Proclamation 6914

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

1. On January 1, 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden acceded to the European Communities (EC), and the EC customs union of 12 member countries ("EC-12") was enlarged to a customs union of 15 member countries ("EC-15"). At that time, the EC-12, Austria, Finland, and Sweden withdrew their tariff schedules under the World Trade Organization and applied the common external tariff of the EC-12 to imports into the EC-15. The United States and the EC then entered into negotiations under Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 to compensate the United States for the resulting increase in some tariffs on U.S. exports to Austria, Finland, and Sweden.

2. On July 22, 1996, the United States and the EC signed an agreement concluding the negotiations on compensation. To recognize the membership of Austria, Finland, and Sweden in the EC-15, the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) allocations for cheeses from these countries will become part of the total TRQ allocations for cheeses from the EC-15, but will be reserved for use by these countries through 1997.

3. Section 404(d)(3) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3601(d)(3)) authorizes the President to allocate the in-quota quantity of a tariff-rate quota for any agricultural product among supplying countries or customs areas and to modify any allocation as the President determines appropriate. Pursuant to section 404(d)(3) of the URAA, I have determined that it is appropriate to modify the TRQ allocations for cheeses by providing that the TRQ allocations for cheeses from Austria, Finland, and Sweden will become part of the total TRQ allocations for cheeses from the EC-15, but will be reserved for use by these countries through 1997.

4. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended ("Trade Act") (19 U.S.C. 2483), authorizes the President to embody in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) the substance of the relevant provisions of that Act, and of other Acts affecting import treatment, and actions thereunder, including the removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import restriction. The modification of the TRQ allocations for cheeses is such an action.

5. In paragraph (3) of Proclamation 6763 of December 23, 1994, I delegated my authority under section 404(d)(3) of the Trade Act to the United States Trade Representative (USTR). I have determined that it is appropriate to authorize the USTR to exercise my authority under section 604 of the Trade Act to embody in the HTS the substance of any action taken by the USTR under section 404(d)(3) of the URAA.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including but not limited to section 301 of title 3, United States Code, section 404(d)(3) of the URAA, and section 604 of the Trade Act do proclaim that:

(1) Additional U.S. notes to chapter 4 of the HTS are modified as specified in the Annex to this proclamation.

(2) The USTR is authorized to exercise my authority under section 604 of the Trade Act to embody in the HTS the substance of any actions taken by USTR under section 404(d)(3) of the URAA.

(3) Any provisions of previous proclamations and Executive orders that are inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation are superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.

(4) This proclamation is effective on the date of signature of this proclamation, and the modifications to the HTS made by the Annex to this proclamation shall be effective on the dates that are specified in that Annex.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-first.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., August 28, 1996]