Proclamation Signed to Cut "Non-Down" Sleeping Bags from GSP, Etc.
On December 29, 2011, the President issued a Proclamation to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to remove certain “non-down” sleeping bags from the Generalized System of Preferences program, make certain conforming changes that were inadvertently omitted from Proclamation 8742 on textile-bottomed footwear, and extend certain Israel agriculture tariff rate quotas through 2012. Details of these changes, contained in the Proclamation’s Annexes, are not expected to be available until the proclamation is published in the Federal Register.
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Certain Sleeping Bags Terminated from GSP Effective January 1
The proclamation removes sleeping bags, not containing 20% or more by weight of feathers and/or down (HTS 9404.30.80) from GSP eligibility effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after January 1, 2012.
(According to a USTR press release on the results of its 2010 GSP annual review, the President determined that one product -- certain non-down sleeping bags - should be removed from GSP eligibility because they are import sensitive in the context of GSP. A petition to remove GSP duty-free treatment for two types of self-adhesive plastic tape was denied1.)
HTS Technical Corrections to Implement Conforming Changes for Textile-Bottomed Footwear
The Proclamation also makes technical corrections to the HTS that are necessary due to the inadvertent omission of certain conforming changes from Annex I (textile-bottomed footwear) to Proclamation 8742. The technical corrections take effect for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after December 3, 2011.
Israel Agriculture TRQs Extended Thru 2012
The Proclamation also extends duty-free tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for certain agricultural products from Israel through December 31, 2012, effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after January 1, 2012. These TRQs are provided for in HTS Chapter 99, Subchapter VIII.
(The TRQs were set to expire on December 31, 2011. Similar one-year extensions have occurred in prior years and are to allow additional time for the U.S. and Israel to negotiate a new agreement. See ITT’s Online Archives 10122325 for 2010 Proclamation extending the TRQs.)
1The Administration continues to review several country practices petitions that seek to withdraw or limit a country’s GSP benefits based on that country’s non-compliance with certain statutory eligibility criteria. The USTR will hold a public hearing on January 24, 2012 to receive testimony on country practices petitions related to worker rights issues in Bangladesh, Georgia, Niger, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan. (See ITT’s Online Archives 11121228 for summary of hearing.)
(See ITT’s Online Archives 11110303 for summary of Proclamation 8742’s provisions on footwear.)
USTR press release on results of 2010 GSP review available here
Proclamation (without annexes) available here