United States Agricultural Products Market Access Act of 2003

        [Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2579 Introduced in House (IH)]

108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2579

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to establish procedures for identifying
countries that deny market access for agricultural products of the
United States, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 24, 2003

Mr. Camp (for himself, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Blunt, Mr.
McInnis, Mr. Houghton, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. Boehner, Mr.
Holden, Mr. Gutknecht, Mr. Upton, Mr. Moran of Kansas, Mr. Janklow, Mr.
Ross, Mr. Rehberg, Mrs. Miller of Michigan, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Bereuter,
Mr. Burns, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Rogers of Michigan, Mr. Graves, Mr. Nunes,
Mr. Scott of Georgia, Mr. King of Iowa, Mr. Case, Mr. McHugh, Mr.
Hayes, Mr. Ose, Mr. Pombo, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Smith of Michigan, Mr.
Lewis of Kentucky, and Mr. Ramstad) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to establish procedures for identifying
countries that deny market access for agricultural products of the
United States, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``United States Agricultural Products
Market Access Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The export of agricultural products is of vital
importance to the economy of the United States.
(2) In 2002, agriculture was a large positive contributor
to the United States merchandise trade balance with a trade
surplus of $12,300,000,000.
(3) The growth of United States agricultural exports should
continue to be an important factor in improving the United
States merchandise trade balance.
(4) Increasing the volume of agricultural exports will
increase farm income in the United States, thereby protecting
family farms and contributing to the economic well-being of
rural communities in the United States.
(5) Although the United States efficiently produces high-
quality agricultural products, United States producers cannot
realize their full export potential because many foreign
countries deny fair and equitable market access to United
States agricultural products.
(6) The Foreign Agricultural Service estimates that United
States agricultural exports are reduced by $4,700,000,000
annually due to unjustifiable imposition of sanitary and
phytosanitary measures that deny or limit market access to
United States products.
(7) The denial of fair and equitable market access for
United States agricultural products impedes the ability of
United States farmers to export their products, thereby harming
the economic interests of the United States.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to reduce or eliminate foreign unfair trade practices
and to remove constraints on fair and open trade in
agricultural products;
(2) to ensure fair and equitable market access for exports
of United States agricultural products; and
(3) to promote free and fair trade in agricultural
products.

SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY MARKET ACCESS.

(a) Identification Required.--Chapter 8 of title I of the Trade Act
of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:

``SEC. 183. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY MARKET ACCESS FOR
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.

``(a) In General.--Not later than the date that is 30 days after
the date on which the annual report is required to be submitted to
Congressional committees under section 181(b), the United States Trade
Representative (in this section referred to as the `Trade
Representative') shall identify--
``(1) those foreign countries that--
``(A) deny fair and equitable market access to
United States agricultural products, or
``(B) apply standards for the importation of
agricultural products from the United States that are
not related to public health concerns or cannot be
substantiated by reliable analytical methods, and
``(2) those foreign countries identified under paragraph
(1) that are determined by the Trade Representative to be
priority foreign countries.
``(b) Special Rules for Identifications.--
``(1) Criteria.--In identifying priority foreign countries
under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Representative shall only
identify those foreign countries--
``(A) that engage in or have the most onerous or
egregious acts, policies, or practices that deny fair
and equitable market access to United States
agricultural products,
``(B) whose acts, policies, or practices described
in subparagraph (A) have the greatest adverse impact
(actual or potential) on the relevant United States
products, and
``(C) that are not--
``(i) entering into good faith
negotiations, or
``(ii) making significant progress in
bilateral or multilateral negotiations,
to provide fair and equitable market access to United
States agricultural products.
``(2) Consultation and consideration requirements.--In
identifying priority foreign countries under subsection (a)(2),
the Trade Representative shall--
``(A) consult with the Secretary of Agriculture and
other appropriate officers of the Federal Government,
and
``(B) take into account information from such
sources as may be available to the Trade Representative
and such information as may be submitted to the Trade
Representative by interested persons, including
information contained in reports submitted under
section 181(b) and petitions submitted under section
302.
``(3) Factual basis requirement.--The Trade Representative
may identify a foreign country under subsection (a)(1) only if
the Trade Representative finds that there is a factual basis
for the denial of fair and equitable market access as a result
of the violation of international law or agreement, or the
existence of barriers, referred to in subsection (d).
``(4) Consideration of historical factors.--In identifying
foreign countries under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection
(a), the Trade Representative shall take into account--
``(A) the history of agricultural trade relations
with the foreign country, including any previous
identification under subsection (a)(2), and
``(B) the history of efforts of the United States,
and the response of the foreign country, to achieve
fair and equitable market access for United States
agricultural products.
``(c) Revocations and Additional Identifications.--
``(1) Authority to act at any time.--If information
available to the Trade Representative indicates that such
action is appropriate, the Trade Representative may at any
time--
``(A) revoke the identification of any foreign
country as a priority foreign country under this
section, or
``(B) identify any foreign country as a priority
foreign country under this section.
``(2) Revocation reports.--The Trade Representative shall
include in the semiannual report submitted to the Congress
under section 309(3) a detailed explanation of the reasons for
the revocation under paragraph (1) of the identification of any
foreign country as a priority foreign country under this
section.
``(d) Denial of Fair and Equitable Market Access Defined.--For
purposes of this section, a foreign country denies fair and equitable
market access if the foreign country effectively denies access to a
market for a product through the use of laws, procedures, practices, or
regulations which--
``(1) violate provisions of international law or
international agreements to which both the United States and
the foreign country are parties, or
``(2) constitute discriminatory nontariff trade barriers.
``(e) Publication.--The Trade Representative shall publish in the
Federal Register a list of foreign countries identified under
subsection (a) and shall make such revisions to the list as may be
required by reason of the action under subsection (c).
``(f) Annual Report.--The Trade Representative shall, not later
than the date by which countries are identified under subsection (a),
transmit to the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Finance and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of
the Senate, a report on the actions taken under this section during the
12 months preceding such report, and the reasons for such actions,
including a description of progress made in achieving fair and
equitable market access for United States agricultural products.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Trade Act of
1974 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 182 the
following:

``183. Identification of countries that deny market access for
agricultural products.''.
(c) Additional Staff for Office of Assistant Trade Representative
for Agricultural Affairs and Office of Assistant Trade Representative
for Monitoring and Enforcement.--
(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated
such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2004 for the
salaries and expenses of 1 additional specialist employee
position within the Office of the Assistant United States Trade
Representative for Agricultural Affairs and 1 additional
specialist employee position within the Office of the Assistant
United States Trade Representative for Monitoring and
Enforcement.
(2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) are
authorized to remain available until expended.

SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIONS.

(a) Investigation Required.--Subparagraph (A) of section 302(b)(2)
of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2412(b)(2)) is amended by inserting
``or 183(a)(2)'' after ``section 182(a)(2)'' in the matter preceding
clause (i).
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Subparagraph (D) of section 302(b)(2) of
such Act is amended by inserting ``concerning intellectual property
rights that is'' after ``any investigation''.
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