4482 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 15 / Monday, January 26, 2009 / Notices 

submission should be included in the 

same file as the submission itself and 

not as separate files. All nonconfidential comments and reply 

comments will be placed on the USTR 

Web site, http://www.USTR.gov 

pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5. 

We strongly urge submitters to avail 

themselves of the electronic filing, if at 

all possible. If an on-line submission is 

impossible, alternative arrangements 

must be made with Ms. Blue prior to 

delivery for the receipt of such 

submissions. Ms. Blue should be 

contacted at (202) 395–3475. General 

information concerning the Office of the 

United States Trade Representative may 

be obtained by accessing its Internet 

Web site (http://www.ustr.gov). 

Carmen Suro-Bredie, 

Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee. 

[FR Doc. E9–1515 Filed 1–23–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W9–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

United States-Israel Free Trade Area 

Implementation Act; Designation of 

Qualifying Industrial Zones 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Under the United States-Israel 

Free Trade Area Implementation Act 

(IFTA Act), articles of qualifying 

industrial zones encompassing portions 

of Israel and Jordan or Israel and Egypt 

are eligible to receive duty-free 

treatment. Effective upon publication of 

this notice, the United States Trade 

Representative, pursuant to authority 

delegated by the President, is 

designating the Beni Suief zone and the 

Al Minya zone as qualifying industrial 

zones under the IFTA Act. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sonia Franceski, Director for Middle 

East Affairs, (202) 395–4987, Office of 

the United States Trade Representative, 

600 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20508. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to authority granted under section 9 of 

the United States-Israel Free Trade Area 

Implementation Act of 1985 (IFTA Act), 

as amended (19 U.S.C. 2112 note), 

Presidential Proclamation 6955 of 

November 13, 1996 (61 FR 58761) 

proclaimed certain tariff treatment for 

articles of the West Bank, the Gaza 

Strip, and qualifying industrial zones. In 

particular, the Presidential Proclamation 

modified general notes 3 and 8 of the 

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

United States: (a) To provide duty-free 

treatment to qualifying articles that are 

the product of the West Bank, the Gaza 

Strip or a qualifying industrial zone and 

are entered in accordance with the 

provisions of section 9 of the IFTA Act; 

(b) to provide that articles of Israel may 

be treated as though they were articles 

directly shipped from Israel for 

purposes of the United States-Israel Free 

Trade Area Agreement (‘‘the 

Agreement’’) even if shipped to the 

United States from the West Bank, the 

Gaza Strip, or a qualifying industrial 

zone, if the articles otherwise meet the 

requirements of the Agreement; and (c) 

to provide that the cost or value of 

materials produced in the West Bank, 

the Gaza Strip, or a qualifying industrial 

zone may be included in the cost or 

value of materials produced in Israel 

under section 1(c)(i) of Annex 3 of the 

Agreement and that the direct costs of 

processing operations performed in the 

West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or a 

qualifying industrial zone may be 

included in the direct costs of 

processing operations performed in 

Israel under section 1(c)(ii) of Annex 3 

of the Agreement. 

Section 9(e) of the IFTA Act defines 

a ‘‘qualifying industrial zone’’ as an area 

that ‘‘(1) Encompasses portions of the 

territory of Israel and Jordan or Israel 

and Egypt; (2) has been designated by 

local authorities as an enclave where 

merchandise may enter without 

payment of duty or excise taxes; and (3) 

has been specified by the President as 

a qualifying industrial zone.’’ 

Presidential Proclamation 6955 

delegated to the United States Trade 

Representative the authority to 

designate qualifying industrial zones. 

The United States Trade 

Representative has previously 

designated qualifying industrial zones 

under Section 9 of the IFTA Act on 

March 13, 1998 (63 FR 12572), March 

19, 1999 (64 FR 13623), October 15, 

1999 (64 FR 56015), October 24, 2000 

(65 FR 64472), and December 12, 2000 

(65 FR 77688), June 15, 2001 (66 FR 

32660), January 28, 2004 (69 FR 4199), 

December 29, 2004 (69 FR 78094), and 

November 16, 2005 (70 FR 69622). 

The governments of Israel and Egypt 

jointly requested in a letter submitted to 

the United States Trade Representative 

on January 5, 2009 the designation as a 

qualifying industrial zone of the areas 

comprising the Beni Suief and Al Minya 

zones. The names and locations of the 

currently producing factories 

comprising the Beni Suief zone and the 

Al Minya zone are specified on maps 

and materials submitted by Egypt and 

Israel and are on file with the Office of 

the U.S. Trade Representative. Israel 

and Egypt have agreed that merchandise 

may enter, without payment of duty or 

excise taxes, areas under their 

respective customs control that 

comprise the Beni Suief zone and the Al 

Minya zone. Further, the operation and 

administration of these zones are 

provided for in the previously agreed 

‘‘Protocol between the Government of 

the State of Israel and the Government 

of the Arab Republic of Egypt On 

Qualifying Industrial Zones.’’ 

Accordingly, the Beni Suief zone and 

the Al Minya zone meet the criteria 

under sections 9(e)(1) and (2) of the 

IFTA Act. 

Therefore, pursuant to the authority 

delegated to me by Presidential 

Proclamation 6955, I hereby designate 

the areas occupied by the currently 

producing factories that comprise the 

Beni Suief zone and the Al Minya zone 

as specified on maps and materials 

received from Egypt and Israel, as 

qualifying industrial zones under 

section 9 of the IFTA Act, effective upon 

the date of publication of this notice, 

applicable to articles shipped from these 

qualifying industrial zones after such 

date. 

Susan C. Schwab, 

United States Trade Representative. 

[FR Doc. E9–1589 Filed 1–23–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W9–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

United States-Israel Free Trade Area 

Implementation Act; Designation of 

Qualifying Industrial Zones 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Under the United States-Israel 

Free Trade Area Implementation Act 

(IFTA Act), articles of qualifying 

industrial zones encompassing portions 

of Israel and Jordan or Israel and Egypt 

are eligible to receive duty-free 

treatment. Effective upon publication of 

this notice, the United States Trade 

Representative, pursuant to authority 

delegated by the President, is 

designating Shoubak, Shouneh Wistah, 

Madaba/Dalilet, Irbid/Al-Westieyn, and 

Al-Tafileh as qualifying industrial zones 

under the IFTA Act. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sonia Franceski, Director for Middle 

East Affairs, (202) 395–4987, Office of 

the United States Trade Representative, 

600 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20508.