Proclamation 6780

by Bill Clinton

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

1. On April 15, 1994, I entered into trade agreements resulting from the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations ("the Uruguay Round Agreements"). In section 101(a) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act ("the URAA") (Public Law 103-465; 108 Stat. 4814) (19 U.S.C. 3511(a)), the Congress approved the Uruguay Round Trade Agreements listed in section 101(d) of that Act.

2. Pursuant to section 101(b) of the URAA, I decided to accept the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization ("the WTO Agreement") on behalf of the United States, and I determined that the WTO Agreement entered into force for the United States on January 1, 1995.

3. (a) Sections 1102 (a) and (e) of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, as amended ("the 1988 Act") (19 U.S.C. 2902 (a) and (e)), authorize the President to proclaim such modification or continuance of any existing duty, such continuance of existing duty-free or excise treatment, or such additional duties, as he determines to be required or appropriate to carry out any trade agreement entered into under these sections. (b) Section 111(a) of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3521(a)) authorizes the President to proclaim such other modification of any duty, such other staged rate reduction, or such other additional duties beyond those authorized by section 1102 of the 1988 Act (19 U.S.C. 2902) as the President determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out Schedule XX-United States of America, annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 ("Schedule XX"). (c) Section 103(a) of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3513(a)) authorizes the President to proclaim such actions as may be necessary to ensure that any provision or amendment made by the URAA that takes effect on the date that any of the Uruguay Round Agreements enters into force with respect to the United States is appropriately implemented on such date.

4. Proclamation 6763 of December 23, 1994, implemented the Uruguay Round Agreements, including Schedule XX, with respect to the United States; and incorporated in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States ("the HTS") tariff modifications necessary and appropriate to carry out the Uruguay Round Agreements and certain conforming changes in rules of origin for the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA"). Certain technical errors, including inadvertent omissions, were made in that proclamation. I have determined that it is necessary, to reflect accurately the intended tariff treatment provided for in the Uruguay Round Agreements and to ensure the continuation of the agreed NAFTA rules of origin, to modify certain provisions of the HTS, as set forth in the Annex to this proclamation.

5. (a) One of the Uruguay Round Agreements approved by the Congress in sections 101(a) and 101(d) of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3511(a) and (d)) is the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("the TRIPs Agreement"). (b) Section 104A of title 17, United States Code, as amended by section 514 of the URAA, provides for copyright protection in restored works. Section 104A(h), as amended, provides that the date of restoration of a restored copyright shall be the date on which the TRIPs Agreement enters into force with respect to the United States, if the source country is a nation adhering to the Berne Convention or a World Trade Organization (WTO) member on such date. (c) Article 65, paragraph 1, of the TRIPs Agreement provides that no WTO member shall be obliged to apply the provisions of this Agreement until one year after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement. The date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement with respect to the United States was January 1, 1995. (d) The statement of administrative action, approved by the Congress in section 101(a)(2) of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3511(a)(2)), provides that, "in general, copyright will be restored on the date when the TRIPs Agreement's obligations take effect for the United States." (e) Accordingly, I have decided that it is necessary and appropriate, in order to implement the TRIPs Agreement and to ensure that section 514 of the URAA is appropriately implemented, to proclaim that the date on which the obligations of the TRIPs Agreement will take effect for the United States is January 1, 1996.

6. (a) Section 902(a)(2) of title 17, United States Code, authorizes the President to extend protection under chapter 9 of title 17, United States Code, to mask works of owners who are nationals, domiciliaries, or sovereign authorities of, and to mask works, which are first commercially exploited in, a foreign nation that grants United States mask work owners substantially the same protection that it grants its own nationals and domiciliaries, or that grants protection to such works on substantially the same basis as does chapter 9 of title 17, United States Code. (b) Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, and the Member States of the European Community provide adequate and effective protection for mask works within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. 902(a)(2), and have been subject to interim protection under 17 U.S.C. 914. Consequently, I find that these countries satisfy the requirements of 17 U.S.C. 902(a)(2), and are to be extended full protection under chapter 9 of title 17, United States Code, effective on July 1, 1995. (c) In addition, 17 U.S.C. 902(a)(1)(A)(ii) provides that mask work owners who are nationals, domiciliaries, or sovereign authorities of a foreign nation that is a party to a treaty affording protection to mask works to which the United States is also a party are eligible for protection under chapter 9 of title 17, United States Code. The TRIPs Agreement, which requires all WTO members to provide protection equivalent to that provided under chapter 9 of title 17 on the basis of national treatment, is such an agreement. Because the United States is a member of the WTO and thus of the TRIPs Agreement, and because the TRIPs Agreement will be effective for the United States on January 1, 1996, all other WTO members will become eligible for full protection under chapter 9 of title 17, United States Code, on January 1, 1996.

7. Section 491 of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, as amended ("the 1979 Act") (19 U.S.C. 2578), requires the President to designate an agency to be responsible for informing the public of the sanitary and phytosanitary standard-setting activities of each international standard-setting organization. I have decided to designate the Department of Agriculture as the agency responsible for providing the public with this information.

8. (a) The March 24, 1994, Memorandum of Understanding on the Results of the Uruguay Round Market Access Negotiations on Agriculture Between the United States of America and Argentina ("the MOU"), submitted to the Congress along with the Uruguay Round Agreements, provides for "an appropriate certificate of origin" for imports of peanuts and peanut butter and peanut paste from Argentina. (b) Proclamation 6763 proclaimed the Schedule XX tariff rate quotas for peanuts and peanut butter and peanut paste. However, that proclamation did not specify which agency should implement the MOU. (c) Section 404 of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3601) requires the President to take such action as may be necessary to ensure that imports of agricultural products do not disrupt the orderly marketing of commodities in the United States. (d) Accordingly, I have decided to delegate to the United States Trade Representative ("the USTR") my authority under section 404 of the URAA to implement the MOU, through such regulations as the USTR, or, at the direction of the USTR, other appropriate agencies, may issue.

9. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483) ("the 1974 Act"), authorizes the President to embody in the HTS the substance of the relevant provisions of that Act, 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.

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 902(a) (1) and (2) of title 17, United States Code, section 604 of the 1974 Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), section 491 of the 1979 Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2578), section 1102 of the 1988 Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2902), title I of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3511-3551), and section 404 of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3601), do hereby proclaim that:

(1) To more completely implement the tariff treatment accorded under the Uruguay Round Agreements, the HTS is modified as set forth in the Annex to this proclamation.

(2) The obligations of the TRIPs Agreement shall enter into force for the United States on January 1, 1996.

(3) Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, and the Member States of the European Community shall be extended full protection under chapter 9 of title 17, United States Code, effective on July 1, 1995. In addition, as of January 1, 1996, full protection under chapter 9 of title 17, United States Code, shall be extended to all WTO Members.

(4) The Secretary of Agriculture is designated, under section 491 of the 1979 Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2578), as the official responsible for informing the public of the sanitary and phytosanitary standard-setting activities of each international standard-setting organization.

(5) The USTR is authorized to exercise my authority under section 404 of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3601) to implement the MOU with Argentina, through such regulations as the USTR, or, at the direction of the USTR, other appropriate agencies, may issue.

(6) In order to make conforming changes and technical corrections to certain HTS provisions, pursuant to actions taken in Proclamation 6763, the HTS and Proclamation 6763 are modified as set forth in the Annex to this proclamation.

(7) All 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.

(8) This proclamation shall be effective upon publication in the Federal Register.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and nineteenth.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:03 a.m., March 24, 1995]