I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4773

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

OCTOBER 9, 1998

Mr. MCDERMOTT (for himself, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. BLUMENAUER,

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND REPORT.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following

3 findings:

4 (1) Economic growth and stabilization of

5 Northern Ireland and the border counties of the

6 Irish Republic are key to full implementation of the

7 Good Friday Peace Agreement, entered into on April

8 19, 1998.

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

10 1998, is a clear example of a small town that des11 perately needs immediate relief and assistance for

12 reconstruction. The pace and scale of aid and invest13 ment in Omagh and other towns recently bombed—

14 Banbridge, Markethill, and Newtownhamilton—

15 could determine whether the Good Friday Peace

16 Agreement holds.

17 (3) The international community, including the

18 European Union and the World Trade Organization

19 (WTO), has a strong record of responding to his20 toric political and economic circumstances. It has

21 fought for and approved WTO waivers, such as tran22 sitional measures to take account of German unifica23 tion and the Treaty of Lome, that allow necessary

24 international flexibility and cooperation to enhance

25 trade and investment and stabilize economically de26 prived and politically revitalized regions.
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1 (4) The United States can continue its crucial

2 role in the peace process by creating and promoting

3 economic growth through trade and investment in

4 the region’s severely economically deprived areas. In

5 addition to promoting trade and investment in

6 Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the

7 United States should consider grant assistance to

8 aid communities in the area suffering terrorist at9 tacks.

10 (5) Fair employment practices in Northern Ire11 land are an essential element for an expanding full

12 employment economy. The Congress notes with ap13 proval the constant efforts undertaken by the North14 ern Ireland Fair Employment Commission and Em15 ployment Tribunal to achieve this end. The Good

16 Friday Peace Agreement established an Anti-dis17 crimination Committee to augment the work done by

18 the Committee and Tribunal. The Congress believes

19 their continuing efforts constitute persuasive evi20 dence that fair employment principles are being ef21 fectively safeguarded, secured, and promoted for all

22 communities.

23 (6) The strengthening of a police force accept24 able to both communities in Northern Ireland is es25 sential for the formation and success of a peaceful
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1 and prosperous civil society. The Congress notes

2 that the Independent Commission on Policing estab3 lished in the Good Friday Peace Agreement is to re4 port on the policing problems in Northern Ireland.

5 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The President, taking

6 into consideration the recommendations of the Independ7 ent Commission on Policing referred to in subsection

8 (a)(6), shall report to the Congress on a biannual basis

9 on how the United States can assist in the establishment

10 of an acceptable policing force in Northern Ireland that

11 has the highest level of professionalism.

12 SEC. 3. OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION.

13 (a) EQUITY FUNDS.—The Overseas Private Invest14 ment Corporation shall establish equity funds, with total

15 assets of at least $300,000,000, for the purpose of provid16 ing insurance, financing, and other assistance under title

17 IV of chapter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

18 of 1961 for business development and infrastructure

19 projects in Northern Ireland and the border counties of

20 the Irish Republic.

21 (b) ASSISTANCE CONSISTENT WITH PRINCIPLES OF

22 FAIR EMPLOYMENT.—The Overseas Private Investment

23 Corporation shall provide insurance, financing, and other

24 assistance under subsection (a) only to individuals or enti25 ties in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which
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1 employ practices consistent with the principles of fair em2 ployment.

3 (c) PRIORITY TO PROJECTS INVOLVING WOMEN EN4 TREPRENEURS AND WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT POSI5 TIONS.—Not less than 20 percent of the equity funds es6 tablished under subsection (a) shall be dedicated for fi7 nancing, insurance, and other assistance to—

8 (1) businesses in Northern Ireland and the Re9 public of Ireland that are owned and managed by

10 women;

11 (2) new businesses to be owned and managed

12 by women; and

13 (3) women who provide training and vocational

14 education for women.

15 (d) PRIORITY TO PROJECTS INVOLVING NEW TECH16 NOLOGIES.—Not less than $10,000,000 of the equity

17 funds established under subsection (a) shall be dedicated

18 for financing, insurance, and other assistance to projects

19 involving the development of new technologies, including

20 biomedical and bioengineering projects.

21 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR IRELAND.

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

23 otherwise available for such purposes, there are authorized

24 to be appropriated for United States contributions to the

25 International Fund for Ireland $30,000,000 for fiscal year
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1 1999 and not less than $40,000,000 for each of the fiscal

2 years 2000 through 2003.

3 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—

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

5 necessary steps to ensure that—

6 (A) at least 50 percent of the annual con7 tributions of the United States to the Inter8 national Fund for Ireland are used for projects,

9 in the areas of greatest need based upon levels

10 of unemployment, that—

11 (i) are most likely to produce jobs and

12 economic expansion; and

13 (ii) are selected by the Directors of

14 the International Fund for Ireland in con15 sultation with members of the Economic

16 Development Committee of the Northern

17 Ireland Assembly and members of the

18 Cross Border Economic Committee from

19 the Republic of Ireland; and

20 (B) projects targeted at or located in

21 Northern Ireland and the border counties of the

22 Irish Republic receive priority consideration by

23 the Directors of the International Fund for Ire24 land in using the funds described in subpara25 graph (A).
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1 (2) FUNDING FOR PROJECTS USING PRINCIPLES

2 OF FAIR EMPLOYMENT.—The President shall take

3 the necessary steps to ensure that funding for

4 projects be provided by the International Fund for

5 Ireland only to individuals or entities in Northern

6 Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which employ

7 practices consistent with the principles of fair em8 ployment.

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

10 no later than December 1 of each year, shall trans11 mit to the Congress a list of those projects the

12 President believes should be funded under paragraph

13 (1).

14 (4) PRIORITY PROJECTS IN FISCAL YEAR

15 1999.—The President shall take the necessary steps

16 to ensure that the following projects are given first

17 consideration for use of funds contributed by the

18 United States in fiscal year 1999 to the Inter19 national Fund for Ireland:

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

21 Memorial Science Park and other science parks

22 located near existing scientific research centers

23 and university campuses, to supplement support

24 of the United Kingdom for the business devel25 opment of scientific research discoveries.
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1 (B) $5,000,000 in cofinancing of the Inno2 vation Fund established by the United King3 dom, which has contributed $8,000,000 to that

4 fund, to provide support for technology projects

5 with commercial potential.

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

7 the strengthening of existing ties between hand8 made in America and the Northern Ireland

9 craft sector.

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

11 middle management skills in the public and pri12 vate sector.

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

14 Project, a university campus in an economically

15 depressed area of West Belfast, supported in

16 conjunction with the Government of the United

17 Kingdom, the University of Ulster, and the Bel18 fast Institute of Further and Higher Education.

19 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE INITIATIVES.

20 The Secretary of Commerce shall consolidate its cur21 rent activities with respect to promotion of business oppor22 tunities in Northern Ireland and the border counties of

23 the Irish Republic to focus on promoting awareness of

24 business opportunities in those counties, encouraging joint
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1 ventures with businesses in those counties, and promoting

2 the development of businesses owned by women.

3 SEC. 6. GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES.

4 (a) DESIGNATION AS BENEFICIARY DEVELOPING

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

6 by inserting after section 506 the following new section:

7 ‘‘SEC. 506A. DESIGNATION OF NORTHERN IRELAND AND

8 THE BORDER COUNTIES OF THE IRISH RE9 PUBLIC.

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

11 Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Irish Re12 public as a beneficiary developing country for purposes of

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

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

15 the United States is granted the waivers of obligations

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

17 that are necessary on account of such designation, and

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

19 dates of the waivers.

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

21 United States Trade Representative shall seek the waiver

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

23 of the enactment of this section, and shall seek the co24 operation of the European Community, the United King25 dom, and Ireland in acquiring the waiver.
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1 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY OF ARTI2 CLES.—

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

4 duty free treatment under this section only if—

5 ‘‘(A) the article is wholly the growth, prod6 uct, or manufacture of the qualifying counties

7 or is a new or different article of commerce that

8 has been grown, produced, or manufactured in

9 the qualifying counties; and

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

11 qualifying counties; and

12 ‘‘(C) the sum of—

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

14 produced in qualifying counties, plus

15 ‘‘(ii) the direct costs of processing op16 erations performed in the qualifying coun17 ties,

18 is not less than 35 percent of the appraised

19 value of the product at the time it is entered

20 into the United States.

21 For purposes of determining the 35 percent content

22 requirement contained in subparagraph (C), the cost

23 or value of materials which are used in the produc24 tion of an article in the qualifying counties, and are

25 the products of the United States, may be counted
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1 in an amount up to 15 percent of the appraised

2 value of the article.

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

4 shall be considered a new or different article of com5 merce under this subsection, and no material shall

6 be included for purposes of determining the 35 per7 cent requirement of paragraph (1)(C), by virtue of

8 having merely undergone—

9 ‘‘(A) simple combining or packaging oper10 ations; or

11 ‘‘(B) mere dilution with water or with an12 other substance that does not materially alter

13 the characteristics of the article or material.

14 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW OR DIFFERENT

15 ARTICLE OF COMMERCE.—For purposes of para16 graph (1)(A), an article is a new or different article

17 of commerce if it is substantially transformed into

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

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

20 purposes of paragraph (1), the cost or value of ma21 terials produced in the qualifying counties in22 cludes—

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

24 materials;
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1 ‘‘(ii) when not included in the manufactur2 er’s actual cost for the materials, the freight,

3 insurance, packing, and all other costs incurred

4 in transporting the materials to the manufac5 turer’s plant;

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

7 less the value of recoverable scrap; and

8 ‘‘(iv) taxes or duties imposed on the mate9 rials by the Republic of Ireland, the United

10 Kingdom, or the European Union if such taxes

11 or duties are not remitted on exportation.

12 ‘‘(B) If a material is provided to the manufac13 turer without charge, or at less than fair market

14 value, its cost or value shall be determined by com15 puting the sum of—

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

17 production, or manufacture of the material, in18 cluding general expenses;

19 ‘‘(ii) an amount for profit; and

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

21 other costs incurred in transporting the mate22 rial to the manufacturers plant.

23 If the information necessary to compute the cost or

24 value of a material is not available, the Customs
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1 Service may ascertain or estimate the value thereof

2 using all reasonable methods.

3 ‘‘(5) DIRECT COSTS OF PROCESSING OPER4 ATIONS.—(A) For purposes of this subsection, the

5 direct costs of processing operations performed in

6 the qualifying counties with respect to an article are

7 those costs either directly incurred in, or which can

8 be reasonably allocated to, the growth, production,

9 manufacture, or assembly, of that article. Such costs

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

11 extent that they are includible in the appraised value

12 of articles imported into the United States:

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

14 growth, production, manufacture, or assembly

15 of the article, including fringe benefits, on-the16 job training, and costs of engineering, super17 visory, quality control, and similar personnel.

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

19 on machinery and equipment which are alloca20 ble to the article.

21 ‘‘(iii) Research, development, design, engi22 neering, and blueprint costs insofar as they are

23 allocable to the article.

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

25 article.
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1 ‘‘(B) Those items that are not included as di2 rect costs of processing operations with respect to an

3 article are those which are not directly attributable

4 to the article or are not costs of manufacturing the

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

6 ‘‘(i) profit; and

7 ‘‘(ii) general expenses of doing business

8 which are either not allocable to the article or

9 are not related to the growth, production, man10 ufacture, or assembly of the article, such as ad11 ministrative salaries, casualty and liability in12 surance, advertising and salesmen’s salaries,

13 commissions, or expenses.

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

15 this subsection—

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

17 ‘‘(i) the articles are shipped directly

18 from the qualifying counties into the

19 United States without passing through the

20 territory of any intermediate country; or

21 ‘‘(ii) if shipment is through the terri22 tory of an intermediate country, the arti23 cles in the shipment do not enter into the

24 commerce of any intermediate country and

25 the invoices, bills of lading, and other ship-
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1 ping documents specify the United States

2 as the final destination; or

3 ‘‘(B) if articles are shipped through an in4 termediate country and the invoices and other

5 documents do not specify the United States as

6 the final destination, then the articles in the

7 shipment, upon arrival in the United States, are

8 imported directly only if they—

9 ‘‘(i) remain under the control of the

10 customs authority in an intermediate coun11 try;

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

13 of an intermediate country except for the

14 purpose of a sale other than at retail, but

15 only if the articles are imported as a result

16 of the original commercial transactions be17 tween the importer and the producer or

18 the producer’s sales agent; and

19 ‘‘(iii) have not been subjected to oper20 ations other than loading, unloading, or

21 other activities necessary to preserve the

22 article in good condition.

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

24 is eligible for the duty exemption under this sub25 section only if—
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1 ‘‘(A) the importer certifies that the article

2 meets the conditions for the duty exemption;

3 and

4 ‘‘(B) when requested by the Customs Serv5 ice, the importer, manufacturer, or exporter

6 submits a declaration setting forth all pertinent

7 information with respect to the article, includ8 ing the following:

9 ‘‘(i) A description of the article, quan10 tity, numbers and marks of packages, in11 voice numbers, and bills of lading.

12 ‘‘(ii) A description of the operation

13 performed in the production of the article

14 in the qualifying counties and identifica15 tion of the direct costs of processing oper16 ations.

17 ‘‘(iii) A description of any materials

18 used in production of the article which are

19 wholly the growth, product, or manufac20 ture of the qualifying counties or the

21 United States, and a statement as to the

22 cost or value of such materials.

23 ‘‘(iv) A description of the operations

24 performed on, and a statement as to the

25 origin and cost or value of, any foreign
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1 materials used in the article which are

2 claimed to have been sufficiently processed

3 in the qualifying counties so as to be mate4 rials produced in the qualifying counties.

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

6 cost or value of any foreign materials used

7 in the article which have not been substan8 tially transformed in the qualifying coun9 ties.

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

11 Trade Representative shall report annually to the Con12 gress on the status of efforts to acquire the waiver de13 scribed in subsection (a). The Trade Representative shall

14 also include in the report the status of trade relations be15 tween the United States and Northern Ireland and the

16 border counties of the Irish Republic, and recommenda17 tions on how to effectively expand trade between the

18 United States and Northern Ireland and the border coun19 ties of the Irish Republic.’’.

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

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

22 amended by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as pro23 vided in section 506A, the’’.
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1 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 507 of the Trade Act of

2 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2467) is amended by adding at the end

3 the following:

4 ‘‘(6) NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE BORDER

5 COUNTIES OF THE IRISH REPUBLIC; QUALIFYING

6 COUNTIES.—The terms ‘Northern Ireland and the

7 border counties of the Irish Republic’ and ‘qualifying

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

9 council or geographic area that—

10 ‘‘(A) is in Northern Ireland, or is in the

11 Republic of Ireland and contiguous to Northern

12 Ireland; and

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

14 economic deprivation, which may take into ac15 count the United Kingdom’s report, Relative

16 Deprivation in Northern Ireland, Occasional

17 Paper Number 28, Policy Planning and Re18 search Unit, September, or the European

19 Union’s report, Special Support Programme for

20 Peace and Reconciliation 1995–1999, includ21 ing—

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

23 of Derry, Armagh, Antrim, Tyrone, Fer24 managh, and Down; and
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1 ‘‘(II) in the Republic of Ireland, the

2 border counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim,

3 Cavan, Monaghan, and Louth; or

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

5 than the local or urban average of unemploy6 ment in Northern Ireland.

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

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

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

10 3501(1)(B)).

11 ‘‘(8) WTO AGREEMENT.—The term ‘WTO

12 Agreement’ has the meaning given that term in sec13 tion 2(9) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19

14 U.S.C. 3501(9)).’’.

15 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

16 As used in this Act:

17 (1) NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE BORDER

18 COUNTIES OF THE IRISH REPUBLIC.—The term

19 ‘‘Northern Ireland and the border counties of the

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

21 county council or geographic area that—

22 (A) is in Northern Ireland, or is in the Re23 public of Ireland and contiguous to Northern

24 Ireland; and
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1 (B)(i) suffers from the severest form of

2 economic deprivation, which may take into ac3 count the United Kingdom’s report, Relative

4 Deprivation in Northern Ireland, Occasional

5 Paper Number 28, Policy Planning and Re6 search Unit, September, or the European

7 Union’s report, Special Support Programme for

8 Peace and Reconciliation 1995–1999, includ9 ing—

10 (I) in Northern Ireland, the counties

11 of Derry, Armagh, Antrim, Tyrone, Fer12 managh, and Down; and

13 (II) in the Republic of Ireland, the

14 border counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim,

15 Cavan, Monaghan, and Louth; or

16 (ii) has a rate of unemployment higher

17 than the local or urban average of unemploy18 ment in Northern Ireland.

19 (2) INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR IRELAND.—The

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

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

22 section 8 of the Anglo-Irish Agreement Support Act

23 of 1986 (Public Law 99–415).
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1 (3) PRINCIPLES OF FAIR EMPLOYMENT.—The

2 term ‘‘principles of fair employment’’ means the fol3 lowing principles:

4 (A) Increasing the representation of indi5 viduals from underrepresented religious groups

6 in the workforce, including managerial, super7 visory, administrative, clerical, and technical

8 jobs.

9 (B) Providing adequate security for the

10 protection of minority employees at the work11 place.

12 (C) Banning provocative sectarian or polit13 ical emblems from the workplace.

14 (D) Providing that all job openings be ad15 vertised publicly and providing that special re16 cruitment efforts be made to attract applicants

17 from underrepresented religious groups.

18 (E) Providing that layoff, recall, and ter19 mination procedures do not favor a particular

20 religious group.

21 (F) Abolishing job reservations, appren22 ticeship restrictions, and differential employ23 ment criteria which discriminate on the basis of

24 religion.
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1 (G) Providing for the development of train2 ing programs that will prepare substantial num3 bers of minority employees for skilled jobs, in4 cluding the expansion of existing programs and

5 the creation of new programs to train, upgrade,

6 and improve the skills of minority employees.

7 (H) Establishing procedures to assess,

8 identify, and actively recruit minority employees

9 with the potential for further advancement.

10 (I) Providing for the appointment of a sen11 ior management staff member to be responsible

12 for the employment efforts of the entity and,

13 within a reasonable period of time, the imple14 mentation of the principles described in sub15 paragraphs (A) through (H).

Æ