Haiti Business Law Handbook Volume 1 Strategic Information and Basic Laws

In Dec. 2006, the 109th Cong. passed the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act of 2006 (HOPE I), which included special trade rules that give preferential access to U.S. imports of Haitian apparel. These rules were intended to promote investment in the apparel industry as one element of a broader economic growth and development plan. The 110th Cong. amending HOPE I with HOPE II, which extended the preferences for 10 years, expanded coverage of duty-free treatment to more apparel products, and simplified the rules, making them easier to use. Contents of this report: Political and Social Challenges to Haitian Develop.; Econ. Background; Apparel Production; Haiti HOPE Act; HELP Act; Outlook. Illus.

This book is an important contribution towards promoting an understanding of the economic implications of preferential rules of origin in textiles and clothing and their impact on international trade in these sectors. For the authors, it has been hard to contest that the design of garment rules of origin in both US and EU preferential arrangements is specifically aimed at protecting domestic textile interests, and only peripherally and incidentally at assisting the developing country beneficiary of the preference arrangement. The articles in this book aim to bring together works that are an exceptional analysis in their own right and studies commissioned by the Commonwealth at the request of developing countries. Apart from the articles, the book contains key legal documents that pertain to rules of origin and trade in textiles and clothing to assist the reader.

"In 2006, Congress passed the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE), giving preferential access to U.S. imports of Haitian apparel. In 2008, Congress amended HOPE (now HOPE II), expanding existing trade preference provisions and creating new ones, including the Earned Import Allowance Program (EIAP). Under the EIAP, for every 3-square- meter equivalents (SME) of U.S. or other qualifying fabric a firm imports into Haiti, it earns a credit to export 1 SME of apparel produced in Haiti to the United States, duty-free, regardless of the fabric source. The Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act of 2010 amended the EIAP, reducing the qualifying fabric requirement from 3 to 2 (see figure). HOPE II also mandated GAO to review the effectiveness of the EIAP and to look for potential improvements. GAO examined (1) the extent to which the program has been used, (2) how U.S. government agencies implemented it, and (3) how might the program be improved.To address these questions GAO reviewed data from the Department of Commerce's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA); interviewed U.S. agency officials, Haitian and Dominican apparel producers, U.S. apparel buyers, and U.S textile manufactures; and reviewed relevant literature. Additionally..."