I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3599
To authorize the President to enter into a trade agreement concerning North-
ern Ireland and certain Border Counties of the Republic of Ireland,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 6, 1996
Mr. MANTON (for himself, Mr. KING, and Mr. GILMAN) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To authorize the President to enter into a trade agreement
concerning Northern Ireland and certain Border Counties
of the Republic of Ireland, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) It is in the interest of the United States
that the precarious peace process now underway in
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland suc-
ceed, both to ensure stability for important allies
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and friends of the United States and to assure a
mutually beneficial flow of trade and commerce.
(2) Locally sustainable economic development
within Northern Ireland and the Border Counties of
the Republic of Ireland creates the basis for political
stability and enhances the likelihood of peace.
(3) The granting of reasonable tariff conces-
sions for products and goods originating in Northern
Ireland and the Border Counties of the Republic of
Ireland will provide an incentive for such develop-
ment.
(A) The Congress notes that both the
United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland
are members of the European Union (EU), that
tariff issues relating to Northern Ireland and
the Border Counties are subject to the common
commercial policy provided for in Article 113 of
the Treaty of Rome and that any negotiations
concerning them must conform to EU law and
Paragraphs 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Article XXIV of
the GATT.
(B) The Congress further notes that while
there is no precedent in EU practice for the
free trade agreement contemplated in this Act,
the effect of such an agreement will be to sup-
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port important on-going EU efforts to achieve
greater social cohesion in a unique and dis-
advantaged region, to the long-term benefit of
the European Union, the United States, and
the larger international community.
(4) The President should be authorized to nego-
tiate such concessions in accordance with the terms
and conditions set forth in the Act.
SEC. 2. FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH NORTHERN IRE-
LAND.
(a) NEGOTIATIONS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The President may enter
into a trade agreement with respect to qualified
areas of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire-
land which provides for—
(A) the harmonization, reduction, and
elimination of trade barriers;
(B) the prohibition of or limitations on the
impositions of trade barriers;
(C) the elimination or reduction of any
duty imposed by the United States
(2) AGREEMENT LIMITED TO QUALIFIED AREAS
OF
NORTHERN
IRELAND
AND
THE
REPUBLIC
OF
IRELAND.—Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, no trade benefit shall be extended to any coun-
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try by reason of the extension of any trade benefit
to another country under a trade agreement entered
into under paragraph (1) with such other country.
(b) LIMITATIONS AND STAGING.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—No proclamation may be
made under subsection (a) that—
(A) reduces any rate of duty (other than a
rate of duty that does not exceed 5 percent ad
valorem on the date of enactment of this Act)
to a rate of duty which is less than 5 percent
of the rate of duty that applies on such a date
of enactment;
(B) reduces the rate of duty on an article
over a period greater than 10 years after the
first reduction that is proclaimed to carry out
a trade agreement with respect to such article;
or
(C) increase any rate of duty above the
rate that applies on the date of the enactment
of this Act.
(2) LIMITATION ON AGGREGATE REDUCTION.—
The aggregate reduction in the rate of duty on any
article which is in effect on any day pursuant to a
trade agreement entered into under subsection (a)
shall not exceed the aggregate reduction which
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would have been in effect on such a day if a reduc-
tion of 3 percent ad valorem per year or a reduction
of 10 percent per year of the total reduction, which-
ever is greater, had taken effect on the effective date
of the first reduction proclaimed pursuant to sub-
section (a).
(3) EXEMPTION FROM STAGING.—No staging is
required under paragraph (2) with respect to a duty
reduction that is proclaimed under subsection (a) for
an article of a kind that is not produced in the Unit-
ed States. The United States International Trade
Commission shall advise the President of the iden-
tity of articles that may be exempted from staging
under this paragraph.
(4) ROUNDING.—If the President determines
that such action will simplify the computation of re-
ductions under paragraph (1) or (2), the President
may round an annual reduction by an amount equal
to the lesser of—
(A) the difference between the reduction
without regard to this paragraph and the next
lower whole numbers; or
(B) one-half of 1 percent ad valorem.
(5) OTHER LIMITATIONS.—A rate of duty re-
duction or increase that may not be proclaimed by
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reason of paragraph (1) may take effect only if a
provision authorizing such reduction is included
within an implementing bill provided for in connec-
tion with the agreement authorized by this Act and
that bill is enacted into law.
SEC. 3. CRITERIA FOR DUTY-FREE TREATMENT OF ARTI-
CLES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) ARTICLE MUST BE GROWTH, PRODUCT, OR
MANUFACTURE OF QUALIFIED AREA OF NORTHERN
IRELAND OR THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND.—The re-
duction or elimination of any duty imposed on any
article by the United States provided for in a trade
agreement entered into with a qualified area of
Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland under
this Act shall apply only if—
(A) that article is the growth, product, or
manufacture of a qualified area of Northern
Ireland or the Republic of Ireland or is a new
or different article of commerce that has been
grown, produced, or manufactured in a quali-
fied area of Northern Ireland or the Republic of
Ireland;
(B) that article is imported directly from a
qualified area of Northern Ireland or the Re-
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public of Ireland into the customs territory of
the United States; and
(C) the sum of—
(i) the cost of value of the materials
produced in a qualified area of Northern
Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, plus
(ii) the direct costs of processing oper-
ations performed in a qualified area of
Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ire-
land,
is not less than 35 percent of the appraised
value of such article at the time it is entered.
If the cost or value of materials produced in the cus-
toms territory of the United States is included with
respect to an article to which this subsection applies,
an amount not to exceed 15 percent of the appraised
value of the article at the time it is entered that is
attributable to such United States cost or value may
be applied toward determining the percentage re-
ferred to in subparagraph (C).
(2) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—No article may be
considered to meet the requirements of paragraph
(1)(A) by virtue of having merely undergone—
(A) simple combining or packaging oper-
ations; or
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(B) mere dilution with water or mere dilu-
tion with another substance that does not mate-
rially alter the characteristics of the article.
(b) DIRECT COSTS.—As used in this section, the
phrase ‘‘direct costs of processing operations’’ includes,
but is not limited to—
(1) all actual labor costs involved in the growth,
production, manufacture, or assembly of the specific
merchandise, including fringe benefits, on-the-job
training and the cost of engineering, supervisory,
quality control, and similar personnel; and
(2) dies, molds, tooling, and depreciation on
machinery and equipment which are allocable to the
specific merchandise.
Such phrase does not include costs which are not directly
attributable to the merchandise concerned, or are not costs
of manufacturing the product, such as (A) profit, and (B)
general expenses of doing business which are either not
allocable to the specific merchandise or are not related to
the growth, production, manufacture, or assembly of the
merchandise, such as administrative salaries, casualty and
liability insurance, advertising, and salesmen’s salaries,
commissions, or expenses.
(c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury,
after consultation with the United States Trade Rep-
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resentative, shall prescribe such regulations as may be
necessary to carry out this section.
SEC. 4. ITC REPORTS.
Before any reduction or elimination of any duty is
proclaimed with respect to any article under this Act, the
United States International Trade Commission shall ad-
vise the President regarding the probable economic effect
of providing duty-free treatment for such article that is
a product of a qualified area of Northern Ireland or the
Republic of Ireland on industries in the United States pro-
ducing like or directly competitive articles and on consum-
ers.
SEC. 5. CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS BEFORE AGREE-
MENT ENTERED INTO.
(a) CONSULTATION.—Before entering into any trade
agreement under this Act, the President shall consult
with—
(1) the Committee on Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Fi-
nance of the Senate; and
(2) each other committee of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Senate, and each joint commit-
tee of the Congress, which has jurisdiction over leg-
islation involving subject matters which would be af-
fected by the trade agreement.
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(b) SCOPE.—The consultation described in subsection
(a) shall include consultation with respect to—
(1) the nature of the agreement;
(2) how the agreement related to the obliga-
tions of the parties; and
(3) all matters relating to the implementation
of the agreement, including whether the agreement
includes subject matter for which supplemental im-
plementing legislation may be required.
SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF TRADE AGREEMENTS.
(a) NOTIFICATION
AND SUBMISSION.—Any agree-
ment entered into under this Act shall enter into force
with respect to the United States if (and only if)—
(1) the President, at least 90 calendar days be-
fore the day on which the President enters into the
trade agreement, notifies the House of Representa-
tives and the Senate of the President’s intention to
enter into the agreement, and promptly thereafter
published notice of such intention in the Federal
Register;
(2) within 60 days after entering into the
agreement, the President submits to the Congress a
description of those changes to existing laws that the
President considers would be required in order to
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bring the United States into compliance with the
agreement;
(3) after entering into the agreement, the Presi-
dent submits a copy of the final text of the agree-
ment, together with—
(A) a draft of an implementing bill, if nec-
essary;
(B) a statement of any administrative ac-
tion proposed to implement the trade agree-
ment; and
(C) the supporting information described
in paragraph (2); and
(4) the implementing bill, if necessary, is en-
acted into law.
(b) SUPPORTING INFORMATION.—The supporting in-
formation required under subsection (a)(3)(C) consists
of—
(1) an explanation as to how the implementing
bill and proposed administrative action will change
or affect existing law; and
(2) a statement setting forth the reasons of the
President regarding how the agreement serves the
interest of United States commerce.
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SEC. 7. DEFINITION OF QUALIFYING AREA.
As used in this Act, the term ‘‘qualifying area’’
means a county that—
(1) is contiguous to Northern Ireland;
(2) suffers from the severest form of economic
deprivation as defined by the United Kingdom’s re-
port, Relative Deprivation in Northern Ireland, Oc-
casional Paper Number 28, Policy Planning and Re-
search Unit, September; and the European Union’s
report, Special Support Programme for Peace and
Reconciliation 1995–1999. Those counties to be in-
cluded as ‘‘qualified areas’’ are: Derry, Limavady,
Strabane, 
Magherafelt, 
Omagh, 
Cookstown,
Dungannon, Fermanagh, Moyle, Newry and Mourne,
Armagh, and those parts of Belfast Urban area
known as ‘‘Making Belfast Work’’ designated areas,
in Northern Ireland; and the border counties of
Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and
Louth in the Republic of Ireland;
(3) has a rate of unemployment higher than the
local or urban average of unemployment in Northern
Ireland; and
(4) the employers in counties where there is a
history of workplace discrimination who would be eli-
gible shall be in compliance with the principles of
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economic justice, known as the ‘‘MacBride Prin-
ciples.’’ Specifically, these principles are—
(A) increasing the representation of indi-
viduals, from underrepresented religious groups
in the workforce, including managerial, super-
visory, administrative, clerical, and technical
jobs.
(B) providing adequate security for the
protection of minority employees at the work-
place;
(C) banning provocative sectarian or politi-
cal emblems from the workplace;
(D) providing that all job openings be ad-
vertised publicly and providing that special re-
cruitment efforts be made to attract applicants
from underrepresented religious groups;
(E) providing that layoff, recall and termi-
nation procedures do not favor a particular reli-
gious group;
(F) abolishing job reservations, apprentice-
ship restrictions and differential employment
criteria which discriminate on the basis of reli-
gion;
(G) providing for the development of train-
ing programs that will prepare substantial num-
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bers of minority employees for skilled jobs, in-
cluding the expansion of existing programs and
the creation of new programs to train, upgrade
and improve the skills of minority employees;
(H) establishing procedures to assess, iden-
tify and actively recruit minority employees
with the potential for further advancement; and
(I) approving for the appointment of a sen-
ior management staff member to be responsible
for the employment efforts of the entity and,
within a reasonable period of time, the imple-
mentation of the principles described above.
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