THE non-oil import from Africa to the United States (U.S.) under the auspices of the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) rose to $4 billion in 2010, according to the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, Florizelle Liser.The main focus of our efforts and our capacity-building assistance related to AGOA has always been to promote new nontraditional and value-added exports from Africa like apparel, footwear, processed agricultural products and manufactured goods, the trade official said, adding that oil had never been the major focus of AGOA.In a U.S. government news bulletin released at the weekend, Liser detailed what she called many myths and misconceptions about the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).Liser was speaking as a member of a panel of experts at the Brookings Institution in Washington ahead of the 10th annual U.S.-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Forum (the AGOA Forum), scheduled for early June in Lusaka, Zambia.Other panelists included Stephen Hayes, president of the Corporate Council on Africa, and Felix Mutati, Zambias Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry.According to Liser, the prominent myth about AGOA is that it is just focused on oil, noting that while it is true that petroleum products are covered by AGOA and are the leading products imported under AGOA, that should not be a surprise.But that should not be surprising, she said, because oil is sub-Saharan Africas leading export to the entire world. It is dutiable, and AGOA covers almost all dutiable products, so it only follows that oil would be the leading import under the programme.She disclosed that the fact of the matter is that AGOA almost covers everything. The list of products that AGOA does not cover is pretty short and is mostly composed of non-apparel textile products like pillows and bedding.She also said the view that making AGOA permanent would help Africas economic competitiveness was a myth.While she conceded that the idea may sound appealing, she observed that a permanent AGOA might not be in the long-term competitive interests of Africa.AGOAs current authorisation ends in 2015; the special third-country fabric provision for AGOA apparel ends in September 2012.Trade-preference programmes like AGOA are not meant to be permanent but are intended to provide a temporary competitive advantage for beneficiary nations, she said. Making AGOA permanent would send the message that the U.S. doesnt think Africa will ever be able to compete in the global market without some kinds of preferences. That is the wrong message, she said.The goal of AGOA, passed by Congress in 2000, is to help African countries become more competitive in the U.S. market, Liser said, adding that it was not a technical assistance programme and it was not designed to address infrastructural problems and other such trade constraints.While AGOA has not yet realised its full potential, there is no question that it has indeed made a difference. By any measure, we have seen a significant expansion and diversification in the products that Africa exports to the United States under AGOA.On agricultural goods, according to her, AGOA covers everything except the few products, such as tobacco and sugar, subject to tariff-rate quotas. Even then, she said, both tobacco and sugar could be imported into the U.S. duty-free up to allowable limits. AGOA currently allows the import of some 6,000 tariff lines of products.The U.S. Assistant Trade Representative said four USAID trade hubs in the continent - in Nairobi, Gaborone, Dakar and Accra were working to help Africans identify trade opportunities under AGOA, adding that those hubs had helped Africans export specialty foods, cut flowers, cosmetics, seafood and apparel to the U.S.A third myth she highlighted was that AGOA eligibility standards were wrong - either too stringent or too relaxed. But she said in reality, 37 of 48 AGOA-eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa now benefit from AGOA. She acknowledged that some AGOA-eligible countries had lost their eligibility as a result of undemocratic changes in their governments, but cited others that regained eligibility when they restored democratic rule.In the end, there is certainly room for honest differences of opinion as to how individual countries fare, Liser stated, adding that she believed the statutory criteria had been enforced fairly.The fourth myth according to Liser is that U.S. non tariff barriers have stifled AGOA trade. But she explained that those asserting this myth usually confused barriers with standards.U.S. imports from Africa certainly do have to meet U.S. standards, including sanitary and phytosanitary-relating to plant-measures for many agricultural products, she said. These are the same standards that imports from all U.S. trading partners and domestic stakeholders must meet to protect food safety, animal and plant life, and health.
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