Proclamation To Eliminate Tariffs on Certain Pharmaceuticals and Chemical Intermediates

During the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (the "Uruguay Round"), a group of major trading countries agreed to reciprocal elimination of tariffs on certain pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates, and that participants in this agreement would revise periodically the list of products subject to duty-free treatment. On December 13, 1996, at the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United States and 16 other major trading countries agreed to eliminate tariffs on additional pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates. On April 1, 1997, the United States implemented this agreement in Proclamation 6982. The second revision to the list of products was negotiated under the auspices of the WTO in 1998. The United States implemented this revision on July 1, 1999, in Proclamation 7207. In 2006, the United States and 30 other WTO members concluded negotiations, under the auspices of the WTO, on a further revision to the list of pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates to receive duty-free treatment.