Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44 Issue 51 (Monday, December 29, 2008)

[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 51 (Monday, December 29, 2008)]
[Pages 1580-1581]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Proclamation 8331--To Implement the Dominican Republic-Central America-
United States Free Trade Agreement With Respect to Costa Rica and for 
Other Purposes

 December 23, 2008

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    1. On August 5, 2004, the United States entered into the Dominican 
Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (the 
``Agreement'') with Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, 
Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (the ``Agreement countries''). The 
Agreement was approved by the Congress in section 101(a) of the 
Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement 
Implementation Act (the ``Act'') (19 U.S.C. 4011).
    2. The Parties to the Agreement entered into an amendment of the 
Agreement on July 27, August 6, and August 14, 2007 (the ``Amendment''). 
The Amendment provides for temporary duty-free treatment for certain 
goods of Costa Rica. The terms of the Amendment with respect to Costa 
Rica are contained in letters of understanding described in section 
1634(b)(2) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-280, 
120 Stat. 780).
    3. Section 201(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 4031(a)(1)) authorizes 
the President to proclaim such modifications or continuation of any 
duty, such continuation of duty free or excise treatment, or such 
additional duties, as the President determines to be necessary or 
appropriate to carry out or apply Articles 3.3 and 3.27, and Annexes 3.3 
(including the schedule of United States duty reductions with respect to 
originating goods) and 3.27 of the Agreement.
    4. Consistent with section 201(a)(2) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 
4031(a)(2)), each Agreement country is to be removed from the 
enumeration of designated beneficiary developing countries eligible for 
the benefits of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) on the date 
the Agreement enters into force with respect to that country.
    5. Consistent with section 201(a)(3) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 
4031(a)(3)), each Agreement country is to be removed from the 
enumeration of designated beneficiary countries under the Caribbean 
Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) on the date 
the Agreement enters into force with respect to that country, subject to 
the exceptions set out in section 201(a)(3)(B) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 
4031(a)(3)(B)).
    6. Consistent with section 213(b)(5)(D) of the CBERA (19 U.S.C. 
2703(b)(5)(D)), as amended by the United States-Caribbean Basin Trade 
Partnership Act (CBTPA) (Public Law 106-200), each Agreement country is 
to be removed from the enumeration of designated CBTPA beneficiary 
countries on the date the Agreement enters into force with respect to 
that country.
    7. Section 201(b) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 4031(b)) authorizes the 
President, subject to the consultation and layover requirements of 
section 104(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 4014(a)), to proclaim such 
modifications or continuation of any duty, such modifications as the 
United States may agree to with an Agreement country regarding the 
staging of any duty treatment set forth in Annex 3.3 of the Agreement, 
such continuation of duty-free or excise treatment, or such additional 
duties, as the President determines to be necessary or appropriate to 
maintain the general level of reciprocal and mutually advantageous 
concessions provided for by the Agreement. The consultation and layover 
requirements of section 104(a) of the Act have been satisfied with 
respect to providing temporary duty free treatment for certain goods of 
Costa Rica as set forth in the Amendment.
    8. Pursuant to section 201(b) of the Act, I have determined that the 
modifications herein proclaimed of duties on goods of Costa Rica are 
necessary or appropriate to maintain the general level of reciprocal and 
mutually advantageous concessions with respect to Costa Rica provided 
for by the Agreement.
    9. In Proclamation 8095 of December 29, 2006, consistent with the 
authority set out in section 111(b) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act 
(19 U.S.C. 3521(b)), I modified the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

[[Page 1581]]

United States (HTS) to implement the multilateral agreement negotiated 
under the auspices of the World Trade Organization to eliminate tariffs 
on certain pharmaceutical products and chemical intermediates. I have 
determined that technical corrections to the pharmaceuticals annex to 
the HTS are necessary to ensure that certain products receive the 
intended duty treatment.
    10. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 (the ``1974 Act'') (19 
U.S.C. 2483), as amended, authorizes the President to embody in the HTS 
the substance of relevant provisions of that Act, and of other Acts 
affecting import treatment, and of actions taken thereunder.
     Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States 
of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution 
and the laws of the United States of America, including but not limited 
to section 201 of the Act and section 604 of the 1974 Act, and the Act 
having taken effect pursuant to section 107, do proclaim that:
    (1) In order to provide generally for the preferential tariff 
treatment being accorded to Costa Rica under the Agreement, as amended, 
to provide certain other treatment to originating goods for the purposes 
of the Agreement, to provide tariff-rate quotas with respect to certain 
goods, to reflect the removal of Costa Rica from the enumeration of 
designated beneficiary developing countries for purposes of the GSP, to 
reflect the removal of Costa Rica from the enumeration of designated 
beneficiary countries for purposes of the CBERA and the CBTPA, and to 
make technical and conforming changes in the general notes to the HTS, 
the HTS is modified as set forth in Annexes I and II of Publication 4038 
of the United States International Trade Commission, entitled 
Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to 
Implement the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free 
Trade Agreement With Respect to Costa Rica  (Publication 4038), which is 
incorporated by reference into this proclamation.
    (2) In order to make technical corrections necessary to provide the 
intended duty treatment to certain pharmaceutical products and chemical 
intermediaries, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex III of 
Publication 4038.
    (3) The amendments to the HTS made by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this 
proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the relevant dates 
indicated in Annex I, II, or III of Publication 4038.
    (4) Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this proclamation, this 
proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after January 1, 2009.
    (5) Any provisions of previous proclamations and executive orders 
that are inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation are 
superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.
     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third 
day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
third.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., December 29, 
2008]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
December 30.