USTR Announces Results of 2012 Review of AGOA Eligible Countries
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced the President's decision to designate all of the 40 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries currently eligible for African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preferences and other benefits to remain eligible for such benefits in 2012. The President determined that no new countries would be added as AGOA beneficiaries.
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(AGOA beneficiary SSA countries receive both standard duty-free benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program and AGOA-GSP duty-free benefits for additional products. For these countries, both the GSP program (i.e., A, A*, and A+) and the AGOA-GSP program (i.e., D) remain in effect through September 30, 2015. In addition, certain AGOA beneficiary SSA countries receive AGOA textile benefits1 if the USTR has determined that such countries are establishing or have established certain procedures regarding the prevention of illegal textile and apparel transshipments.)
40 Countries Were Designated as Eligible for AGOA Benefits in 2011
The President’s determination is based on the annual review conducted by the Administration to examine the progress of each SSA country in meeting AGOA eligibility criteria, such as establishing a market-based economy, rule of law, economic policies to reduce poverty, protection of internationally recognized worker rights, and efforts to combat corruption.
Thirty seven countries were originally designated as beneficiary SSA countries under AGOA in 2011. Three countries -- Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger -- were previously ineligible for AGOA benefits for 2011 and were subject to a separate review process. After the review process, the President determined that they had met eligibility criteria and on October 25, 2011, signed a presidential proclamation designating the countries as eligible for AGOA benefits.
Same 40 Countries Continue to Be Eligible in 2012
The following are the 40 countries eligible to be designated as beneficiary SSA countries under AGOA in 2012:
| Angola | Liberia |
| Benin | Malawi |
| Botswana | Mali |
| Burkina Faso | Mauritania |
| Burundi | Mauritius |
| Cameroon | Mozambique |
| Cape Verde | Namibia |
| Chad | Niger |
| Comoros | Nigeria |
| Congo | Rwanda |
| Cote d'Ivoire | Sao Tome & Principe |
| Djibouti | Senegal |
| Ethiopia | Seychelles |
| Gabonese Republic | Sierra Leone |
| The Gambia | South Africa |
| Ghana | Swaziland |
| Guinea | Tanzania |
| Guinea-Bissau | Togo |
| Kenya | Uganda |
| Lesotho | Zambia |
1The following AGOA beneficiary countries, as listed in HTS Chapter 98, Subchapter XIX, U.S. Note 1, are currently eligible for these Chapter 98 benefits: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Republic of Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
(See ITT's Online Archives 11092207 for summary of USTR's request for comments for the 2012 review of countries eligible for AGOA benefits.)