For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 30, 2003
Statement by the Deputy Press Secretary
Today President Bush approved the designation of the following 37
Sub-Saharan African countries as eligible for tariff preferences under
the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Angola; Benin;
Botswana; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Chad; Republic of the Congo; Cote
d'Ivoire; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Ethiopia; Gabon;
The Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Madagascar;
Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger;
Nigeria; Rwanda; So Tome and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra
Leone; South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Uganda; and Zambia. This
year, the President has added Angola to the list of eligible
countries. The President removed the Central African Republic and
Eritrea from the list of eligible countries.
As required by the legislation, this annual determination signifies
which countries are making continued progress toward a market-based
economy, the rule of law, free trade, economic policies that will
reduce poverty, and protection of workers' rights. By providing these
countries greater access to American markets, AGOA can spur development
of an economic relationship between the United States and Africa that
is based on shared values and shared responsibilities in a world of
free trade, free peoples, and free ideas.
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