To Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and for Other Purposes

Record & deadlines

1. Dec 20, 2012Signed

   Signed by the President

2. Dec 28, 2012FR published

   Published in the Federal Register · 77 FR 76799

   Federal Register PDF
3. Jan 1, 2014

   Saint Kitts and Nevis GSP termination effective

4. Dec 31, 2013

   U.S.-Israel agricultural tariff preferences under 2004 Agreement expire

5. Jan 1, 2013

   Mali and Guinea-Bissau AGOA termination effective; Israel agricultural HTS modifications effective

Key directives

• Designate Republic of South Sudan as eligible and beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under AGOA
• Terminate Mali and Guinea-Bissau as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries effective January 1, 2013
• Terminate Saint Kitts and Nevis as GSP beneficiary developing country effective January 1, 2014
• Modify HTS to implement U.S.-Israel agricultural tariff commitments through December 31, 2013
• Modify HTS rules of origin under U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement
• Correct technical error in HTS subheading numbers at general note 4(d)
• Correct typographical error in Korea FTA tariff treatment at general note 33
• Amend Proclamation 8894 to replace 'Colombia' with 'Panama'

Prior policy

• supersedeprevious proclamations and Executive Orders inconsistent with this proclamation
• amendPresidential Proclamation 8894 paragraph (3)

What to expect

Risks & tensions

• Mali and Guinea-Bissau terminations follow political instability/coups, reflecting tension between AGOA eligibility criteria and geopolitical realities
• Short 12-day implementation window for Mali/Guinea-Bissau termination and Israel tariff changes may create compliance challenges for traders
• U.S.-Israel agricultural agreement extension through 2013 leaves unresolved need for permanent replacement agreement