Agreement To Eliminate Tariffs on Certain

Pharmaceuticals and Chemical Intermediates

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

1. On December 13, 1996, members of the World Trade Organization (WTO),

including the United States and 16 other major trading countries, announced

in the WTO Singapore Ministerial Declaration an agreement to eliminate

tariffs on certain pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates that were the

subject of reciprocal duty elimination negotiations during the Uruguay Round

of multilateral trade negotiations (‘‘Uruguay Round’’). In addition, it was

agreed that the agreement on pharmaceutical products reached at the conclusion of the Uruguay Round and consequently Schedule XX—United States

of America, annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the General Agreement

on Tariffs and Trade (1994) (‘‘Schedule XX’’) erroneously included 25 products.

2. (a) Section 111(b) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) (19

U.S.C. 3521(b)) authorizes the President to proclaim the modification of

any duty or staged rate reduction of any duty set forth in 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 and after compliance with the consultation and layover requirements of section 115 of the

URAA (19 U.S.C. 3524). Section 111(b) also authorizes the President to

proclaim such modifications as are necessary to correct technical errors

in Schedule XX or to make other rectifications to the Schedule.

(b) Section 111(a) of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3521(a)) authorizes the President

to proclaim such additional duties as the President determines to be necessary

or appropriate to carry out Schedule XX.

3. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 (1974 Act), as amended (19 U.S.C.

2483), authorizes the President to embody in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule

of the United States (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.

4. (a) Pursuant to section 111(b) of the URAA, I have determined that

modifications to Schedule XX are necessary and that Schedule XX should

be modified accordingly. In addition, I have determined to modify the HTS

to implement the multilateral agreement on pharmaceuticals negotiated under

the auspices of the WTO.

(b) Pursuant to section 111(a) of the URAA, I have determined that it

is necessary or appropriate to modify the HTS to increase tariffs on products

that were included erroneously in the pharmaceuticals agreement reached

at the end of the Uruguay Round.

(c) On January 29, 1997, pursuant to section 115 of the URAA, the United

States Trade Representative (USTR) submitted a report to the Committee

on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee

on Finance of the Senate (‘‘the Committees’’) that set forth the proposed

tariff eliminations and corrections in existing tariff treatment, together with
16040 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 64 / Thursday, April 3, 1997 / Presidential Documents

the advice received from the appropriate private sector advisory committee

and the U.S. International Trade Commission regarding such actions. During

the 60-day period thereafter, the USTR consulted with the Committees on

the proposed tariff eliminations and corrections.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution

and the laws of the United States, including but not limited to sections

111(a) and (b) of the URAA and section 604 of the 1974 Act, do hereby

proclaim that:

(1) In order to implement the multilateral agreement negotiated under

the auspices of the WTO to eliminate tariffs on certain pharmaceutical

products and chemical intermediates, and to correct errors, Schedule XX

and the pharmaceutical appendix to the HTS are modified as set forth

in the Annex to this proclamation.

(2) The modifications to the HTS set forth in this proclamation shall

be effective as provided in the Annex to this proclamation.

(3) 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 first day of

April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and

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

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and twenty-first.

œ–
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[FR Doc. 97–8838 Filed 4–2–97; 1:54 pm]

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