President Designates Burkina Faso as an AGOA Beneficiary Country
On December 10, 2004, President Bush issued Presidential Proclamation 7853 in order to designate Burkina Faso as an African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) beneficiary country.
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AGOA-GSP Treatment for Eligible Products from Burkina Faso Effective 15 Days After December 10
In Proclamation 7853, President Bush designated Burkina Faso as an eligible AGOA country and as a beneficiary AGOA country. In order to reflect this designation, Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) General Note 16(a) is amended to add Burkina Faso to the list of AGOA beneficiary countries. In addition, Proclamation 7853 designates Burkina Faso as a lesser-developed AGOA beneficiary country.
As a result of Burkina Faso's designation as an AGOA beneficiary country, duty-free treatment under the AGOA-Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program will be available for qualifying articles from Burkina Faso that are classified under any of approximately 1,835 specified HTS numbers, which Proclamation 7853 states is effective for goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, 15 days after December 10, 2004.
Burkina Faso Not Yet Eligible for AGOA Textile and Apparel Benefits
Despite the President's designation of Burkina Faso as an AGOA beneficiary country, Burkina Faso will not qualify for AGOA duty-free benefits for specified textiles and apparel unless and until the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) determines that the country has (1) adopted an effective visa system and related procedures to prevent unlawful transshipment and the use of counterfeit documents in connection with shipments of textile articles and (2) implemented and follows, or is making substantial progress toward implementing and following, the customs procedures required by AGOA.
Presidential Proclamation 7853 (FR Pub 12/14/04) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-27523.pdf