19 U.S.C. § 3202: Beneficiary country

The term “beneficiary country” means any country listed in subsection (b)(1) with respect to which there is in effect a proclamation by the President designating such country as a beneficiary country for purposes of this chapter. The term “entered” means entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, in the customs territory of the United States. The term “HTS” means Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. In designating countries as beneficiary countries under this chapter, the President shall consider only the following countries or successor political entities: Bolivia Ecuador Colombia Peru. Before the President designates any country as a beneficiary country for purposes of this chapter, he shall notify the House of Representatives and the Senate of his intention to make such designation, together with the considerations entering into such decision. if such country is a Communist country; has nationalized, expropriated or otherwise seized ownership or control of property owned by a United States citizen or by a corporation, partnership, or association which is 50 percent or more beneficially owned by United States citizens, any existing contract or agreement with, or any patent, trademark, or other intellectual property of, prompt, adequate, and effective compensation has been or is being made to such citizen, corporation, partnership, or association, good-faith negotiations to provide prompt, adequate, and effective compensation under the applicable provisions of international law are in progress, or such country is otherwise taking steps to discharge its obligations under international law with respect to such citizen, corporation, partnership, or association, or a dispute involving such citizen, corporation, partnership, or association, over compensation for such a seizure has been submitted to arbitration under the provisions of the Convention for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, or in another mutually agreed upon forum, and if such country fails to act in good faith in recognizing as binding or in enforcing arbitral awards in favor of United States citizens or a corporation, partnership, or association which is 50 percent or more beneficially owned by United States citizens, which have been made by arbitrators appointed for each case or by permanent arbitral bodies to which the parties involved have submitted their dispute; has received assurances satisfactory to him that such preferential treatment will be eliminated or that action will be taken to assure that there will be no such significant adverse effect, and reports those assurances to the Congress; if a government-owned entity in such country engages in the broadcast of copyrighted material, including films or television material, belonging to United States copyright owners without their express consent or such country fails to work towards the provision of adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights; unless such country is a signatory to a treaty, convention, protocol, or other agreement regarding the extradition of United States citizens; and if such country has not or is not taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights (as defined in section 2467(4) of this title ) to workers in the country (including any designated zone in that country). an expression by such country of its desire to be so designated; the economic conditions in such country, the living standards of its inhabitants, and any other economic factors which he deems appropriate; the extent to which such country has assured the United States it will provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets and basic commodity resources of such country; the degree to which such country follows the accepted rules of international trade provided for under the WTO Agreement and the multilateral trade agreements (as such terms are defined in paragraphs (9) and (4), respectively, of section 3501 of this title ); the degree to which such country uses export subsidies or imposes export performance requirements or local content requirements which distort international trade; the degree to which the trade policies of such country as they relate to other beneficiary countries are contributing to the revitalization of the region; the degree to which such country is undertaking self-help measures to protect its own economic development; whether or not such country has taken or is taking steps to afford to workers in that country (including any designated zone in that country) internationally recognized worker rights; the extent to which such country provides under its law adequate and effective means for foreign nationals to secure, exercise, and enforce exclusive rights in intellectual property, including patent, trademark, and copyright rights; the extent to which such country prohibits its nationals from engaging in the broadcast of copyrighted material, including films or television material, belonging to United States copyright owners without their express consent; whether such country has met the narcotics cooperation certification criteria set forth in section 2291(h)(2)(A) 1 of title 22 for eligibility for United States assistance; and 1 See References in Text note below. the extent to which such country is prepared to cooperate with the United States in the administration of the provisions of this chapter. withdraw or suspend the designation of any country as a beneficiary country, or withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment under this chapter to any article of any country, withdraw or suspend the designation of any country as an ATPDEA beneficiary country, or withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of preferential treatment under section 3203(b)(1), (3), or (4) of this title to any article of any country, The President shall publish in the Federal Register notice of the action the President proposes to take under paragraph (1) at least 30 days before taking such action. accept written comments from the public regarding such proposed action, hold a public hearing on such proposed action, and notice of the time and place of such hearing prior to the hearing, and the time and place at which such written comments will be accepted. with respect to subsections (c) and (d), the results of a general review of beneficiary countries based on the considerations described in such subsections; and the performance of each beneficiary country or ATPEA 2 beneficiary country, as the case may be, under the criteria set forth in 2 So in original. Probably should be “ATPDEA”. section 3203(b)(6)(B) of this title . Before submitting the report described in paragraph (1), the United States Trade Representative shall publish a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on whether beneficiary countries are meeting the criteria listed in section 3203(b)(6)(B) of this title . Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Aug. 6, 2002 ], the President shall promulgate regulations regarding the review of eligibility of articles and countries under the Andean Trade Preference Act [ 19 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.], consistent with section 203(e) of such Act [ 19 U.S.C. 3202(e) ], as amended by this title. The regulations shall be similar to the regulations regarding eligibility under the generalized system of preferences under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 [ 19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.] with respect to the timetable for reviews and content, and shall include procedures for requesting withdrawal, suspension, or limitations of preferential duty treatment under the Andean Trade Preference Act, conducting reviews of such requests, and implementing the results of the reviews.”