[House Document 111-126]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress, 2nd Session - - - - - - - - - - House Document 111-126
CONTINUATION OF WAIVER UNDER THE TRADE ACT OF 1974 WITH RESPECT TO THE
REPUBLIC OF BELARUS
__________
COMMUNICATION
from
THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY, LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE
transmitting
NOTIFICATION OF THE DETERMINATION THAT A CONTINUATION OF A WAIVER
CURRENTLY IN EFFECT FOR THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS WILL SUBSTANTIALLY
PROMOTE THE OBJECTIVES OF SECTION 402, OF THE TRADE ACT OF 1974,
PURSUANT TO 19 U.S.C. 2432(c) AND (d)
June 23, 2010.--Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and ordered
to be printed
United States Department of State,
Washington, DC, June 23, 2010.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Madam Speaker: On behalf of the Secretary, we are
transmitting to you the Presidential determination and Report
to the Congress, referred to in subsection 402(d)(1) of the
Trade Act of 1974 (the ``Act''), as amended, with respect to
the continuation of a waiver of application of subsections (a)
and (b) of section 402 of the Act for Belarus.
This document constitutes the Secretary's recommendation to
continue this waiver for a further twelve-month period and
includes her determination that continuation of the waiver
currently in effect for Belarus will substantially promote the
objectives of section 402 of the Act, and the reasons for such
determination.
We hope that this information will be helpful to you and
other Members of Congress. Please do not hesitate to contact us
if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Richard R. Verma,
Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs.
Enclosure: As stated.
Report to the Congress Concerning the Extension of Waiver Authority for
Belarus
Pursuant to subsection 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974,
as amended (``the Act''), and the authority assigned to me by
the President in Executive Order 13346 concerning Delegation of
Certain Waiver, Determination, Certification, and Reporting
Functions, dated July 8, 2004, I hereby recommend a further
extension for twelve months of the waiver authority granted by
subsection 402(c) of the Act.
I have determined that such extension will substantially
promote the objectives of section 402 of the Act, and that a
continuation of the waiver currently applicable to Belarus will
also substantially promote the objectives of section 402 of the
Act.
Exercise of the waiver authority conferred by Section 402
of the Act has permitted the United States to conclude and
maintain in force a bilateral trade relationship agreement with
Belarus. (Exercise of the waiver authority with respect to
Belarus would also allow the U.S. government to engage in
credit and investment activities in Belarus, but those programs
have been suspended in Belarus due to strong concerns over the
Belarusian authorities' repressive economic and human rights
policies.)
FREEDOM OF EMIGRATION SITUATION
The Belarusian Constitution of November 1996, although
adopted illegitimately, specifically grants citizens the right
to leave and return as they wish. Soviet-era restrictions on
emigration in Belarus have largely, but not entirely, been
dismantled, and existing restrictions are applied in a manner
generally allowing free emigration. None of the human rights or
religious minority organizations, including Jewish
organizations, in Belarus report discriminatory restrictions
limiting the ability of citizens to emigrate on the basis of
ethnic or religious identity. However, Soviet-era legislation
restricting emigration by those with access to ``state
secrets'' does remain in force in Belarus. There are also exit
restrictions on those who are involved in criminal
investigations, convicted of crimes, attempting to evade
military service, or have outstanding debts to a court, such as
a fine or child support obligations. These exit restrictions on
Belarusian citizens apply equally whether they are exiting for
the purpose of temporary travel or for emigration. In practice,
these restrictions have arbitrarily restricted the temporary
travel of opposition activists and we believe they could impact
activists' freedom of emigration.
The procedure for administering these exit restrictions was
changed with Presidential Decree No. 643 of December 17, 2007,
which took effect on January 1, 2008. The decree abolished a
system of passport exit stamps used previously to grant
permission for travel abroad. Under the new procedures,
individuals presenting a passport to a border enforcement
official at most border points are checked against a database
of persons ineligible for exit. The Belarusian Committee for
State Security (BKGB) and the Ministries of Justice, Internal
Affairs, and Defense provide names of such persons to the
Citizenship and Migration Office of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs, which maintains the database. We have not received any
reports this procedure is affecting freedom of emigration.
However, we are concerned it is less transparent and more
subject to manipulation than the old system, and may have been
used to arbitrarily discourage temporary travel abroad. During
2009 and the first part of 2010, we received several reports
from opposition politicians and civil society activists that
they were detained and harassed when they appeared at a border
crossing, before being allowed to depart the country. Although
freedom to travel abroad for non-emigrant purposes is not the
explicit focus of section 402 of the Act, it is relevant
because restrictions on temporary travel can be problematic in
themselves and could potentially be used to restrict the
freedom of emigration as well.
Other existing restrictions that impede the ability of
Belarusians to exit the country remained in place during 2009
and the first half of 2010. These restrictions included a
presidential decree signed in March 2005 on measures to combat
trafficking in persons, which required, among other provisions,
any organization responsible for facilitating student exchanges
to first receive approval for its program from the Ministry of
Education. Non-governmental organizations have expressed
concern the Belarusian authorities may be using this law to
prevent Belarusians from traveling abroad for legitimate
purposes. A presidential decree from November 2005, which
required students to get permission from the Ministry before
even brief study, work, sports, cultural, or other events
abroad during the school year, also remained in effect.
The Belarusian authorities have engaged the Governments of
Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland on agreements to allow visa-free,
temporary cross-border travel for their citizens. An agreement
with Poland has been signed and is awaiting ratification by the
Polish Parliament. Discussions with Latvia and Lithuania are
continuing. We believe these agreements will substantially
improve the ability of Belarusian citizens residing along the
border with these countries to travel abroad temporarily.
We have repeatedly expressed our concerns to the Belarusian
authorities about the manner in which restrictions on exit from
Belarus are applied, either for the purpose of emigration or
for temporary travel. We have also repeatedly encouraged the
Belarusian authorities to move forward their discussions with
Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland on visa-free, temporary cross-
border travel. In an October 2008 meeting, the Government of
Belarus provided assurances it would address restrictions on
temporary travel. We will continue to monitor the
implementation of exit restrictions, especially as they apply
to opposition and civil society activists.
Extending the waiver will substantially promote the
objectives of Section 402 of this Act, because it will allow us
to continue our constructive engagement with the Government of
Belarus on expanding the freedom of emigration. We will
continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Belarus
about emigration-related policies, noting efforts to restrict
emigration may result in revocation of the waiver and Normal
Trade Relations.
May 27, 2010.
Determination Under Subsection 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as
Amended--Continuation of Waiver Authority for Belarus.
Pursuant to the authority vested in the President under the
Trade Act of 1974, as amended, Pub. L. 93-618, 88 Stat. 1978
(hereinafter ``the Act''), and assigned to the Secretary of
State by virtue of Section 1(a) of Executive Order 13346 of
July 8, 2004, I determine, pursuant to Section 402(d)(1) of the
Act, 19 U.S.C. 2432(d)(1), that the further extension of the
waiver authority granted by Section 402 of the Act will
substantially promote the objectives of Section 402 of the Act.
I further determine that continuation of the waiver applicable
to Belarus will substantially promote the objectives of Section
402 of the Act.
This determination shall be published in the Federal
Register.
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Secretary of State.