House and Senate Pass Different Versions of Burma Sanctions Bill (House Version Would Also Reinstate GSP for Certain India/Thai Gold Jewelry)

The Senate passed its version of H.R. 3890 on December 19, 2007. The Senate version would impose sanctions on certain Burma gemstones as well as certain Burma hardwoods. The Senate's version does not contain a provision to reinstate GSP benefits for certain India and Thailand gold jewelry. (See future issue of ITT for highlights of Senate version.)

The next expected step would be for the House and Senate to confer and develop a single version of the measure.

Highlights of House Version of Bill

The House version of H.R. 3890 is highlighted below:

GSP Benefits for Certain India/Thai Gold Jewelry Would be Reinstated, Etc.

The President would be required, no later than 60 days after the date of enactment, to disregard certain new competitive need limitation (CNL) rules and reinstate the CNL waiver, and thus the GSP benefits, for Thailand and India gold jewelry classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 7113.19.50.

All revocations under new CNL rules should be reviewed. The bill states that the President should review any GSP revocation that occurred under the new CNL rules, and reinstate the CNL waiver, and thus the GSP benefits, unless the International Trade Commission determines that revocation of the CNL waiver will not reduce the current level of exports of such article from the GSP country to the U.S. and will not benefit one or more countries that are not designated as GSP countries.

(The new CNL rules allow the President to revoke a CNL waiver that has been in effect for at least five years for a GSP-eligible product from a specific country, if the annual trade level, or share of all U.S. imports of that product, exceeds certain thresholds. See ITT's Online Archives or 12/20/06 and 12/22/06 news, 06122005 and 06122205, for BP summaries.

See ITT's Online Archives or 07/02/07 news, 07070205, for BP summary of Presidential Proclamation 8157, which among other things, revoked the GSP status for India and Thailand gold jewelry under HTS 7113.19.50 due to the application of the new CNL rules.)

Burmese Jadeite/Rubies, Jewelry/Articles¹ Containing Same Would be Prohibited Importation

Section 3 of 50 USC 1701 note would be amended to prohibit, beginning 60 days after enactment, the importation of jadeite and rubies mined or extracted from Burma (Myanmar) and jewelry/articles containing such jadeite or rubies,until the President determines and certifies to Congress that Burma has met certain conditions.

(Note that the BFDA already prohibits the importation of any article that is the "product of" Burma.)

Non-Burmese Jadeite/Rubies, Jewelry/Articles¹ Containing Same Would Require Steps/Recordkeeping by Exporter/Importer Unless Country Waiver

As a condition for importing into the U.S. any jadeite or rubies mined or extracted from a country other than Burma, and jewelry/articles containingsuch jadeite or rubies, the exporter must have implemented measures that have substantially the same effect and achieve the same goals as the requirements (or their functional equivalent) for a country waiver.

The bill would also require importers of jadeite or rubies mined or extracted from a country other than Burma, and jewelry/articles containingsuch jadeite or rubies, to maintain a full record of any act or transaction related to the purchase, manufacture, or shipment of these items for a period not-less-than five years, and provide such information to relevant U.S. authorities upon request.

Country waiver of exporter/importer requirements. These exporter and importer requirements may be waived by the President with respect to imports from any country if that country has taken certain steps (or their functional equivalent) to prevent the trade in Burmese jadeite/rubies and jewelry/articles containingthem, such as the implementation of a system of verifiable controls demonstrating the jadeite or rubies were not mined or extracted from Burma, officially-validated documentation accompanying the shipment certifying the country from which the jadeite or rubies were mined or extracted, among other requirements.

President Should Seek to Negotiate International Arrangement

The President should also take the necessary steps to seek to negotiate an international arrangement (similar to the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme for conflict diamonds) to prevent the trade in jadeite and rubies mined or extracted from Burma and jewelry/articles containing such jadeite or rubies, by creating a global system of controls.

¹The term "jadeite" means any jadeite classifiable under HTS heading 7103 and the term "rubies" means any rubies classifiable under HTS heading 7103. The term "articles of jewelry containing jadeite or rubies" means (i) any article of jewelry classifiable under HTS heading 7113 that contains jadeite or rubies; or (ii) any article of jadeite or rubies classifiable under HTS heading 7116.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 07/26/07 and 10/25/07 news, 07072615 and 07102599 4, for BP summaries of Congress' adoption of a resolution to renew the Burma import ban and the president's signing the ban into law, respectively.

See ITT's Online Archives or 08/21/06 news, 06082110, for BP summary of P.L. 109-251, which amended the BFDA to allow the import ban to be annually renewed for another three years.)

H.R. 3890, as agreed to by the House, available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h3890eh.txt.pdf.