Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 19, 2012 / Notices 58205 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 8033] 

In the Matter of the Designation of the 

Haqqani Network Also Known as HQN 

as a Specially Designated Global 

Terrorist Pursuant to Executive Order 

13224, as Amended 

Acting under the authority of and in 

accordance with section 1(b) of 

Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 

2001, as amended by Executive Order 

13268 of July 2, 2002, and Executive 

Order 13284 of January 23, 2003, I 

hereby determine that the organization 

known as the Haqqani Network, also 

known as HQN, committed, or poses a 

significant risk of committing, acts of 

terrorism that threaten the security of 

U.S. nationals or the national security, 

foreign policy, or economy of the United 

States. 

Consistent with the determination in 

section 10 of Executive Order 13224 that 

‘‘prior notice to persons determined to 

be subject to the Order who might have 

a constitutional presence in the United 

States would render ineffectual the 

blocking and other measures authorized 

in the Order because of the ability to 

transfer funds instantaneously,’’ I 

determine that no prior notice needs to 

be provided to any person subject to this 

determination who might have a 

constitutional presence in the United 

States, because to do so would render 

ineffectual the measures authorized in 

the Order. 

This notice shall be published in the 

Federal Register. 

Dated: September 7, 2012. 

Hillary Rodham Clinton, 

Secretary of State. 

[FR Doc. 2012–23124 Filed 9–18–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–10–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Request for Public Comments on 

Annual Review of Country Eligibility 

for Benefits Under the African Growth 

and Opportunity Act 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The African Growth and 

Opportunity Act Implementation 

Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff 

Committee (the ‘‘Subcommittee’’) is 

requesting written public comments for 

the annual review of the eligibility of 

sub-Saharan African countries to receive 

the benefits of the African Growth and 

Opportunity Act (the AGOA). The 

Subcommittee will consider these 

comments in developing 

recommendations on AGOA country 

eligibility for calendar year 2013 for the 

President. Comments received related to 

the child labor criteria may also be 

considered by the Secretary of Labor in 

the preparation of the Department of 

Labor’s report on child labor as required 

under section 412(c) of the Trade and 

Development Act of 2000. This notice 

identifies the eligibility criteria that 

must be considered under the AGOA, 

and lists those sub-Saharan African 

countries that are currently eligible for 

the benefits of the AGOA and those that 

were ineligible for such benefits in 

2012. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, public 

comments must be submitted to the 

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative 

(USTR) by October 12, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers 

electronic submissions made at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, docket number 

USTR–2012–0026 See ‘‘Requirements 

for Submission,’’ below. If you are 

unable to make a submission at 

www.regulations.gov, please contact 

Don Eiss, Trade Policy Staff Committee, 

at (202) 395–3475 to make other 

arrangements. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

procedural questions, please contact 

Don Eiss, Office of the U.S. Trade 

Representative, 600 17th Street NW., 

Room F516, Washington, DC 20508, at 

(202) 395–3475. All other questions 

should be directed to Constance 

Hamilton, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade 

Representative for Africa, Office of the 

U.S. Trade Representative, at (202) 395– 

9514. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

AGOA (Title I of the Trade and 

Development Act of 2000, Public Law 

106–200) (19 U.S.C. 3721 et seq.), as 

amended, authorizes the President to 

designate sub-Saharan African countries 

as beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

countries eligible for duty-free treatment 

for certain additional products under 

the Generalized System of Preferences 

(GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 

(19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) (the ‘‘1974 

Act’’)), as well as for the preferential 

treatment the AGOA provides for 

certain textile and apparel articles. 

The President may designate a 

country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan 

African country eligible for both the 

additional GSP benefits and the textile 

and apparel benefits of the AGOA for 

countries meeting certain statutory 

requirements intended to prevent 

unlawful transshipment of such articles, 

if he determines that the country meets 

the eligibility criteria set forth in: (1) 

Section 104 of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 

3703); and (2) section 502 of the 1974 

Act (19 U.S.C. 2462). 

Section 104 of the AGOA includes 

requirements that the country has 

established or is making substantial 

progress toward establishing, inter alia: 

A market-based economy; the rule of 

law, political pluralism, and the right to 

due process; the elimination of barriers 

to U.S. trade and investment; economic 

policies to reduce poverty; a system to 

combat corruption and bribery; and 

protection of internationally recognized 

worker rights. In addition, the country 

may not engage in activities that 

undermine U.S. national security or 

foreign policy interests or engage in 

gross violations of internationally 

recognized human rights. Please see 

section 104 of the AGOA and section 

502 of the 1974 Act for a complete list 

of the AGOA eligibility criteria. 

Section 506A of the 1974 Act requires 

that, if the President determines that a 

beneficiary sub-Saharan African country 

is not making continual progress in 

meeting the eligibility requirements, he 

must terminate the designation of the 

country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan 

African country. For 2012, 40 countries 

have been designated as beneficiary subSaharan African countries. These 

countries, as well as the countries 

currently designated as ineligible, are 

listed below. Section 506A of the 1974 

Act provides that the President shall 

monitor and review annually the 

progress of each sub-Saharan African 

country in meeting the foregoing 

eligibility criteria in order to determine 

whether each beneficiary sub-Saharan 

African country should continue to be 

eligible, and whether each sub-Saharan 

African country that is currently not a 

beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

country, should be designated as such a 

country. 

The Subcommittee is seeking public 

comments in connection with the 

annual review of the eligibility of 

beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

countries for the AGOA’s benefits. The 

Subcommittee will consider any such 

comments in developing 

recommendations on country eligibility 

for the President. Comments related to 

the child labor criteria may also be 

considered by the Secretary of Labor in 

making the findings required under 

section 504 of the 1974 Act. The 

following sub-Saharan African countries 

were designated as beneficiary subSaharan African countries in 2012: 

Angola 


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