Presidential Proclamation Implements Certain GSP Changes, Etc. Effective July 1, 2007 (Full Summary)

This Full Summary combines into one document BP summaries Parts I-II which highlight Proclamation 8157 and its annexes. (See ITT's Online Archives or 07/02/07 and 07/06/07 news, 07070205 and 07070625, for Parts I and II, respectively.)

GSP Changes Take Effect July 1, 2007

According to Annex I, the GSP changes are effective for subject articles entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after July 1, 2007.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/02/07 and 03/06/07 news, 07030205 and 07030605, for BP summaries of USTR lists of country/tariff number pairs that may lose/regain GSP benefits effective July 1, 2007.)

The changes to the HTS made by Annex I of the Proclamation are as follows:

16 Country/Tariff Number Pairs Gain GSP

The following country/tariff number pairs are being deleted from HTS General Note 4(d) effective for such articles entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after July 1, 2007, and as a result they become GSP eligible on that date:

27 Country/Tariff Number Pairs Lose GSP

The following country/tariff number pairs are added in numerical sequence to HTS General Note 4(d) effective for subject articles entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after July 1, 2007, and as a result these pairs lost their GSP benefits on that date:

(Those marked with an '*' were on an initial USTR list (including HTS 7113.19.50 gold jewelry from India, imports of which were over $1.6 billion in 2006) of products at risk of having their competitive needs limitations (CNL) waivers revoked due to new CNL rules. See ITT's Online Archives or 12/22/06 news, 06122205, for BP summary.)

Conforming amendments are also made by Annex I to the "Rates of Duty-Special" subcolumn by either deleting the symbol "A" and inserting "A*" or by deleting the symbol "A*" and inserting "A."

Mauritania Designated as AGOA, "Lesser Developed" AGOA Beneficiary Country

Inthe text ofProclamation 8157 the President designates Mauritania as an AGOA beneficiary country with respect to articles entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after July 1, 2007. The President has also determined that Mauritania is a lesser developed AGOA beneficiary country.

(In order to reflect this designation in the HTS, General Note 16(a) is modified by adding the "Islamic Republic of Mauritania" to the list of AGOA beneficiary countries.)

Highlights of Technical HTS Changes

The following are highlights of the technical HTS changes in the proclamation (see proclamation for complete list):

Israel "duty-free" agricultural TRQ levels to be modified. In order to provide the tariff treatment intended under the 2004 Agreement between the U.S. and Israel concerning certain aspects of trade in agricultural products, HTS Chapter 99, Subchapter VIII, U.S. Notes 3-7 on the "duty-free" tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for certain agricultural products from Israel are modified as follows, effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after July 15, 2007:

the TRQ for certain butter and fresh sour cream entered under 9908.04.01 for calendar year (CY) 2007 has decreased from 443,370 to 443,000 kg and has increased for CY 2008 from 465,539 to 466,000 kg;

the TRQ for certain dried milk entered under 9908.04.03 for CYs 2007 and 2008 have decreased from 1,267,563 to 1,266,000 kg and from 1,305,590 to 1,304,000 kg, respectively;

the TRQ for cheese and cheese substitutes entered under 9908.04.05 for CYs 2007 and 2008 have increased from 1,397,598 to 1,467,000 and from 1,439,526 to 1,534,000, respectively;

the TRQ for peanuts entered under 9908.12.01 for CYs 2007 and 2008 have increased from 126,756 to 127,000 and from 130,559 to 131,000, respectively; and

the TRQ for ice cream entered under 9908.21.01 is now to use kg as its unit of measure (was previously measured in liters) and the limits for CYs 2007 and 2008 have increased from 442,901 liters to 643,000 kg and from 456,188 liters to 707,000 kg, respectively.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 10/08/04 news, 04100810, for BP summary of Proclamation 7826, which implemented a 2004 Agreement, extending the TRQs for certain agricultural products from Israel through December 31, 2008.)

Modification to reflect extension of "Third Country" AGOA Apparel TPL sublimit. Effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after October 1, 2006, Chapter 98, Subchapter XIX U.S. Note 2(b) and subheading 9819.11.12 are modified to reflect the extension of the AGOA tariff preference level (TPL) sublimit for apparel made in lesser developed AGOA beneficiary countries (LDBCs) regardless of the country of origin of the fabric or yarn, to September 30, 2012 (from September 30, 2007):

(See ITT's Online Archives or 02/06/07 news, 07020610, for BP summary of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-432), which extended the provisions for the "third country" sublimit to September 30, 2012.)

Underlying HTS numbers for certain Chapter 99 goods updated for WCO changes. In order to implement the intended World Customs Organization (WCO)-recommended changes, the underlying HTS numbers for certain Chapter 99 numbers are updated as follows, effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after February 3, 2007:

(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/27/07 news, 07032705, for BP summary of Proclamation 8114 which amended the HTS to update other Chapter 99 underlying tariff numbers. See ITT's Online Archives or 03/15/07 news, 07031505, for BP reminder on the WCO-recommended and other HTS changes implemented by Proclamation 8097.)

Subheading description for Certain Chapter 98 CBTPA apparel. In order to implement section 2004(b)(1)(B) of the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, subheading 9820.11.24, regarding certain apparel articles that qualify for preferential tariff treatment under the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, is modified to read as follows, effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after December 18, 2004 (deleted text denoted by <->):

"Apparel articles both cut (or knit-to-shape) and sewn or otherwise assembled in one or more such countries <from fabrics or yarn not formed in the United States or in one or more such countries>, provided that such apparel articles of such fabrics or yarn would be considered an originating good under the terms of general note 12(t) to the tariff schedule without regard to the source of the fabric or yarn if such apparel article had been imported from the territory of Canada or the territory of Mexico directly into the customs territory of the United States."

(See ITT's Online Archives or 12/23/04 news, 04122325, for the final part of BP's summary on the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, with links to the previous parts.)

Removal of GSP combination as it no longer exists. The HTS is modified, effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after February 3, 2007, by deleting from General Note 4(d), which provides the list of country/HTS numbers pairs that are not eligible for GSP benefits, "8708.60.80 Argentina" (This removal is the result of the implementation of certain WCO-recommended changes.)

¹Note that the proclamation uses the term "beneficiary sub-Saharan African country(ies)" while this ITT notice uses the term AGOA beneficiary country(ies).

Proclamation 8157, including Annexes I-VI (FR Pub 07/02/07) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/02jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/07-3225.pdf

BP Notes

Annex II of the proclamation lists the country/tariff number pairs for which the CNLs provided for in section 503(c)(2)(A)(i)(II) are disregarded.

Annex III of the proclamation lists the country/tariff number pairs for which the application of section 503(c)2)(A) is waived.

Annex IV of the proclamation lists the country/tariff number pairs for which the waiver of the application of section 503(c)(2)(A) is revoked due to the new CNL rules.