USTR Announces 2009 Annual ATPA/ATPDEA Review
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice announcing the 2009 Annual Review of the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA)/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA)1.
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Under this process, petitions may be filed calling for the limitation, withdrawal or suspension of ATPA/ATPDEA benefits by presenting evidence that the eligibility criteria of the program are not being met.
(Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are currently designated as ATPA/ATPDEA beneficiary countries. Bolivia recently lost its ATPA/ATPDEA benefits. Peru recently entered into a trade promotion agreement with the U.S. and remains eligible as an ATPA/ATPDEA beneficiary country.)
Petitions for Annual Review Must be Received by September 22, 2009
In order to be considered in the 2009 Annual ATPA/ATPDEA Review, all petitions to withdraw or suspend the designation of a country as an ATPA/ATPDEA beneficiary country, or to withdraw, suspend, or limit application of preferential treatment to any article of any ATPA beneficiary country under the ATPA, or to any article of any ATPDEA beneficiary country under certain sections of the ATPA, must be received by no later than 5 p.m. EDT on September 22, 2009. (USTR notes that petitioners should consult 15 CFR 2016.0 regarding the content of such petitions.)
The USTR will publish a list of petitions filed in response to its announcement and accepted for review in the Federal Register.
President Can Withdraw, Suspend, Etc. an ATPA/ATPDEA Beneficiary Country or Product
Under Section 203(e) of the ATPA, as amended, the President may withdraw or suspend the designation of any ATPA or ATPDEA beneficiary country, and may also withdraw, suspend, or limit preferential treatment for any product of any such beneficiary country, if the President determines that, as a result of changed circumstances, the country is not meeting the eligibility criteria.
ATPA/ATPDEA Currently Scheduled to Expire on December 31, 2009
The ATPA/ATPDEA will expire, unless extended by legislation, on December 31, 2009.
Congressional sources recently stated that the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees are actively working on a trade preference reform package, which would include ATPA/ATPDEA (and the other trade preference programs, such as the Generalized System of Preferences, the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), etc.). The sources added that the committees have not yet decided how it will approach the issue of extending ATPA/ATPDEA beyond December 31, 2009 if the reform package is not completed in time.
1The ATPA was amended by the ATPDEA in the Trade Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-210)
(See ITT's Online Archives or 08/19/09 news, 09081915, for most recent BP summary on the scheduled expiration of APTA/ATPDEA.)
USTR contact - Bennett Harman (202) 395-9446
USTR notice (FR Pub 08/26/09) available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-20519.pdf