(E) Subject matter anticipated to be cov-
ered by the agreement for establishing the Free
Trade Area and United States laws, programs,
and policies, as well as the laws of participating
eligible African countries and existing bilateral
and multilateral and economic cooperation and
trade agreements, that may be affected by the
agreement or agreements.
(F) Procedures to ensure the following:
(i) Adequate consultation with the
Congress and the private sector during the
negotiation of the agreement or agree-
ments for establishing the Free Trade
Area.
(ii) Consultation with the Congress re-
garding all matters relating to implementa-
tion of the agreement or agreements.
(iii) Approval by the Congress of the
agreement or agreements.
(iv) Adequate consultations with the
relevant African governments and African
regional and subregional intergovernmental
organizations during the negotiations of
the agreement or agreements.
(c) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 12
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
President shall prepare and transmit to the Congress a
report containing the plan developed pursuant to sub-
section (b).
SEC. 8. ELIMINATING TRADE BARRIERS AND ENCOURAG-
ING EXPORTS.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following
findings:
(1) The lack of competitiveness of sub-Saharan
Africa in the global market, especially in the manu-
facturing sector, make it a limited threat to market
disruption and no threat to United States jobs.
(2) Annual textile and apparel exports to the
United States from sub-Saharan Africa represent
less than 1 percent of all textile and apparel exports
to the United States, which totaled $45,932,000,000
in 1996.
(3) Sub-Saharan Africa has limited textile man-
ufacturing capacity. During 1998 and the succeed-
ing 4 years, this limited capacity to manufacture
textiles and apparel is projected to grow at a modest
rate. Given this limited capacity to export textiles
and apparel, it will be very difficult for these exports
from sub-Saharan Africa, during 1998 and the suc-
ceeding 9 years, to exceed 3 percent annually of
total imports of textile and apparel to the United
States. If these exports from sub-Saharan Africa re-
main around 3 percent of total imports, they will not
represent a threat to United States workers, con-
sumers, or manufacturers.
(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of
the Congress that—
(1) it would be to the mutual benefit of the
countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the United
States to ensure that the commitments of the World
Trade Organization and associated agreements are
faithfully implemented in each of the member coun-
tries, so as to lay the groundwork for sustained
growth in textile and apparel exports and trade
under agreed rules and disciplines;
(2) reform of trade policies in sub-Saharan Af-
rica with the objective of removing structural im-
pediments to trade, consistent with obligations under
the World Trade Organization, can assist the coun-
tries of the region in achieving greater and greater
diversification of textile and apparel export commod-
ities and products and export markets; and
(3) the President should support textile and ap-
parel trade reform in sub-Saharan Africa by, among
other measures, providing technical assistance, shar-
ing of information to expand basic knowledge of how
to trade with the United States, and encouraging
business-to-business contacts with the region.
(c) TREATMENT OF QUOTAS.—
(1) KENYA AND MAURITIUS.—Pursuant to the
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, the United
States shall eliminate the existing quotas on textile
and apparel exports to the United States—
(A) from Kenya within 30 days after that
country adopts a cost-effective and efficient visa
system to guard against unlawful trans-
shipment of textile and apparel goods; and
(B) from Mauritius within 30 days after
that country adopts such a visa system.
The Customs Service shall provide the necessary as-
sistance to Kenya and Mauritius in the development
and implementation of those visa systems. The Cus-
toms Service shall monitor and the Commissioner of
Customs shall submit to the Congress, not later than
March 31 of each year, a report on the effectiveness
of those visa systems during the preceding calendar
year.
(2) OTHER
SUB-SAHARAN
COUNTRIES.—The
President shall continue the existing no quota policy
for countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The President
shall submit to the Congress, not later than March
31 of each year, a report on the growth in textiles
and apparel exports to the United States from coun-
tries in sub-Saharan Africa in order to protect Unit-
ed States consumers, workers, and textile manufac-
turers from economic injury on account of the no
quota policy. The President should ensure that any
country in sub-Saharan Africa that intends to export
substantial textile and apparel goods to the United
States has in place a functioning and efficient visa
system to guard against unlawful transshipment of
textile and apparel goods.
(d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the
term ‘‘Agreement on Textiles and Clothing’’ means the
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing referred to in section
101(d)(4) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19
U.S.C. 3511(d)(4)).
SEC. 9. GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES.
(a) PREFERENTIAL TARIFF TREATMENT FOR CER-
TAIN ARTICLES.—Section 503(a)(1) of the Trade Act of
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2463(a)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub-
paragraph (D); and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES IN SUB-SAHA-
RAN AFRICA.—The President may provide duty-
free treatment for any article set forth in para-
graph (1) of subsection (b) that is the growth,
product, or manufacture of an eligible country
in sub-Saharan Africa that is a beneficiary de-
veloping country, if, after receiving the advice
of the International Trade Commission in ac-
cordance with subsection (e), the President de-
termines that such article is not import-sen-
sitive in the context of imports from eligible
countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This subpara-
graph shall not affect the designation of eligible
articles under subparagraph (B).’’.
(b) RULES OF ORIGIN.—Section 503(a)(2) of the
Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2463(a)(2)) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES IN SUB-SAHA-
RAN AFRICA.—For purposes of determining the
percentage referred to in subparagraph (A) in
the case of an article of an eligible country in
sub-Saharan Africa that is a beneficiary devel-
oping country—
‘‘(i) if the cost or value of materials
produced in the customs territory of the
United States is included with respect to
that article, an amount not to exceed 15
percent of the appraised value of the arti-
cle at the time it is entered that is attrib-
uted to such United States cost or value
may be applied toward determining the
percentage referred to in subparagraph
(A); and
‘‘(ii) the cost or value of the materials
included with respect to that article that
are produced in any beneficiary developing
country that is an eligible country in sub-
Saharan Africa shall be applied in deter-
mining such percentage.’’.
(c) WAIVER OF COMPETITIVE NEED LIMITATION.—
Section 503(c)(2)(D) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
2463(c)(2)(D)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(D) 
LEAST-DEVELOPED
BENEFICIARY
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND ELIGIBLE COUN-
TRIES
IN
SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICA.—Subpara-
graph (A) shall not apply to any least-developed
beneficiary developing country or any eligible
country in sub-Saharan Africa.’’.
(c) EXTENSION OF PROGRAM.—Section 505 of the
Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2465) is amended to read
as follows:
‘‘SEC. 505. DATE OF TERMINATION.
‘‘(a) COUNTRIES
IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.—No
duty-free treatment provided under this title shall remain
in effect after May 31, 2007, with respect to beneficiary
developing countries that are eligible countries in sub-Sa-
haran Africa.
‘‘(b) OTHER COUNTRIES.—No duty-free treatment
provided under this title shall remain in effect after May
31, 1997, with respect to beneficiary developing countries
other than those provided for in subsection (a).’’.
(d) DEFINITION.—Section 507 of the Trade Act of
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2467) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE COUNTRY IN SUB-SAHARAN AF-
RICA.—The terms ‘eligible country in sub-Saharan
Africa’ and ‘eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa’
means a country or countries that the President has
determined to be eligible under section 4 of the Afri-
can Growth and Opportunity Act.’’.
SEC. 10. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND
DEBT REDUCTION.
(a) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.—(1)
It is the sense of the Congress that international financial
institutions and improved application of programs such as
those of the International Development Association, the
African Development Bank, the African Development
Fund, and the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility
of the International Monetary Fund are vital to achieving
the purposes of this Act.
(2) The Congress supports the efforts of the executive
branch to encourage international financial institutions to
develop enhanced mechanisms for providing financing for
countries eligible under section 4, consistent with the pur-
poses of this Act.
(b) DEBT REDUCTION.—(1) It is the sense of the
Congress that the executive branch should extinguish
concessional debt owed to the United States by the poorest
countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are heavily indebted
and pursuing bold growth-oriented policies, and that the
executive branch should seek comparable action by other
creditors of such countries.
(2) The Congress supports the efforts of the executive
branch to secure agreement from international financial
institutions on maximum debt reduction for sub-Saharan
Africa as part of the multilateral initiative referred to as
the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.
(c) EXECUTIVE BRANCH INITIATIVES.—The Con-
gress supports and encourages the implementation of the
following initiatives of the executive branch:
(1) AMERICAN-AFRICAN
BUSINESS
PARTNER-
SHIP.—The Agency for International Development
devoting up to $1,000,000 annually to help catalyze
relationships between United States firms and firms
in sub-Saharan Africa through a variety of business
associations and networks.
(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE RE-
FORMS.—The Agency for International Development
providing up to $5,000,000 annually in short-term
technical assistance programs to help the govern-
ments of sub-Saharan African countries to—
(A) liberalize trade and promote exports;
(B) bring their legal regimes into compli-
ance with the standards of the World Trade Or-
ganization in conjunction with membership in
that Organization; and
(C) make financial and fiscal reforms, as
well as the United States Department of Agri-
culture providing support to promote greater
agribusiness linkages.
(3) 
AGRICULTURAL
MARKET
LIBERALIZA-
TION.—The Agency for International Development
devoting up to $15,000,000 annually as part of the
multi-year Africa Food Security Initiative to help
address such critical agricultural policy issues as
market liberalization, agricultural export develop-
ment, and agribusiness investment in processing and
transporting agricultural commodities.
(4) TRADE PROMOTION.—The Trade Develop-
ment Agency increasing the number of reverse trade
missions to growth-oriented countries in sub-Saha-
ran Africa.
(5) TRADE IN SERVICES.—Efforts by United
States embassies in the countries in sub-Saharan Af-
rica to encourage their host governments—
(A) to participate in the ongoing negotia-
tions on financial services in the World Trade
Organization;
(B) to revise their existing schedules to the
General Agreement on Trade in Services of the
World Trade Organization in light of the suc-
cessful conclusion of negotiations on basic tele-
communications services; and
(C) to make further commitments in their
schedules to the General Agreement on Trade
in Services in order to encourage the removal of
tariff and nontariff barriers and to foster com-
petition in the services sector in those countries.
SEC. 11. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA EQUITY AND INFRASTRUC-
TURE FUNDS.
(a) INITIATION OF FUNDS.—It is the sense of the
Congress that the Overseas Private Investment Corpora-
tion should, within 12 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, exercise the authorities it has to initiate
2 or more equity funds in support of projects in the coun-
tries in sub-Saharan Africa.
(b) STRUCTURE AND TYPES OF FUNDS.—
(1) STRUCTURE.—Each fund initiated under
subsection (a) should be structured as a partnership
managed by professional private sector fund man-
agers and monitored on a continuing basis by the
Corporation.
(2) CAPITALIZATION.—Each fund should be
capitalized with a combination of private equity cap-
ital, which is not guaranteed by the Corporation,
and debt for which the Corporation provides guaran-
ties.
(3) TYPES OF FUNDS.—
(A) EQUITY FUND FOR SUB-SAHARAN AF-
RICA.—One of the funds should be an equity
SEC. 12. OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION
AND EXPORT-IMPORT BANK INITIATIVES.
(a) OVERSEAS
PRIVATE
INVESTMENT
CORPORA-
TION.—
(1) BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO INCLUDE MEM-
BER WITH PRIVATE SECTOR EXPERIENCE IN SUB-SA-
HARAN AFRICA.—Section 233(b) of the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2193(b)) is amend-
ed in the first paragraph by inserting after the
fourth sentence the following: ‘‘At least one of the
eight Directors appointed under the third sentence
shall have extensive private sector experience in sub-
Saharan Africa.’’.
(2) ADVISORY BOARD.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Section 233 of the For-
eign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘(e) ADVISORY
BOARD.—The Board shall take
prompt measures to increase the loan, guarantee, and in-
surance programs, and financial commitments, of the Cor-
poration in sub-Saharan Africa, including through the es-
tablishment and use of an advisory committee to assist
the Board in developing and implementing policies, pro-
grams, and financial instruments designed to support the
expansion of, and increase in, the provision of loans, guar-
antees, and insurance with respect to sub-Saharan Africa.
In addition, the advisory board shall make recommenda-
tions to the Board on how the Corporation can facilitate
greater support by the United States for trade and invest-
ment with and in sub-Saharan Africa.’’.
(B) REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.—Within
6 months after the date of the enactment of
this Act, and annually for each of the 4 years
thereafter, the Board of Directors of the Over-
seas Private Investment Corporation shall sub-
mit to the Congress a report on the steps that
the Board has taken to implement section
233(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
and any recommendations of the advisory board
established pursuant to such section.
(b) EXPORT-IMPORT BANK.—
(1) BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO INCLUDE MEM-
BER WITH PRIVATE SECTOR EXPERIENCE IN SUB-SA-
HARAN AFRICA.—Section 3(c)(8)(B) of the Export-
Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635a(c)(8)(B))
is amended by inserting ‘‘, and one such member
shall be selected from among persons who have ex-
tensive private sector experience in sub-Saharan Af-
rica’’ before the period.
(2) ADVISORY BOARD.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of such Act
(12 U.S.C. 635a) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
‘‘(f) The Board of Directors shall take prompt meas-
ures to increase the loan, guarantee, and insurance pro-
grams, and financial commitments, of the Bank in sub-
Saharan Africa, including through the establishment and
use of an advisory committee to assist the Board of Direc-
tors in developing and implementing policies, programs,
and financial instruments designed to support the expan-
sion of, and increase in, the provision of loans, guarantees,
and insurance with respect to sub-Saharan Africa. In ad-
dition, the advisory board shall make recommendations to
the Board of Directors on how the Bank can facilitate
greater support by United States commercial banks for
trade and investment with and in sub-Saharan Africa.’’.
(B) REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.—Within
6 months after the date of the enactment of
this Act, and annually for each of the 4 years
thereafter, the Board of Directors of the Ex-
port-Import Bank shall submit to the Congress
a report on the steps that the Board has taken
to implement section 3(f) of the Export-Import
Bank Act of 1945 and any recommendations of
the advisory board established pursuant to such
section.
SEC. 13. ESTABLISHMENT OF ASSISTANT UNITED STATES
TRADE REPRESENTATIVE FOR SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICA.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish
a position of Assistant United States Trade Representa-
tive within the Office of the United States Trade Rep-
resentative to focus on trade issues relating to sub-Saha-
ran Africa.
(b) FUNDING AND STAFF.—The President shall en-
sure that the Assistant United States Trade Representa-
tive appointed pursuant to paragraph (1) has adequate
funding and staff to carry out the duties described in
paragraph (1).
SEC. 14. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
The President shall submit to the Congress, not later
than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
and not later than the end of each of the next 4 1-year
periods thereafter, a report on the implementation of this
Act.
SEC. 15. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA DEFINED.
For purposes of this Act, the terms ‘‘sub-Saharan Af-
rica’’, ‘‘sub-Saharan African country’’, ‘‘country in sub-
Saharan Africa’’, and ‘‘countries in sub-Saharan Africa’’
refer to the following:
Republic of Angola (Angola)
Republic of Botswana (Botswana)
Republic of Burundi (Burundi)
Republic of Cape Verde (Cape Verde)
Republic of Chad (Chad)
Republic of the Congo (Congo)
Republic of Djibouti (Djibouti)
State of Eritrea (Eritrea)
Gabonese Republic (Gabon)
Republic of Ghana (Ghana)
Republic of Guinea-Bissau (Guinea-Bissau)
Kingdom of Lesotho (Lesotho)
Republic of Madagascar (Madagascar)
Republic of Mali (Mali)
Republic of Mauritius (Mauritius)
Republic of Namibia (Namibia)
Federal Republic of Nigeria (Nigeria)
Democratic Republic of Sao Tome´ and Principe
(Sao Tome´ and Principe)
Republic of Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone)
Somalia
Kingdom of Swaziland (Swaziland)
Republic of Togo (Togo)