READERS TAKE NOTE

 

The Senate passed a trade and development bill on November 3, 1999, that includes amendments that extend the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for four years and normalize trade relations between the United States and Kyrgyzstan. The bill still must go to conference committee to reconcile it with the House version before it can be signed into law.

 

 GSP, which provides preferential duty-free entry to approximately 4,468 products from 149 designated beneficiary countries, expired on June 30, 1999. In past years, legislation to reauthorize GSP was passed within a few months of its expiration and only extended GSP for one year. This year, reauthorization legislation has been slow in coming, but it calls for extending GSP through June 30, 2004. Traditionally, importers are refunded duties paid after GSP is reauthorized, but it is not clear whether this provision will be included in the final legislation. Eight NIS countries are eligible for GSP—Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Armenia, and Moldova. For more information, telephone the GSP information center at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative at 202-395-6971.

 

Another provision in the bill calls for the extension of permanent normal trade status to Kyrgyzstan. If the bill becomes law, Kyrgyzstan could become the first former Soviet republic where Jackson-Vanik is no longer applicable.