HR 6560 RFS
SECTION 1. EARNED IMPORT ALLOWANCE PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Dominican Repub-
lic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement 
Implementation Act (Public Law 109–53; 119 Stat. 495) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 404. EARNED IMPORT ALLOWANCE PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Eligible apparel articles 
wholly assembled in an eligible country and imported 
directly from an eligible country shall enter the 
United States free of duty, without regard to the 
source of the fabric or yarns from which the articles 
are made, if such apparel articles are accompanied 
by an earned import allowance certificate that re-
flects the amount of credits equal to the total square 
meter equivalents of fabric in such apparel articles, 
in accordance with the program established under 
subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF QUANTITY OF SME.— 
For purposes of determining the quantity of square 
meter equivalents under paragraph (1), the conver-
sion factors listed in ‘Correlation: U.S. Textile and 
Apparel Industry Category System with the Har-
monized Tariff Schedule of the United States of 
America, 2008’, or its successor publications, of the 
United States Department of Commerce, shall apply. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
04:25 Jul 31, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6560.RFS
H6560
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
HR 6560 RFS
‘‘(b) EARNED IMPORT ALLOWANCE PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Com-
merce shall establish a program to provide earned 
import allowance certificates to any producer or enti-
ty controlling production of eligible apparel articles 
in an eligible country for purposes of subsection (a), 
based on the elements described in paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The elements referred to in 
paragraph (1) are the following: 
‘‘(A) One credit shall be issued to a pro-
ducer or an entity controlling production for 
every two square meter equivalents of qualifying 
fabric that the producer or entity controlling 
production can demonstrate that it has pur-
chased for the manufacture in an eligible coun-
try of articles like or similar to any article eligi-
ble for preferential treatment under subsection 
(a). The Secretary of Commerce shall, if re-
quested by a producer or entity controlling pro-
duction, create and maintain an account for 
such producer or entity controlling production, 
into which such credits may be deposited. 
‘‘(B) Such producer or entity controlling 
production may redeem credits issued under 
subparagraph (A) for earned import allowance 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
04:25 Jul 31, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6560.RFS
H6560
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
HR 6560 RFS
certificates reflecting such number of earned 
credits as the producer or entity may request 
and has available. 
‘‘(C) Any textile mill or other entity lo-
cated in the United States that exports quali-
fying fabric to an eligible country may submit, 
upon such export or upon request, the Shipper’s 
Export Declaration, or successor documenta-
tion, to the Secretary of Commerce— 
‘‘(i) verifying that the qualifying fab-
ric was exported to a producer or entity 
controlling production in an eligible coun-
try; and 
‘‘(ii) identifying such producer or enti-
ty controlling production, and the quantity 
and description of qualifying fabric ex-
ported to such producer or entity control-
ling production. 
‘‘(D) The Secretary of Commerce may re-
quire that a producer or entity controlling pro-
duction submit documentation to verify pur-
chases of qualifying fabric. 
‘‘(E) The Secretary of Commerce may 
make available to each person or entity identi-
fied in the documentation submitted under sub-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
04:25 Jul 31, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6560.RFS
H6560
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
HR 6560 RFS
paragraph (C) or (D) information contained in 
such documentation that relates to the purchase 
of qualifying fabric involving such person or en-
tity. 
‘‘(F) The program shall be established so 
as to allow, to the extent feasible, the submis-
sion, storage, retrieval, and disclosure of infor-
mation in electronic format, including informa-
tion with respect to the earned import allow-
ance certificates required under subsection 
(a)(1). 
‘‘(G) The Secretary of Commerce may rec-
oncile discrepancies in the information provided 
under subparagraph (C) or (D) and verify the 
accuracy of such information. 
‘‘(H) The Secretary of Commerce shall es-
tablish procedures to carry out the program 
under this section by September 30, 2008, and 
may establish additional requirements to carry 
out the program. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’ means the Committee on Ways and Means 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Finance of the Senate; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
04:25 Jul 31, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6560.RFS
H6560
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
HR 6560 RFS
‘‘(2) the term ‘eligible apparel articles’ means 
the following articles classified in chapter 62 of the 
HTS (and meeting the requirements of the rules re-
lating to chapter 62 of the HTS contained in gen-
eral note 29(n) of the HTS) of cotton (but not of 
denim): trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches 
and shorts, skirts and divided skirts, and pants; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘eligible country’ means the Do-
minican Republic; and 
‘‘(4) the term ‘qualifying fabric’ means woven 
fabric of cotton wholly formed in the United States 
from yarns wholly formed in the United States and 
certified by the producer or entity controlling pro-
duction as being suitable for use in the manufacture 
of apparel items such as trousers, bib and brace 
overalls, breeches and shorts, skirts and divided 
skirts or pants, all the foregoing of cotton, except 
that— 
‘‘(A) fabric otherwise eligible as qualifying 
fabric shall not be ineligible as qualifying fabric 
because the fabric contains nylon filament yarn 
with 
respect 
to 
which 
section 
213(b)(2)(A)(vii)(IV) of the Caribbean Basin 
Economic Recovery Act applies; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
04:25 Jul 31, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6560.RFS
H6560
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
HR 6560 RFS
‘‘(B) fabric that would otherwise be ineli-
gible as qualifying fabric because the fabric 
contains yarns not wholly formed in the United 
States shall not be ineligible as qualifying fabric 
if the total weight of all such yarns is not more 
than 10 percent of the total weight of the fab-
ric, except that any elastomeric yarn contained 
in an eligible apparel article must be wholly 
formed in the United States; and 
‘‘(C) fabric otherwise eligible as qualifying 
fabric shall not be ineligible as qualifying fabric 
because the fabric contains yarns or fibers that 
have been designated as not commercially avail-
able pursuant to— 
‘‘(i) article 3.25(4) or Annex 3.25 of 
the Agreement; 
‘‘(ii) Annex 401 of the North Amer-
ican Free Trade Agreement; 
‘‘(iii) section 112(b)(5) of the African 
Growth and Opportunity Act; 
‘‘(iv) section 204(b)(3)(B)(i)(III) or 
(ii) of the Andean Trade Preference Act; 
‘‘(v) 
section 
213(b)(2)(A)(v) 
or 
213A(b)(5)(A) of the Caribbean Basin 
Economic Recovery Act; or 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
04:25 Jul 31, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6560.RFS
H6560
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS