[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 167 (Monday, August 30, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52990-52992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21518]


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MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION

[MCC FR 10-07]


Report on Countries That Are Candidates for Millennium Challenge 
Account Eligibility in Fiscal Year 2011 and Countries That Would Be 
Candidates But For Legal Prohibitions

AGENCY: Millennium Challenge Corporation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Section 608(d) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 
requires the Millennium Challenge Corporation to publish a report that 
identifies countries that are ``candidate countries'' for Millennium 
Challenge Account assistance during FY 2011. The report is set forth in 
full below.


[[Page 52991]]


    Dated: August 25, 2010.
Melvin F. Williams, Jr.,
Vice President/General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Millennium 
Challenge Corporation.

Report on Countries That Are Candidates for Millennium Challenge 
Account Eligibility for Fiscal Year 2011 and Countries That Would Be 
Candidates but for Legal Prohibitions

Summary

    This report to Congress is provided in accordance with section 
608(a) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended, 22 U.S.C. 
7701, 7707(a) (the ``Act'').
    The Act authorizes the provision of Millennium Challenge Account 
(MCA) assistance for countries that enter into a Millennium Challenge 
Compact with the United States to support policies and programs that 
advance the progress of such countries to achieve lasting economic 
growth and poverty reduction. The Act requires the Millennium Challenge 
Corporation (MCC) to take a number of steps in selecting countries with 
which MCC will seek to enter into a compact, including (a) determining 
the countries that will be eligible for MCA assistance for fiscal year 
2011 (FY11) based on a country's demonstrated commitment to (i) just 
and democratic governance, (ii) economic freedom, and (iii) investments 
in its people; and (b) considering the opportunity to reduce poverty 
and generate economic growth in the country. These steps include the 
submission of reports to the congressional committees specified in the 
Act and the publication of notices in the Federal Register that 
identify:
    (1) The countries that are ``candidate countries'' for MCA 
assistance for FY11 based on per capita income levels and eligibility 
to receive assistance under U.S. law, and countries that would be 
candidate countries but for specified legal prohibitions on assistance 
(section 608(a) of the Act);
    (2) The criteria and methodology that the MCC Board of Directors 
(Board) will use to measure and evaluate the policy performance of the 
``candidate countries'' consistent with the requirements of subsections 
(a) and (b) of section 607 of the Act in order to determine ``MCA 
eligible countries'' from among the ``candidate countries'' (section 
608(b) of the Act); and
    (3) The list of countries determined by the Board to be ``MCA 
eligible countries'' for FY11, identification of such countries with 
which the Board will seek to enter into compacts, and a justification 
for such eligibility determination and selection for compact 
negotiation (section 608(d) of the Act).
    This report is the first of three required reports listed above.

Candidate Countries for FY11

    The Act requires the identification of all countries that are 
candidates for MCA assistance for FY11 and the identification of all 
countries that would be candidate countries but for specified legal 
prohibitions on assistance. Sections 606(a) and (b) of the Act provide 
that for FY11 a country shall be a candidate for MCA assistance if it:
    <bullet> Meets one of the following two income tests:
    [cir] Has a per capita income equal to or less than the historical 
ceiling of the International Development Association eligibility for 
the fiscal year involved (or $1,905 gross national income (GNI) per 
capita for FY11) (the ``low income category''); or
    [cir] Is classified as a lower middle income country in the then 
most recent edition of the World Development Report for Reconstruction 
and Development published by the International Bank for Reconstruction 
and Development and has an income greater than the historical ceiling 
for International Development Association eligibility for the fiscal 
year involved (or $1,906 to $3,945 GNI per capita for FY11) (the 
``lower middle income category''); and
    <bullet> Is not ineligible to receive U.S. economic assistance 
under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, (the 
``Foreign Assistance Act''), by reason of the application of the 
Foreign Assistance Act or any other provision of law.
    Pursuant to section 606(c) of the Act, the Board has identified the 
following countries as candidate countries under the Act for FY11. In 
so doing, the Board has anticipated that prohibitions against 
assistance as applied to countries in the Department of State, Foreign 
Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2010 (Div. F, Pub. 
L. 111-117) (the ``FY10 SFOAA''), will again apply for FY11, even 
though the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related 
Programs Appropriations Act for FY11 has not yet been enacted and 
certain findings under other statutes have not yet been made. As noted 
below, MCC will provide any required updates on subsequent changes in 
applicable legislation or other circumstances that affect the status of 
any country as a candidate country for FY11.

Candidate Countries: Low Income Category

1. Afghanistan
2. Bangladesh
3. Benin
4. Bolivia
5. Burkina Faso
6. Burundi
7. Cambodia
8. Cameroon
9. Central African Republic
10. Chad
11. Comoros
12. Congo, Republic of the
13. Dem. Republic of the Congo
14. Djibouti
15. Ethiopia
16. Gambia, The
17. Ghana
18. Guinea
19. Guinea Bissau
20. Guyana
21. Haiti
22. Honduras
23. India
24. Kenya
25. Kiribati
26. Kyrgyz Republic
27. Lao PDR
28. Lesotho
29. Liberia
30. Malawi
31. Mali
32. Mauritania
33. Moldova
34. Mongolia
35. Mozambique
36. Nepal
37. Nicaragua
38. Niger
39. Nigeria
40. Pakistan
41. Papua New Guinea
42. Philippines
43. Rwanda
44. Sao Tome and Principe
45. Senegal
46. Sierra Leone
47. Solomon Islands
48. Somalia
49. Tajikistan
50. Tanzania
51. Togo
52. Uganda
53. Vietnam
54. Yemen
55. Zambia

Candidate Countries: Lower Middle Income Category

1. Angola
2. Armenia
3. Belize
4. Bhutan
5. Cape Verde
6. Ecuador
7. Egypt, Arab Republic
8. El Salvador

[[Page 52992]]

9. Georgia
10. Guatemala
11. Indonesia
12. Jordan
13. Kosovo
14. Maldives
15. Marshall Islands
16. Micronesia, Fed. Sts.
17. Morocco
18. Paraguay
19. Samoa
20. Sri Lanka
21. Swaziland
22. Thailand
23. Timor-Leste
24. Tonga
25. Tunisia
26. Turkmenistan
27. Tuvalu
28. Ukraine
29. Vanuatu

Countries That Would Be Candidate Countries but for Legal Prohibitions 
That Prohibit Assistance

    Countries that would be considered candidate countries for FY11, 
but are ineligible to receive United States economic assistance under 
part I of the Foreign Assistance Act by reason of the application of 
any provision of the Foreign Assistance Act or any other provision of 
law, are listed below. As noted above, this list is based on legal 
prohibitions against economic assistance that apply for fiscal year 
2010 and that are anticipated to apply again for FY11.

Prohibited Countries: Low Income Category

    1. Burma is subject to numerous restrictions, including section 570 
of the fiscal year 1997 Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and 
Related Programs Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 104-208), which prohibits 
assistance to the government of Burma until it makes progress on 
improving human rights and implementing democratic government, and due 
to its status as a major drug-transit or major illicit drug producing 
country for 2009 (Presidential Determination No. 2009-30 (9/15/2009)).
    2. Cote d'Ivoire is subject to section 7008 of the FY10 SFOAA and 
similar provisions of prior-year appropriations acts, which prohibit 
assistance to the government of a country whose duly elected head of 
government is deposed by military coup or decree. Cote d'Ivoire is also 
subject to section 7086(c) of the FY10 SFOAA, which restricts economic 
and security assistance under the SFOAA for the central government of a 
country that fails to make its annual national budget publicly 
available.
    3. Eritrea is subject to restrictions due to its status as a Tier 
III country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended, 
22 U.S.C. sections 7101 et seq.
    4. Madagascar is subject to section 7008 of the FY10 SFOAA, which 
prohibits assistance to the government of a country whose duly elected 
head of government is deposed by military coup or decree and also 
section 7086(c) of the FY10 SFOAA regarding budget transparency.
    5. North Korea is subject to numerous restrictions, including 
section 7007 of the FY10 SFOAA, which prohibits any direct assistance 
to the government.
    6. Sudan is subject to numerous restrictions, including section 
620A of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits assistance to 
governments supporting international terrorism; section 7012 of the 
FY10 SFOAA and section 620(q) of the Foreign Assistance Act, both of 
which prohibit assistance to countries in default on payment to the 
U.S. in certain circumstances; section 7008 of the FY10 SFOAA, which 
prohibits assistance to the government of a country whose duly elected 
head of government is deposed by military coup or decree; and section 
7070(f) of the FY10 SFOAA.
    7. Uzbekistan's central government is subject to section 7076(a) of 
the fiscal year 2009 SFOAA, which is largely incorporated by reference 
and carried forward by section 7075 of the FY10 SFOAA. This restriction 
states that funds (other than expanded international military education 
and training funds) may be made available for assistance to the central 
government of Uzbekistan only if the Secretary of State determines and 
reports to the Congress that the government is making substantial and 
continuing progress in meeting its commitments under a framework 
agreement with the United States.
    8. Zimbabwe is subject to several restrictions, including section 
7070(i)(2) of the FY10 SFOAA, which prohibits assistance (except for 
macroeconomic growth assistance) to the central government of Zimbabwe 
unless the Secretary of State determines and reports to Congress that 
the rule of law has been restored in Zimbabwe.

Prohibited Countries: Lower Middle Income Category

    1. China is not eligible to receive economic assistance from the 
United States, absent special authority, because of concerns relating 
to China's record on human rights.
    2. Iraq is subject to section 620(t) of the Foreign Assistance Act, 
which prohibits assistance to any country which has severed diplomatic 
relations with the United States until such diplomatic relations are 
restored and an agreement to furnish such assistance has been 
negotiated and entered into after the resumption of diplomatic 
relations.
    3. Syria is subject to numerous restrictions, including 620A of the 
Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits assistance to governments 
supporting international terrorism; section 7007 of the FY10 SFOAA, 
which prohibits direct assistance; and section 7012 of the FY10 SFOAA 
and section 620(q) of the Foreign Assistance Act, both of which 
prohibit assistance to countries in default in payment to the U.S. in 
certain circumstances.
    The countries identified above as candidate countries, as well as 
countries that would be considered candidate countries but for the 
applicability of legal provisions that prohibit U.S. economic 
assistance, may be the subject of future statutory restrictions, 
determinations, or changed country circumstances that affect their 
legal eligibility for assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance 
Act by reason of application of the Foreign Assistance Act or any other 
provision of law for FY11. MCC will include any required updates on 
such statutory eligibility that affect countries' identification as 
candidate countries for FY11, at such time as it publishes the notices 
required by sections 608(b) and 608(d) of the Act, or at other 
appropriate times. Any such updates with regard to the eligibility or 
ineligibility of particular countries identified in this report will 
not affect the date on which the Board is authorized to determine 
eligible countries from among candidate countries which, in accordance 
with section 608(a) of the Act, shall be no sooner than 90 days from 
the date of publication of this report.

[FR Doc. 2010-21518 Filed 8-25-10; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 9211-03-P