108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4103

AN ACT

To extend and modify the trade benefits under the

African Growth and Opportunity Act.

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4103

AN ACT

To extend and modify the trade benefits under the African

Growth and Opportunity Act.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AGOA Acceleration

3 Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds the following:

6 (1) The African Growth and Opportunity Act

7 (in this section and section 3 referred to as ‘‘the

8 Act’’) has helped to spur economic growth and bol9 ster economic reforms in the countries of sub-Saha10 ran Africa and has fostered stronger economic ties

11 between the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the

12 United States; as a result, exports from the United

13 States to sub-Saharan Africa reached record levels

14 after the enactment of the Act, while exports from

15 sub-Saharan Africa to the United States have in16 creased considerably.

17 (2) The Act’s eligibility requirements have rein18 forced democratic values and the rule of law, and

19 have strengthened adherence to internationally rec20 ognized worker rights in eligible sub-Saharan Afri21 can countries.

22 (3) The Act has helped to bring about substan23 tial increases in foreign investment in sub-Saharan

24 Africa, especially in the textile and apparel sectors,

25 where tens of thousands of new jobs have been cre26 ated.
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1 (4) As a result of the Agreement on Textiles

2 and Apparel of the World Trade Organization, under

3 which quotas maintained by WTO member countries

4 on textile and apparel products end on January 1,

5 2005, sub-Saharan Africa’s textile and apparel in6 dustry will be severely challenged by countries whose

7 industries are more developed and have greater ca8 pacity, economies of scale, and better infrastructure.

9 (5) The underdeveloped physical and financial

10 infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa continues to

11 discourage investment in the region.

12 (6) Regional integration establishes a founda13 tion on which sub-Saharan African countries can co14 ordinate and pursue policies grounded in African in15 terests and history to achieve sustainable develop16 ment.

17 (7) Expanded trade because of the Act has im18 proved fundamental economic conditions within sub19 Saharan Africa. The Act has helped to create jobs

20 in the poorest region of the world, and most sub-Sa21 haran African countries have sought to take advan22 tage of the opportunities provided by the Act.

23 (8) Agricultural biotechnology holds promise for

24 helping solve global food security and human health

25 crises in Africa and, according to recent studies, has
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1 made contributions to the protection of the environ2 ment by reducing the application of pesticides, re3 ducing soil erosion, and creating an environment

4 more hospitable to wildlife.

5 (9) (A) One of the greatest challenges facing

6 African countries continues to be the HIV/AIDS epi7 demic, which has infected as many as one out of

8 every four people in some countries, creating tre9 mendous social, political, and economic costs. Afri10 can countries need continued United States financial

11 and technical assistance to combat this epidemic.

12 (B) More awareness and involvement by govern13 ments are necessary. Countries like Uganda, recog14 nizing the threat of HIV/AIDS, have boldly attacked

15 it through a combination of education, public aware16 ness, enhanced medical infrastructure and resources,

17 and greater access to medical treatment. An effec18 tive HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment strategy

19 involves all of these steps.

20 (10) African countries continue to need trade

21 capacity assistance to establish viable economic ca22 pacity, a well-grounded rule of law, and efficient

23 government practices.

24 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

25 The Congress supports—
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1 (1) a continued commitment to increase trade

2 between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa

3 and increase investment in sub-Saharan Africa to

4 the benefit of workers, businesses, and farmers in

5 the United States and in sub-Saharan Africa, in6 cluding by developing innovative approaches to en7 courage development and investment in sub-Saharan

8 Africa;

9 (2) a reduction of tariff and nontariff barriers

10 and other obstacles to trade between the countries of

11 sub-Saharan Africa and the United States, with par12 ticular emphasis on reducing barriers to trade in

13 emerging sectors of the economy that have the

14 greatest potential for development;

15 (3) development of sub-Saharan Africa’s phys16 ical and financial infrastructure;

17 (4) international efforts to fight HIV/AIDS,

18 malaria, tuberculosis, other infectious diseases, and

19 serious public health problems;

20 (5) many of the aims of the New Partnership

21 for African Development (NEPAD), which include—

22 (A) reducing poverty and increasing eco23 nomic growth;

24 (B) promoting peace, democracy, security,

25 and human rights;
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1 (C) promoting African integration by deep2 ening linkages between African countries and

3 by accelerating Africa’s economic and political

4 integration into the rest of the world;

5 (D) attracting investment, debt relief, and

6 development assistance;

7 (E) promoting trade and economic diver8 sification;

9 (F) broadening global market access for

10 United States and African exports;

11 (G) improving transparency, good govern12 ance, and political accountability;

13 (H) expanding access to social services,

14 education, and health services with a high pri15 ority given to addressing HIV/AIDS, malaria,

16 tuberculosis, other infectious diseases, and

17 other public health problems;

18 (I) promoting the role of women in social

19 and economic development by reinforcing edu20 cation and training and by assuring their par21 ticipation in political and economic arenas; and

22 (J) building the capacity of governments in

23 sub-Saharan Africa to set and enforce a legal

24 framework, as well as to enforce the rule of law;
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1 (6) negotiation of reciprocal trade agreements

2 between the United States and sub-Saharan African

3 countries, with the overall goal of expanding trade

4 across all of sub-Saharan Africa;

5 (7) the President seeking to negotiate, with in6 terested eligible sub-Saharan African countries, bi7 lateral trade agreements that provide investment op8 portunities, in accordance with section 2102(b)(3) of

9 the Trade Act of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 3802(b)(3));

10 (8) efforts by the President to negotiate with

11 the member countries of the Southern African Cus12 toms Union in order to provide the opportunity to

13 deepen and make permanent the benefits of the Act

14 while giving the United States access to the markets

15 of these African countries for United States goods

16 and services, by reducing tariffs and non-tariff bar17 riers, strengthening intellectual property protection,

18 improving transparency, establishing general dispute

19 settlement mechanisms, and investor-state and state20 to-state dispute settlement mechanisms in invest21 ment;

22 (9) a comprehensive and ambitious trade agree23 ment with the Southern African Customs Union,

24 covering all products and sectors, in order to mature

25 the economic relationship between sub-Saharan Afri-
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1 can countries and the United States and because

2 such an agreement would deepen United States eco3 nomic and political ties to the region, lend momen4 tum to United States development efforts, encourage

5 greater United States investment, and promote re6 gional integration and economic growth;

7 (10) regional integration among sub-Saharan

8 African countries and business partnerships between

9 United States and African firms; and

10 (11) economic diversification in sub-Saharan

11 African countries and expansion of trade beyond tex12 tiles and apparel.

13 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON RECIPROCITY AND RE14 GIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION.

15 It is the sense of the Congress that—

16 (1) the preferential market access opportunities

17 for eligible sub-Saharan African countries will be

18 complemented and enhanced if those countries are

19 implementing actively and fully, consistent with any

20 remaining applicable phase-in periods, their obliga21 tions under the World Trade Organization, including

22 obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related

23 Aspects of Intellectual Property, the Agreement on

24 the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Meas25 ures, and the Agreement on Trade-Related Invest-
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1 ment Measures, as well as the other agreements de2 scribed in section 101(d) of the Uruguay Round

3 Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d));

4 (2) eligible sub-Saharan African countries

5 should participate in and support mutual trade liber6 alization in ongoing negotiations under the auspices

7 of the World Trade Organization, including by mak8 ing reciprocal commitments with respect to improv9 ing market access for industrial and agricultural

10 goods, and for services, recognizing that such com11 mitments may need to reflect special and differential

12 treatment for developing countries;

13 (3) some of the most pernicious trade barriers

14 against exports by developing countries are the trade

15 barriers maintained by other developing countries;

16 therefore, eligible sub-Saharan African countries will

17 benefit from the reduction of trade barriers in other

18 developing countries, especially in developing coun19 tries that represent some of the greatest potential

20 markets for African goods and services; and

21 (4) all countries should make sanitary and

22 phytosanitary decisions on the basis of sound

23 science.
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1 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERPRETATION OF TEX2 TILE AND APPAREL PROVISIONS OF AGOA.

3 It is the sense of the Congress that the executive

4 branch, particularly the Committee for the Implementa5 tion of Textile Agreements (CITA), the Bureau of Cus6 toms and Border Protection of the Department of Home7 land Security, and the Department of Commerce, should

8 interpret, implement, and enforce the provisions of section

9 112 of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, relating

10 to preferential treatment of textile and apparel articles,

11 broadly in order to expand trade by maximizing opportuni12 ties for imports of such articles from eligible sub-Saharan

13 African countries.

14 SEC. 6. DEFINITION.

15 In this Act, the term ‘‘eligible sub-Saharan African

16 country’’ means an eligible sub-Saharan African country

17 under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

18 SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPOR19 TUNITY ACT.

20 (a) GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES.—

21 (1) EXTENSION OF PROGRAM.—Section 506B

22 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2466b) is

23 amended by striking ‘‘2008’’ and inserting ‘‘2015’’.

24 (2) INPUTS FROM FORMER BENEFICIARY COUN25 TRIES.—Section 506A of the Trade Act of 1974 (19

26 U.S.C. 2466a) is amended—
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1 (A) in subsection (b)(2)(B), by inserting

2 ‘‘or former beneficiary sub-Saharan African

3 countries’’ after ‘‘countries’’; and

4 (B) in subsection (c)—

5 (i) by striking ‘‘title, the terms’’ and

6 inserting ‘‘title—

7 ‘‘(1) the terms’’; and

8 (ii) by adding at the end the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘(2) the term ‘former beneficiary sub-Saharan

11 African country’ means a country that, after being

12 designated as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African

13 country under the African Growth and Opportunity

14 Act, ceased to be designated as such a country by

15 reason of its entering into a free trade agreement

16 with the United States.’’.

17 (b) APPAREL ARTICLES.—(1) Section 112(b)(1) of

18 the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C.

19 3721(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘(including’’ and in20 serting ‘‘or both (including’’.

21 (2) Section 112(b)(3) of the African Growth and Op22 portunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721 (b)(3)) is amended—

23 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph

24 (A)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘either in the United States

2 or one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African

3 countries’’ each place it appears and inserting

4 ‘‘in the United States or one or more bene5 ficiary sub-Saharan African countries or former

6 beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries, or

7 both’’; and

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘subject to the following:’’

9 and inserting ‘‘whether or not the apparel arti10 cles are also made from any of the fabrics, fab11 ric components formed, or components knit-to12 shape described in paragraph (1) or (2) (unless

13 the apparel articles are made exclusively from

14 any of the fabrics, fabric components formed, or

15 components knit-to-shape described in para16 graph (1) or (2)), subject to the following:’’;

17 and

18 (B) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and

19 inserting the following:

20 ‘‘(A) LIMITATIONS ON BENEFITS.—

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Preferential treat22 ment under this paragraph shall be ex23 tended in the 1-year period beginning Oc24 tober 1, 2003, and in each of the 11 suc25 ceeding 1-year periods, to imports of ap-
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1 parel articles in an amount not to exceed

2 the applicable percentage of the aggregate

3 square meter equivalents of all apparel ar4 ticles imported into the United States in

5 the preceding 12-month period for which

6 data are available.

7 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For

8 purposes of this subparagraph, the term

9 ‘applicable percentage’ means—

10 ‘‘(I) 4.747 percent for the 1-year

11 period beginning October 1, 2003, in12 creased in each of the 5 succeeding 1-

13 year periods by equal increments, so

14 that for the 1-year period beginning

15 October 1, 2007, the applicable per16 centage does not exceed 7 percent;

17 and

18 ‘‘(II) for each succeeding 1-year

19 period until September 30, 2015, not

20 to exceed 7 percent.

21 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR LESSER DEVEL22 OPED COUNTRIES.—

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Preferential treat24 ment under this paragraph shall be ex25 tended though September 30, 2007, for ap-
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1 parel articles wholly assembled, or knit-to2 shape and wholly assembled, or both, in

3 one or more lesser developed beneficiary

4 sub-Saharan African countries, regardless

5 of the country of origin of the fabric or the

6 yarn used to make such articles, in an

7 amount not to exceed the applicable per8 centage of the aggregate square meter

9 equivalents of all apparel articles imported

10 into the United States in the preceding 12-

11 month period for which data are available.

12 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For

13 purposes of the subparagraph, the term

14 ‘applicable percentage’ means—

15 ‘‘(I) 2.3571 percent for the 1-

16 year period beginning October 1,

17 2003;

18 ‘‘(II) 2.6428 percent for the 1-

19 year period beginning October 1,

20 2004;

21 ‘‘(III) 2.9285 percent for the 1-

22 year period beginning October 1,

23 2005; and
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1 ‘‘(IV) 1.6071 percent for the 1-

2 year period beginning October 1,

3 2006.

4 ‘‘(iii) LESSER DEVELOPED BENE5 FICIARY SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUN6 TRY.—For purposes of this subparagraph,

7 the term ‘lesser developed beneficiary sub8 Saharan African country’ means—

9 ‘‘(I) a beneficiary sub-Saharan

10 African country that had a per capita

11 gross national product of less than

12 $1,500 in 1998, as measured by the

13 International Bank for Reconstruction

14 and Development;

15 ‘‘(II) Botswana; and

16 ‘‘(III) Namibia.’’.

17 (3) Section 112(b)(5)(A) of the African Growth and

18 Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721(b)(5)(A)) is amended

19 to read as follows:

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Apparel articles that

21 are both cut (or knit-to-shape) and sewn or oth22 erwise assembled in one or more beneficiary

23 sub-Saharan African countries, to the extent

24 that apparel articles of such fabrics or yarns

25 would be eligible for preferential treatment,
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1 without regard to the source of the fabrics or

2 yarns, under Annex 401 to the NAFTA.’’.

3 (c) HANDLOOMED, HANDMADE, FOLKLORE ARTI4 CLES AND ETHNIC PRINTED FABRICS.—Section

5 112(b)(6) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19

6 U.S.C. 3721(b)(6)) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(6) HANDLOOMED, HANDMADE, FOLKLORE

8 ARTICLES AND ETHNIC PRINTED FABRICS.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A handloomed, hand10 made, folklore article or an ethnic printed fab11 ric of a beneficiary sub-Saharan African coun12 try or countries that is certified as such by the

13 competent authority of such beneficiary country

14 or countries. For purposes of this section, the

15 President, after consultation with the bene16 ficiary sub-Saharan African country or coun17 tries concerned, shall determine which, if any,

18 particular textile and apparel goods of the coun19 try (or countries) shall be treated as being

20 handloomed, handmade, or folklore articles or

21 an ethic printed fabric.

22 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR ETHNIC PRINT23 ED FABRIC.—Ethnic printed fabrics qualified

24 under this paragraph are—
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1 ‘‘(i) fabrics containing a selvedge on

2 both edges, having a width of less than 50

3 inches, classifiable under subheading

4 5208.52.30 or 5208.52.40 of the Har5 monized Tariff Schedule of the United

6 States;

7 ‘‘(ii) of the type that contains designs,

8 symbols, and other characteristics of Afri9 can prints—

10 ‘‘(I) normally produced for and

11 sold on the indigenous African mar12 ket; and

13 ‘‘(II) normally sold in Africa by

14 the piece as opposed to being tailored

15 into garments before being sold in in16 digenous African markets;

17 ‘‘(iii) printed, including waxed, in one

18 or more eligible beneficiary sub-Saharan

19 countries; and

20 ‘‘(iv) fabrics formed in the United

21 States, from yarns formed in the United

22 States, or from fabric formed in one or

23 more beneficiary sub-Saharan African

24 country from yarn originating in either the
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1 United States or one or more beneficiary

2 sub-Saharan African countries.’’.

3 (d) REGIONAL AND U.S. SOURCES.—Section

4 112(b)(7) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19

5 U.S.C. 3721(b)(7)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or former

6 beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries’’ after ‘‘and one

7 or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries’’ each

8 place it appears.

9 (e) SPECIAL RULES.—

10 (1) CERTAIN COMPONENTS.—Section 112(d) of

11 the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C.

12 3721(d)) is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing:

14 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN COMPONENTS.—An article other15 wise eligible for preferential treatment under this

16 section will not be ineligible for such treatment be17 cause the article contains—

18 ‘‘(A) any collars or cuffs (cut or knit-to19 shape),

20 ‘‘(B) drawstrings,

21 ‘‘(C) shoulder pads or other padding,

22 ‘‘(D) waistbands,

23 ‘‘(E) belt attached to the article,

24 ‘‘(F) straps containing elastic, or

25 ‘‘(G) elbow patches,
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1 that do not meet the requirements set forth in sub2 section (b), regardless of the country of origin of the

3 item referred to in the applicable subparagraph of

4 this paragraph.’’.

5 (2) DE MINIMIS RULE.—Section 112(d)(2) of

6 the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C.

7 3721(d)(2)) is amended—

8 (A) by inserting ‘‘or former beneficiary

9 sub-Saharan African countries’’ after ‘‘coun10 tries’’; and

11 (B) by striking ‘‘7 percent’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘10 percent’’.

13 (f) DEFINITIONS.—Section 112(e) of the African

14 Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721(e)) is

15 amended by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(4) FORMER SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUN17 TRY.—The term ‘former sub-Saharan African coun18 try’ means a country that, after being designated as

19 a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under

20 this Act, ceased to be designated as such a bene21 ficiary sub-Saharan country by reason of its entering

22 into a free trade agreement with the United

23 States.’’.
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1 SEC. 8. ENTRIES OF CERTAIN APPAREL ARTICLES PURSU2 ANT TO THE AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPOR3 TUNITY ACT.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 514 of

5 the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1514) or any other pro6 vision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury shall liquidate

7 or reliquidate as free of duty and free of any quantitative

8 restrictions, limitations, or consultation levels entries of

9 articles described in subsection (d) made on or after Octo10 ber 1, 2000, and before the date of the enactment of this

11 Act.

12 (b) REQUESTS.—Liquidation or reliquidation may be

13 made under subsection (a) with respect to an entry de14 scribed in subsection (d) only if a request therefor is filed

15 with the Secretary of the Treasury within 90 days after

16 the date of the enactment of this Act and the request con17 tains sufficient information to enable the Secretary to lo18 cate the entry or reconstruct the entry if it cannot be lo19 cated.

20 (c) PAYMENT OF AMOUNTS OWED.—Any amounts

21 owed by the United States pursuant to the liquidation or

22 reliquidation of any entry under subsection (a) shall be

23 paid not later than 180 days after the date of such liquida24 tion or reliquidation.

25 (d) ENTRIES.—The entries referred to in subsection

26 (a) are entries of apparel articles that meet the require-
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1 ments of section 112(b) of the African Growth and Oppor2 tunity Act, as amended by section 3108 of the Trade Act

3 of 2002 and this Act.

4 SEC. 9. DEVELOPMENT STUDY AND CAPACITY BUILDING.

5 (a) REPORTS.—The President shall, by not later than

6 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, conduct

7 a study on each eligible sub-Saharan African country,

8 that—

9 (1) identifies sectors of the economy of that

10 country with the greatest potential for growth, in11 cluding through export sales;

12 (2) identifies barriers, both domestically and

13 internationally, that are impeding growth in such

14 sectors; and

15 (3) makes recommendations on how the United

16 States Government and the private sector can pro17 vide technical assistance to that country to assist in

18 dismantling such barriers and in promoting invest19 ment in such sectors.

20 (b) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The Presi21 dent shall disseminate information in each study con22 ducted under subsection (a) to the appropriate United

23 States agencies for the purpose of implementing rec24 ommendations on the provision of technical assistance and
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1 in identifying opportunities for United States investors,

2 businesses, and farmers.

3 SEC. 10. ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF INFRASTRUCTURE TO

4 SUPPORT INCREASING TRADE CAPACITY AND

5 ECOTOURISM.

6 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

7 (1) Ecotourism, which consists of—

8 (A) responsible and sustainable travel and

9 visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas

10 in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and

11 any accompanying cultural features, both past

12 and present) and animals, including species

13 that are rare or endangered,

14 (B) promotion of conservation and provi15 sion for beneficial involvement of local popu16 lations, and

17 (C) visitation designed to have low negative

18 impact upon the environment,

19 is expected to expand 30 percent globally over the

20 next decade.

21 (2) Ecotourism will increase trade capacity by

22 sustaining otherwise unsustainable infrastructure,

23 such as road, port, water, energy, and telecommuni24 cation development.
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1 (3) According to the United States Department

2 of State and the United Nations Environment Pro3 gramme, sustainable tourism, such as ecotourism,

4 can be an important part of the economic develop5 ment of a region, especially a region with natural

6 and cultural protected areas.

7 (4) Sub-Saharan Africa enjoys an international

8 comparative advantage in ecotourism because it fea9 tures extensive protected areas that host a variety of

10 ecosystems and traditional cultures that are major

11 attractions for nature-oriented tourism.

12 (5) National parks and reserves in sub-Saharan

13 Africa should be considered a basis for regional de14 velopment, involving communities living within and

15 adjacent to them and, given their strong inter16 national recognition, provide an advantage in

17 ecotourism marketing and promotion.

18 (6) Desert areas in sub-Saharan Africa rep19 resent complex ecotourism attractions, showcasing

20 natural, geological, and archaeological features, and

21 nomad and other cultures and traditions.

22 (7) Many natural zones in sub-Saharan Africa

23 cross the political borders of several countries; there24 fore, transboundary cooperation is fundamental for

25 all types of ecotourism development.
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1 (8) The commercial viability of ecotourism is

2 enhanced when small and medium enterprises, par3 ticularly microenterprises, successfully engage with

4 the tourism industry in sub-Saharan Africa.

5 (9) Adequate capacity building is an essential

6 component of ecotourism development if local com7 munities are to be real stakeholders that can sustain

8 an equitable approach to ecotourism management.

9 (10) Ecotourism needs to generate local com10 munity benefits by utilizing sub-Saharan Africa’s

11 natural heritage, parks, wildlife reserves, and other

12 protected areas that can play a significant role in

13 encouraging local economic development by sourcing

14 food and other locally produced resources.

15 (b) ACTION BY THE PRESIDENT.—The President

16 shall develop and implement policies to—

17 (1) encourage the development of infrastructure

18 projects that will help to increase trade capacity and

19 a sustainable ecotourism industry in eligible sub-Sa20 haran African countries;

21 (2) encourage and facilitate transboundary co22 operation among sub-Saharan African countries in

23 order to facilitate trade;

24 (3) encourage the provision of technical assist25 ance to eligible sub-Saharan African countries to es-
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1 tablish and sustain adequate trade capacity develop2 ment; and

3 (4) encourage micro-, small-, and medium-sized

4 enterprises in eligible sub-Saharan African countries

5 to participate in the ecotourism industry.

6 SEC. 11. ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF TRANSPORTATION,

7 ENERGY, AGRICULTURE, AND TELECOMMUNI8 CATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE.

9 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

10 (1) In order to increase exports from, and trade

11 among, eligible sub-Saharan African countries,

12 transportation systems in those countries must be

13 improved to increase transport efficiencies and lower

14 transport costs.

15 (2) Vibrant economic growth requires a devel16 oped telecommunication and energy infrastructure.

17 (3) Sub-Saharan Africa is rich in exportable ag18 ricultural goods, but development of this industry re19 mains stymied because of an underdeveloped infra20 structure.

21 (b) ACTION BY THE PRESIDENT.—In order to en22 hance trade with Africa and to bring the benefits of trade

23 to African countries, the President shall develop and im24 plement policies to encourage investment in eligible sub-
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1 Saharan African countries, particularly with respect to the

2 following:

3 (1) Infrastructure projects that support, in par4 ticular, development of land transport road and rail5 road networks and ports, and the continued upgrad6 ing and liberalization of the energy and tele7 communications sectors.

8 (2) The establishment and expansion of modern

9 information and communication technologies and

10 practices to improve the ability of citizens to re11 search and disseminate information relating to,

12 among other things, the economy, education, trade,

13 health, agriculture, the environment, and the media.

14 (3) Agriculture, particularly in processing and

15 capacity enhancement.

16 SEC. 12. FACILITATION OF TRANSPORTATION.

17 In order to facilitate and increase trade flows between

18 eligible sub-Saharan African countries and the United

19 States, the President shall foster improved port-to-port

20 and airport-to-airport relationships. These relationships

21 should facilitate—

22 (1) increased coordination between customs

23 services at ports and airports in the United States

24 and such countries in order to reduce time in tran25 sit;
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1 (2) interaction between customs and technical

2 staff from ports and airports in the United States

3 and such countries in order to increase efficiency

4 and safety procedures and protocols relating to

5 trade;

6 (3) coordination between chambers of com7 merce, freight forwarders, customs brokers, and oth8 ers involved in consolidating and moving freight; and

9 (4) trade through air service between airports

10 in the United States and such countries by increas11 ing frequency and capacity.

12 SEC. 13. AGRICULTURAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

13 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES.—The President

14 shall identify not fewer than 10 eligible sub-Saharan Afri15 can countries as having the greatest potential to increase

16 marketable exports of agricultural products to the United

17 States and the greatest need for technical assistance, par18 ticularly with respect to pest risk assessments and com19 plying with sanitary and phytosanitary rules of the United

20 States.

21 (b) PERSONNEL.—The President shall assign at least

22 20 full-time personnel for the purpose of providing assist23 ance to the countries identified under subsection (a) to

24 ensure that exports of agricultural products from those

25 countries meet the requirements of United States law.
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1 SEC. 14. TRADE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON AFRICA.

2 The President shall convene the trade advisory com3 mittee on Africa established by Executive Order 11846 of

4 March 27, 1975, under section 135(c) of the Trade Act

5 of 1974, in order to facilitate the goals and objectives of

6 the African Growth and Opportunity Act and this Act, and

7 to maintain ongoing discussions with African trade and

8 agriculture ministries and private sector organizations on

9 issues of mutual concern, including regional and inter10 national trade concerns and World Trade Organization

11 issues.

Passed the House of Representatives June 14, 2004.

Attest:

Clerk.