II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 219

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to establish procedures for identifying

countries that deny market access for value-added agricultural products

of the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 28, 1997

Mr. DASCHLE (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to establish procedures

for identifying countries that deny market access for

value-added agricultural products of the United States.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Value-added Agricul5 tural Products Market Access Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings:
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1 (1) The export of value-added agricultural prod2 ucts is of vital importance to the economy of the

3 United States.

4 (2) In 1995, agriculture was the largest positive

5 contributor to the United States merchandise trade

6 balance with a trade surplus of $25,800,000,000.

7 (3) The growth of United States value-added

8 agricultural exports should continue to be an impor9 tant factor in improving the United States merchan10 dise trade balance.

11 (4) Increasing the volume of value-added agri12 cultural exports will increase farm income in the

13 United States, thereby protecting family farms and

14 contributing to the economic well-being of rural com15 munities in the United States.

16 (5) Although the United States efficiently pro17 duces high-quality value-added agricultural products,

18 United States producers cannot realize their full ex19 port potential because many foreign countries deny

20 fair and equitable market access to United States

21 agricultural products.

22 (6) The Foreign Agricultural Service estimates

23 that United States agricultural exports are reduced

24 by $4,700,000,000 annually due to unjustifiable im25 position of sanitary and phytosanitary measures that
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1 deny or limit market access to United States prod2 ucts.

3 (7) The denial of fair and equitable market ac4 cess for United States value-added agricultural prod5 ucts impedes the ability of United States farmers to

6 export their products, thereby harming the economic

7 interests of the United States.

8 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

9 (1) to reduce or eliminate foreign unfair trade

10 practices and to remove constraints on fair and open

11 trade in value-added agricultural products;

12 (2) to ensure fair and equitable market access

13 for exports of United States value-added agricultural

14 products; and

15 (3) to promote free and fair trade in value16 added agricultural products.

17 SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY MAR18 KET ACCESS.

19 (a) IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Chapter 8 of title

20 I of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the

21 end the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 183. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY

2 MARKET ACCESS FOR VALUE-ADDED AGRI3 CULTURAL PRODUCTS.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that is

5 30 days after the date on which the annual report is re6 quired to be submitted to Congressional committees under

7 section 181(b), the United States Trade Representative

8 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Trade Rep9 resentative’) shall identify—

10 ‘‘(1) those foreign countries that—

11 ‘‘(A) deny fair and equitable market access

12 to United States value-added agricultural prod13 ucts, or

14 ‘‘(B) apply standards for the importation

15 of value-added agricultural products from the

16 United States that are not related to public

17 health concerns or cannot be substantiated by

18 reliable analytical methods; and

19 ‘‘(2) those foreign countries identified under

20 paragraph (1) that are determined by the Trade

21 Representative to be priority foreign countries.

22 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES FOR IDENTIFICATIONS.—

23 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA.—In identifying priority foreign

24 countries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Rep25 resentative shall only identify those foreign coun26 tries—
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1 ‘‘(A) that engage in or have the most oner2 ous or egregious acts, policies, or practices that

3 deny fair and equitable market access to United

4 States value-added agricultural products,

5 ‘‘(B) whose acts, policies, or practices de6 scribed in subparagraph (A) have the greatest

7 adverse impact (actual or potential) on the rel8 evant United States products, and

9 ‘‘(C) that are not—

10 ‘‘(i) entering into good faith negotia11 tions, or

12 ‘‘(ii) making significant progress in

13 bilateral or multilateral negotiations,

14 to provide fair and equitable market access to

15 United States value-added agricultural prod16 ucts.

17 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION AND CONSIDERATION RE18 QUIREMENTS.—In identifying priority foreign coun19 tries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Representa20 tive shall—

21 ‘‘(A) consult with the Secretary of Agri22 culture and other appropriate officers of the

23 Federal Government, and

24 ‘‘(B) take into account information from

25 such sources as may be available to the Trade
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1 Representative and such information as may be

2 submitted to the Trade Representative by inter3 ested persons, including information contained

4 in reports submitted under section 181(b) and

5 petitions submitted under section 302.

6 ‘‘(3) FACTUAL BASIS REQUIREMENT.—The

7 Trade Representative may identify a foreign country

8 under subsection (a)(1) only if the Trade Represent9 ative finds that there is a factual basis for the denial

10 of fair and equitable market access as a result of the

11 violation of international law or agreement, or the

12 existence of barriers, referred to in subsection

13 (d)(3).

14 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF HISTORICAL FAC15 TORS.—In identifying foreign countries under para16 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), the Trade Rep17 resentative shall take into account—

18 ‘‘(A) the history of value-added agricul19 tural trade relations with the foreign country,

20 including any previous identification under sub21 section (a)(2), and

22 ‘‘(B) the history of efforts of the United

23 States, and the response of the foreign country,

24 to achieve fair and equitable market access for
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1 United States value-added agricultural prod2 ucts.

3 ‘‘(c) REVOCATIONS AND ADDITIONAL IDENTIFICA4 TIONS.—

5 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ACT AT ANY TIME.—If in6 formation available to the Trade Representative indi7 cates that such action is appropriate, the Trade

8 Representative may at any time—

9 ‘‘(A) revoke the identification of any for10 eign country as a priority foreign country under

11 this section, or

12 ‘‘(B) identify any foreign country as a pri13 ority foreign country under this section.

14 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION REPORTS.—The Trade Rep15 resentative shall include in the semiannual report

16 submitted to the Congress under section 309(3) a

17 detailed explanation of the reasons for the revocation

18 under paragraph (1) of the identification of any for19 eign country as a priority foreign country under this

20 section.

21 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

22 ‘‘(1) VALUE-ADDED AGRICULTURAL PROD23 UCT.—The term ‘value-added agricultural product’

24 means a product that has traditionally been consid25 ered by the Secretary of Agriculture as being a
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1 value-added product within the scope of section 303

2 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C.

3 5653).

4 ‘‘(2) FAIR AND EQUITABLE MARKET ACCESS.—

5 A foreign country denies fair and equitable market

6 access if the foreign country effectively denies access

7 to a market for a product through the use of laws,

8 procedures, practices, or regulations which—

9 ‘‘(A) violate provisions of international law

10 or international agreements to which both the

11 United States and the foreign country are par12 ties, or

13 ‘‘(B) constitute discriminatory nontariff

14 trade barriers.

15 ‘‘(e) PUBLICATION.—The Trade Representative shall

16 publish in the Federal Register a list of foreign countries

17 identified under subsection (a) and shall make such revi18 sions to the list as may be required by reason of the action

19 under subsection (c).

20 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Trade Representative

21 shall, not later than the date by which countries are identi22 fied under subsection (a), transmit to the Committee on

23 Ways and Means and the Committee on Agriculture of the

24 House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance
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1 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For2 estry of the Senate, a report on the actions taken under

3 this section during the 12 months preceding such report,

4 and the reasons for such actions, including a description

5 of progress made in achieving fair and equitable market

6 access for United States value-added agricultural prod7 ucts.’’.

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents

9 for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after

10 the item relating to section 182 the following:

‘‘Sec. 183. Identification of countries that deny market access for value-added

agricultural products.’’.

11 SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIONS.

12 (a) INVESTIGATION REQUIRED.—Subparagraph (A)

13 of section 302(b)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.

14 2412(b)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 183(a)(2)’’ after

15 ‘‘section 182(a)(2)’’ in the matter preceding clause (i).

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subparagraph (D)

17 of section 302(b)(2) of such Act is amended by inserting

18 ‘‘concerning intellectual property rights that is’’ after

19 ‘‘any investigation’’.

20 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZED ACTIONS BY UNITED STATES TRADE

21 REPRESENTATIVE.

22 Section 301(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19

23 U.S.C. 2411(c)(1)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph

2 (C);

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub4 paragraph (D)(iii)(II) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

5 (3) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(E) with respect to an investigation of a

7 country identified under section 183(a)(1), to

8 request that the Secretary of Agriculture (who,

9 upon receipt of such a request, shall) direct the

10 Food Safety and Inspection Service of the De11 partment of Agriculture to review certifications

12 for the facilities of such country that export

13 meat and other agricultural products to the

14 United States.’’.

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