U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued to the ports and posted to its Web site separate instructions regarding (1) the use of visas to make claims for duty-free treatment under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for qualifying textile and/or apparel articles (textile articles) from Benin that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after January 28, 2004, and (2) quota reporting for certain apparel articles from Benin that are subject to the AGOA aggregate tariff preference level (TPL) and its sublimit.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a 15-page memorandum containing its instructions on the filing and substantiation of claims for preferential tariff treatment made under the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SFTA).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that on February 8, 2004, the U.S. and Australia concluded a free trade agreement (FTA) which is designed to, among other things, eliminate and reduce tariffs and other trade barriers. The USTR states that the text of this FTA will be made public in the near future.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has initiated a review to provide advice to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) concerning a petition filed under the "commercial availability" provisions of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), and Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) on apparel of certain combed compact yarns. Written comments are due by February 13, 2004. (See ITT's Online Archives or 01/27/04 news, 04012725, for BP summary of the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreement's (CITA's) related notice.) (ITC notice, dated 02/02/04, available at http://www.usitc.gov/332s/shortsup/332_458_001nl.pdf)
On January 23, 2004, President Bush signed into law (Public Law (P.L.) 108-199) the conference version of the fiscal year (FY) 2004 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2673), entitled the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004." P.L. 108-199 includes eight separate appropriations measures that provide FY 2004 appropriations for the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, etc.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has posted to its Web site the draft text of the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which is dated January 28, 2004.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued two notices requesting public comments by February 17, 2004 regarding "commercial availability" requests it received, variously, under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), and the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) from Levi Strauss and Co.:
On January 23, 2004, President Bush signed into law (Public Law (P.L.) 108-199) the conference version of the fiscal year (FY) 2004 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2673), entitled the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004." P.L. 108-199 includes eight separate appropriations measures, including the 2004 Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Act), which provides, among other things, FY 2004 appropriations for the Commerce Department.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice designating the Resources Company for Development and Investment Zone (RCDI), the Al Hallabat Industrial Park, and the expanded Al Tajamouat Industrial Park as qualifying industrial zones (QIZs) from which goods, including textiles and apparel, may enter the U.S. duty-free under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act (IFTA Act).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing its determination that Benin (1) has adopted an effective visa system and related procedures to prevent unlawful transshipment and the use of counterfeit documents in connection with shipments of textile and apparel articles, and (2) has implemented and follows, or is making substantial progress toward implementing and following, the customs procedures required by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This determination is effective January 28, 2004.