USTR Issues
AGOA Competitiveness Report
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a report
entitled, “African Growth and Opportunity Act Competitiveness Report,” which
incorporates studies of each of the 37 African Growth and Opportunity Act
(AGOA) eligible countries1.
According to USTR, the AGOA Acceleration Act of 2004 (AGOA III) required
the Administration to conduct a study on each AGOA-eligible country that: (1) identifies
sectors with the greatest potential for export growth; (2) identifies barriers,
both domestically and internationally, that are impeding growth in these
sectors; and (3) makes recommendations on how the U.S. government and the
private sector can provide technical assistance to assist in dismantling such
barriers and promoting investment in such sectors. (See
ITT’s Online Archives or 07/14/04 news, (Ref: 04071405), for BP summary of
President Bush’s signing of AGOA III into law.)
Highlights of the report include:
Sectors with greatest potential for production & export expansion. The
USTR’s report identifies the following sectors as having the greatest potential
for production and export expansion in AGOA-eligible countries:
·
high
value-added horticulture;
·
floriculture;
·
services
(including tourism and transportation);
·
agro-processing
(for cocoa, coffee, seafood, lumber, fruits, and vegetables);
·
minerals
and metals;
·
energy-related
products;
·
forestry;
·
fisheries;
and
·
light
manufacturing.
AGOA countries need to diversify, identify niches, etc. to fully utilize
AGOA benefits and increase competitiveness. The
USTR states that AGOA provides duty-free preferential access for almost all
products exported by AGOA-eligible countries, including those sectors listed
above with highest export growth potential.
However, the study finds that in order to fully utilize AGOA, SSA
countries will need to reduce relatively high production costs, especially in
areas such as electricity, telecommunications, and transport. The USTR states that they will also need to
diversify their product mix away from commodities into processed and more
value-added products, use better market information to identify niches and
increase market penetration in the U.S. and other markets, and increase their
competitiveness by accelerating vertical integration.
Domestic/international barriers that limit export growth in AGOA
countries. The USTR’s report identifies specific
domestic barriers that limit export growth in AGOA-eligible countries, which
include: lack of technical capacity to meet international product requirements
such as sanitary and phytosanitary standards and technical regulations;
inadequate transportation infrastructure that lacks good road and railway
networks or seaport and airport services; etc.
The USTR’s report also identifies international barriers which include
non-tariff barriers such as complex rules of origin, etc.
Recommendations for technical assistance.
Drawing on country- and sector-specific information, the USTR’s report
provides key recommendations to U.S. government agencies and private sector
organizations to expand current assistance programs and to develop new
strategies for technical assistance to maximize AGOA utilization across a
broader range of countries and products.
Recommendations include improving customs procedures, enforcement, and
trade facilitation; developing capacity to meet sanitary and phytosanitary
standards; etc.
1 In 2005, the 37 sub-Saharan African (SSA)
countries eligible for AGOA benefits are Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso,
Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya,
Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra
Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
USTR report (dated July 2005)
available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2005/asset_upload_file604_7857.pdf
Published in ITT on July 28, 2005 | [Ref: 05072820] |
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