I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1164

To provide for assistance by the United States to promote economic growth

and stabilization of Northern Ireland and the border counties of the

Irish Republic.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 17, 1999

Mr. MCDERMOTT (for himself, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. JEFFERSON, and Mr. MATSUI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Ways

and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide for assistance by the United States to promote

economic growth and stabilization of Northern Ireland

and the border counties of the Irish Republic.

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 ‘‘Good Friday Trade

5 and Investment Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) Economic growth and stabilization of

2 Northern Ireland and the border counties of the

3 Irish Republic are key to full implementation of the

4 Good Friday Peace Agreement, entered into on April

5 19, 1998.

6 (2) The bombing in Omagh on August 15,

7 1998, is a clear example of a small town that des8 perately needs immediate relief and assistance for

9 reconstruction. The pace and scale of aid and invest10 ment in Omagh and other towns recently bombed—

11 Banbridge, Markethill, and Newtownhamilton—

12 could determine whether the Good Friday Peace

13 Agreement holds.

14 (3) The international community, including the

15 European Union and the World Trade Organization

16 (WTO), has a strong record of responding to his17 toric political and economic circumstances. It has

18 fought for and approved WTO waivers, such as tran19 sitional measures to take account of German unifica20 tion and the Treaty of Lome, that allow necessary

21 international flexibility and cooperation to enhance

22 trade and investment and stabilize economically de23 prived and politically revitalized regions.

24 (4) The United States can continue its crucial

25 role in the peace process by creating and promoting
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1 economic growth through trade and investment in

2 the region’s severely economically deprived areas. In

3 addition to promoting trade and investment in

4 Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the

5 United States should consider grant assistance to

6 aid communities in the area suffering terrorist at7 tacks.

8 (5) Fair employment practices in Northern Ire9 land are an essential element for an expanding full

10 employment economy. The Congress notes with ap11 proval the constant efforts undertaken by the North12 ern Ireland Fair Employment Commission and Em13 ployment Tribunal to achieve this end. The Good

14 Friday Peace Agreement established an Anti-dis15 crimination Committee to augment the work done by

16 the Committee and Tribunal. The Congress believes

17 their continuing efforts constitute persuasive evi18 dence that fair employment principles are being ef19 fectively safeguarded, secured, and promoted for all

20 communities.

21 SEC. 3. OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION.

22 (a) EQUITY FUNDS.—The Overseas Private Invest23 ment Corporation shall establish equity funds, with total

24 assets of at least $300,000,000, for the purpose of pro25 viding insurance, financing, and other assistance under
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1 title IV of chapter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance

2 Act of 1961 for business development and infrastructure

3 projects in Northern Ireland and the border counties of

4 the Irish Republic.

5 (b) ASSISTANCE CONSISTENT WITH PRINCIPLES OF

6 FAIR EMPLOYMENT.—The Overseas Private Investment

7 Corporation shall provide insurance, financing, and other

8 assistance under subsection (a) only to individuals or enti9 ties in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which

10 employ practices consistent with the principles of fair em11 ployment.

12 (c) PRIORITY TO PROJECTS INVOLVING WOMEN EN13 TREPRENEURS AND WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT POSI14 TIONS.—Not less than 20 percent of the equity funds es15 tablished under subsection (a) shall be dedicated for fi16 nancing, insurance, and other assistance to—

17 (1) businesses in Northern Ireland and the Re18 public of Ireland that are owned and managed by

19 women;

20 (2) new businesses to be owned and managed

21 by women; and

22 (3) women who provide training and vocational

23 education for women.

24 (d) PRIORITY TO PROJECTS INVOLVING NEW TECH25 NOLOGIES.—Not less than $10,000,000 of the equity
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1 funds established under subsection (a) shall be dedicated

2 for financing, insurance, and other assistance to projects

3 involving the development of new technologies, including

4 biomedical and bioengineering projects.

5 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR IRELAND.

6 (a) INCREASED FUNDING.—In addition to amounts

7 otherwise available for such purposes, there are authorized

8 to be appropriated for United States contributions to the

9 International Fund for Ireland $30,000,000 for fiscal year

10 2000 and not less than $40,000,000 for each of the fiscal

11 years 2001 through 2004.

12 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall take the

14 necessary steps to ensure that—

15 (A) at least 50 percent of the annual con16 tributions of the United States to the Inter17 national Fund for Ireland are used for projects,

18 in the areas of greatest need based upon levels

19 of unemployment, that—

20 (i) are most likely to produce jobs and

21 economic expansion; and

22 (ii) are selected by the Directors of

23 the International Fund for Ireland in con24 sultation with members of the Economic

25 Development Committee of the Northern
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1 Ireland Assembly and members of the

2 Cross Border Economic Committee from

3 the Republic of Ireland; and

4 (B) projects targeted at or located in

5 Northern Ireland and the border counties of the

6 Irish Republic receive priority consideration by

7 the Directors of the International Fund for Ire8 land in using the funds described in subpara9 graph (A).

10 (2) FUNDING FOR PROJECTS USING PRINCIPLES

11 OF FAIR EMPLOYMENT.—The President shall take

12 the necessary steps to ensure that funding for

13 projects be provided by the International Fund for

14 Ireland only to individuals or entities in Northern

15 Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which employ

16 practices consistent with the principles of fair em17 ployment.

18 (3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The President, by

19 no later than December 1 of each year, shall trans20 mit to the Congress a list of those projects the

21 President believes should be funded under paragraph

22 (1).

23 (4) PRIORITY PROJECTS IN FISCAL YEAR

24 1999.—The President shall take the necessary steps

25 to ensure that the following projects are given first
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1 consideration for use of funds contributed by the

2 United States in fiscal year 2000 to the Inter3 national Fund for Ireland:

4 (A) $8,000,000 in financing for Omagh

5 Memorial Science Park and other science parks

6 located near existing scientific research centers

7 and university campuses, to supplement support

8 of the United Kingdom for the business devel9 opment of scientific research discoveries.

10 (B) $5,000,000 in cofinancing of the Inno11 vation Fund established by the United King12 dom, which has contributed $8,000,000 to that

13 fund, to provide support for technology projects

14 with commercial potential.

15 (C) $250,000 over 2 fiscal years toward

16 the strengthening of existing ties between hand17 made in America and the Northern Ireland

18 craft sector.

19 (D) $250,000 for programs to develop

20 middle management skills in the public and pri21 vate sector.

22 (E) $13,000,000 for the Springvale

23 Project, a university campus in an economically

24 depressed area of West Belfast, supported in

25 conjunction with the Government of the United
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1 Kingdom, the University of Ulster, and the Bel2 fast Institute of Further and Higher Education.

3 (F) $1,000,000 for setting up an entrepre4 neurial learning center in Northern Ireland and

5 the border counties of the Irish Republic by the

6 Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in

7 partnership with Enterprise Ireland, the Train8 ing and Employment Agency, and private sector

9 companies.

10 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE INITIATIVES.

11 The Secretary of Commerce shall consolidate its cur12 rent activities with respect to promotion of business oppor13 tunities in Northern Ireland and the border counties of

14 the Irish Republic to focus on promoting awareness of

15 business opportunities in those counties, encouraging joint

16 ventures with businesses in those counties, and promoting

17 the development of businesses owned by women.

18 SEC. 6. GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES.

19 (a) DESIGNATION AS BENEFICIARY DEVELOPING

20 COUNTRY.—Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended

21 by inserting after section 506 the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 506A. DESIGNATION OF NORTHERN IRELAND AND

2 THE BORDER COUNTIES OF THE IRISH RE3 PUBLIC.

4 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION.—The President may designate

5 Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Irish Re6 public as a beneficiary developing country for purposes of

7 this title for the period beginning on a date specified by

8 the President that occurs on or after the date on which

9 the United States is granted the waivers of obligations

10 under the WTO Agreement or the GATT 1994, or both,

11 that are necessary on account of such designation, and

12 ending no later than 10 years after the effective date or

13 dates of the waivers.

14 ‘‘(b) OBLIGATIONS OF UNITED STATES.—The

15 United States Trade Representative shall seek the waiver

16 described in subsection (a) within 1 year after the date

17 of the enactment of this section, and shall seek the co18 operation of the European Community, the United King19 dom, and Ireland in acquiring the waiver.

20 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY OF ARTI21 CLES.—

22 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS.—An article is eligible for

23 duty free treatment under this section only if—

24 ‘‘(A) the article is wholly the growth, prod25 uct, or manufacture of the qualifying counties

26 or is a new or different article of commerce that
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1 has been grown, produced, or manufactured in

2 the qualifying counties; and

3 ‘‘(B) the article is imported directly from

4 qualifying counties; and

5 ‘‘(C) the sum of—

6 ‘‘(i) the cost or value of the materials

7 produced in qualifying counties, plus

8 ‘‘(ii) the direct costs of processing op9 erations performed in the qualifying coun10 ties,

11 is not less than 35 percent of the appraised

12 value of the product at the time it is entered

13 into the United States.

14 For purposes of determining the 35 percent content

15 requirement contained in subparagraph (C), the cost

16 or value of materials which are used in the produc17 tion of an article in the qualifying counties, and are

18 the products of the United States, may be counted

19 in an amount up to 15 percent of the appraised

20 value of the article.

21 ‘‘(2) NONQUALIFYING OPERATIONS.—No article

22 shall be considered a new or different article of com23 merce under this subsection, and no material shall

24 be included for purposes of determining the 35 per-
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1 cent requirement of paragraph (1)(C), by virtue of

2 having merely undergone—

3 ‘‘(A) simple combining or packaging oper4 ations; or

5 ‘‘(B) mere dilution with water or with an6 other substance that does not materially alter

7 the characteristics of the article or material.

8 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW OR DIFFERENT

9 ARTICLE OF COMMERCE.—For purposes of para10 graph (1)(A), an article is a new or different article

11 of commerce if it is substantially transformed into

12 an article having a new name, character, or use.

13 ‘‘(4) COST OR VALUE OF MATERIALS.—(A) For

14 purposes of paragraph (1), the cost or value of ma15 terials produced in the qualifying counties

16 includes—

17 ‘‘(i) the manufacturer’s actual cost for the

18 materials;

19 ‘‘(ii) when not included in the manufactur20 er’s actual cost for the materials, the freight,

21 insurance, packing, and all other costs incurred

22 in transporting the materials to the manufac23 turer’s plant;

24 ‘‘(iii) the actual cost of waste or spoilage,

25 less the value of recoverable scrap; and
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1 ‘‘(iv) taxes or duties imposed on the mate2 rials by the Republic of Ireland, the United

3 Kingdom, or the European Union if such taxes

4 or duties are not remitted on exportation.

5 ‘‘(B) If a material is provided to the manufac6 turer without charge, or at less than fair market

7 value, its cost or value shall be determined by com8 puting the sum of—

9 ‘‘(i) all expenses incurred in the growth,

10 production, or manufacture of the material, in11 cluding general expenses;

12 ‘‘(ii) an amount for profit; and

13 ‘‘(iii) freight, insurance, packing, and all

14 other costs incurred in transporting the mate15 rial to the manufacturers plant.

16 If the information necessary to compute the cost or

17 value of a material is not available, the Customs

18 Service may ascertain or estimate the value thereof

19 using all reasonable methods.

20 ‘‘(5) DIRECT COSTS OF PROCESSING OPER21 ATIONS.—(A) For purposes of this subsection, the

22 direct costs of processing operations performed in

23 the qualifying counties with respect to an article are

24 those costs either directly incurred in, or which can

25 be reasonably allocated to, the growth, production,
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1 manufacture, or assembly, of that article. Such costs

2 include, but are not limited to, the following to the

3 extent that they are includible in the appraised value

4 of articles imported into the United States:

5 ‘‘(i) All actual labor costs involved in the

6 growth, production, manufacture, or assembly

7 of the article, including fringe benefits, on-the8 job training, and costs of engineering, super9 visory, quality control, and similar personnel.

10 ‘‘(ii) Dies, molds, tooling, and depreciation

11 on machinery and equipment which are alloca12 ble to the article.

13 ‘‘(iii) Research, development, design, engi14 neering, and blueprint costs insofar as they are

15 allocable to the article.

16 ‘‘(iv) Costs of inspecting and testing the

17 article.

18 ‘‘(B) Those items that are not included as di19 rect costs of processing operations with respect to an

20 article are those which are not directly attributable

21 to the article or are not costs of manufacturing the

22 article. Such items include, but are not limited to—

23 ‘‘(i) profit; and

24 ‘‘(ii) general expenses of doing business

25 which are either not allocable to the article or
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1 are not related to the growth, production, man2 ufacture, or assembly of the article, such as ad3 ministrative salaries, casualty and liability in4 surance, advertising and salesmen’s salaries,

5 commissions, or expenses.

6 ‘‘(6) IMPORTED DIRECTLY.—For purposes of

7 this subsection—

8 ‘‘(A) articles are imported directly if—

9 ‘‘(i) the articles are shipped directly

10 from the qualifying counties into the

11 United States without passing through the

12 territory of any intermediate country; or

13 ‘‘(ii) if shipment is through the terri14 tory of an intermediate country, the arti15 cles in the shipment do not enter into the

16 commerce of any intermediate country and

17 the invoices, bills of lading, and other ship18 ping documents specify the United States

19 as the final destination; or

20 ‘‘(B) if articles are shipped through an in21 termediate country and the invoices and other

22 documents do not specify the United States as

23 the final destination, then the articles in the

24 shipment, upon arrival in the United States, are

25 imported directly only if they—
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1 ‘‘(i) remain under the control of the

2 customs authority in an intermediate coun3 try;

4 ‘‘(ii) do not enter into the commerce

5 of an intermediate country except for the

6 purpose of a sale other than at retail, but

7 only if the articles are imported as a result

8 of the original commercial transactions be9 tween the importer and the producer or

10 the producer’s sales agent; and

11 ‘‘(iii) have not been subjected to oper12 ations other than loading, unloading, or

13 other activities necessary to preserve the

14 article in good condition.

15 ‘‘(7) DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED.—An article

16 is eligible for the duty exemption under this sub17 section only if—

18 ‘‘(A) the importer certifies that the article

19 meets the conditions for the duty exemption;

20 and

21 ‘‘(B) when requested by the Customs Serv22 ice, the importer, manufacturer, or exporter

23 submits a declaration setting forth all pertinent

24 information with respect to the article, includ25 ing the following:
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1 ‘‘(i) A description of the article, quan2 tity, numbers and marks of packages, in3 voice numbers, and bills of lading.

4 ‘‘(ii) A description of the operation

5 performed in the production of the article

6 in the qualifying counties and identifica7 tion of the direct costs of processing oper8 ations.

9 ‘‘(iii) A description of any materials

10 used in production of the article which are

11 wholly the growth, product, or manufac12 ture of the qualifying counties or the

13 United States, and a statement as to the

14 cost or value of such materials.

15 ‘‘(iv) A description of the operations

16 performed on, and a statement as to the

17 origin and cost or value of, any foreign

18 materials used in the article which are

19 claimed to have been sufficiently processed

20 in the qualifying counties so as to be mate21 rials produced in the qualifying counties.

22 ‘‘(v) A description of the origin and

23 cost or value of any foreign materials used

24 in the article which have not been substan-
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1 tially transformed in the qualifying coun2 ties.

3 ‘‘(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The United States

4 Trade Representative shall report annually to the Con5 gress on the status of efforts to acquire the waiver de6 scribed in subsection (a). The Trade Representative shall

7 also include in the report the status of trade relations be8 tween the United States and Northern Ireland and the

9 border counties of the Irish Republic, and recommenda10 tions on how to effectively expand trade between the

11 United States and Northern Ireland and the border coun12 ties of the Irish Republic.’’.

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 502(a)(1)

14 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462(a)(1)) is

15 amended by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as pro16 vided in section 506A, the’’.

17 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 507 of the Trade Act of

18 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2467) is amended by adding at the end

19 the following:

20 ‘‘(6) NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE BORDER

21 COUNTIES OF THE IRISH REPUBLIC; QUALIFYING

22 COUNTIES.—The terms ‘Northern Ireland and the

23 border counties of the Irish Republic’ and ‘qualifying

24 counties’ mean any county, district, city, or county

25 council or geographic area that—
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1 ‘‘(A) is in Northern Ireland, or is in the

2 Republic of Ireland and contiguous to Northern

3 Ireland; and

4 ‘‘(B)(i) suffers from the severest form of

5 economic deprivation, which may take into ac6 count the United Kingdom’s report, Relative

7 Deprivation in Northern Ireland, Occasional

8 Paper Number 28, Policy Planning and Re9 search Unit, September, or the European

10 Union’s report, Special Support Programme for

11 Peace and Reconciliation 1995–1999,

12 including—

13 ‘‘(I) in Northern Ireland, the counties

14 of Derry, Armagh, Antrim, Tyrone, Fer15 managh, and Down; and

16 ‘‘(II) in the Republic of Ireland, the

17 border counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim,

18 Cavan, Monaghan, and Louth; or

19 ‘‘(ii) has a rate of unemployment higher

20 than the local or urban average of unemploy21 ment in Northern Ireland.

22 ‘‘(7) GATT 1994.—The term ‘GATT 1994’ has

23 the meaning given that term in section 2(1)(B) of

24 the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C.

25 3501(1)(B)).
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1 ‘‘(8) WTO AGREEMENT.—The term ‘WTO

2 Agreement’ has the meaning given that term in sec3 tion 2(9) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19

4 U.S.C. 3501(9)).’’.

5 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

6 As used in this Act:

7 (1) NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE BORDER

8 COUNTIES OF THE IRISH REPUBLIC.—The term

9 ‘‘Northern Ireland and the border counties of the

10 Irish Republic’’ means a county, district, city, or

11 county council or geographic area that—

12 (A) is in Northern Ireland, or is in the Re13 public of Ireland and contiguous to Northern

14 Ireland; and

15 (B)(i) suffers from the severest form of

16 economic deprivation, which may take into ac17 count the United Kingdom’s report, Relative

18 Deprivation in Northern Ireland, Occasional

19 Paper Number 28, Policy Planning and Re20 search Unit, September, or the European

21 Union’s report, Special Support Programme for

22 Peace and Reconciliation 1995–1999,

23 including—
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1 (I) in Northern Ireland, the counties

2 of Derry, Armagh, Antrim, Tyrone, Fer3 managh, and Down; and

4 (II) in the Republic of Ireland, the

5 border counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim,

6 Cavan, Monaghan, and Louth; or

7 (ii) has a rate of unemployment higher

8 than the local or urban average of unemploy9 ment in Northern Ireland.

10 (2) INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR IRELAND.—The

11 term ‘‘International Fund for Ireland’’ has the

12 meaning given the term ‘‘International Fund’’ in

13 section 8 of the Anglo-Irish Agreement Support Act

14 of 1986 (Public Law 99–415).

15 (3) PRINCIPLES OF FAIR EMPLOYMENT.—The

16 term ‘‘principles of fair employment’’ means the fol17 lowing principles:

18 (A) Increasing the representation of indi19 viduals from underrepresented religious groups

20 in the workforce, including managerial, super21 visory, administrative, clerical, and technical

22 jobs.

23 (B) Providing adequate security for the

24 protection of minority employees at the work25 place.
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1 (C) Banning provocative sectarian or polit2 ical emblems from the workplace.

3 (D) Providing that all job openings be ad4 vertised publicly and providing that special re5 cruitment efforts be made to attract applicants

6 from underrepresented religious groups.

7 (E) Providing that layoff, recall, and ter8 mination procedures do not favor a particular

9 religious group.

10 (F) Abolishing job reservations, appren11 ticeship restrictions, and differential employ12 ment criteria which discriminate on the basis of

13 religion.

14 (G) Providing for the development of train15 ing programs that will prepare substantial num16 bers of minority employees for skilled jobs, in17 cluding the expansion of existing programs and

18 the creation of new programs to train, upgrade,

19 and improve the skills of minority employees.

20 (H) Establishing procedures to assess,

21 identify, and actively recruit minority employees

22 with the potential for further advancement.

23 (I) Providing for the appointment of a sen24 ior management staff member to be responsible

25 for the employment efforts of the entity and,
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1 within a reasonable period of time, the imple2 mentation of the principles described in sub3 paragraphs (A) through (H).

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