AGOA

In 2000, the African Growth Opportunity Act amended the U.S. trade law to authorize the President to designate sub-Saharan African countries as eligible for duty-free tariff treatment for certain products under the Generalized System of Preferences trade program. AGOA also authorizes the preferential treatment for certain textile and apparel articles. One of the provisions in the eligibility process is whether the country has established, or is making continual progress toward establishing, the protection of intellectual property.

As of June 2007, 39 of the 48 sub-Saharan African countries are eligible for AGOA: Benin; Botswana; Burundi; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Chad; Republic of Congo; Côte d'Ivoire; Democratic Republic of Congo; Djibouti; Ethiopia; Gabon; The Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Togo; Uganda; Zambia. 27 of these 39 countries are eligible to receive AGOA’s apparel benefits. The President monitors, reviews and reports to Congress each year on the progress of each county in meeting its current or potential eligibility for participation in the AGOA. The AGOA program was originally funded through 2008, and Congress has extended this trade program through 2015. For further information on AGOA, please view the U.S. Department of Commerce’s website on AGOA, www.agoa.gov.

	AFRICA: AGOA
	October 22, 2007	IIPA files comments on the annual review of country eligibility for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
	October 20, 2006	IIPA submits comments to the TPSC on copyright issues in several African nations and the AGOA trade program.
	October 13, 2005	IIPA files comments with the TPSC on the copyright and enforcement provisions in the AGOA trade legislation and on the SACU FTA IPR negotiations.
	September 17, 2004	IIPA files comments with the U.S. interagency on the copyright and enforcement provisions in the AGOA trade legislation and on the SACU FTA IPR negotiations.
	October 10, 2001	IIPA comments on determining country eligibility for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Title I of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, 66 Fed. Reg. 49059 (September 25, 2001).
	July 19, 2000	IIPA comments for determining eligibility for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Title I of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, 65 Fed. Reg. 38021 (June 19, 2000).