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US Supreme Court Decisions On-Line | US Laws

[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 19USC2707]

 
                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
 
              CHAPTER 15--CARIBBEAN BASIN ECONOMIC RECOVERY
 
Sec. 2707. Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade


(a) Establishment

    The Commissioner of Customs, after consultation with appropriate 
officials in the State of Texas, is authorized and directed to make 
grants to an institution (or a consortium of such institutions) to 
assist such institution in planning, establishing, and operating a 
Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade (hereafter in this 
section referred to as the ``Center''). The Commissioner of Customs 
shall make the first grant not later than December 1, 1994, and the 
Center shall be established not later than February 1, 1995.

(b) Scope of Center

    The Center shall be a year-round program operated by an institution 
located in the State of Texas (or a consortium of such institutions), 
the purpose of which is to promote and study trade between and among 
Western Hemisphere countries. The Center shall conduct activities 
designed to examine--
        (1) the impact of the NAFTA on the economies in, and trade 
    within, the Western Hemisphere;
        (2) the negotiation of any future free trade agreements, 
    including possible accessions to the NAFTA; and
        (3) adjusting tariffs, reducing nontariff barriers, improving 
    relations among customs officials, and promoting economic relations 
    among countries in the Western Hemisphere.

(c) Consultation; selection criteria

    The Commissioner of Customs shall consult with appropriate officials 
of the State of Texas and private sector authorities with respect to 
selecting, planning, and establishing the Center. In selecting the 
appropriate institution, the Commissioner of Customs shall give 
consideration to--
        (1) the institution's ability to carry out the programs and 
    activities described in this section; and
        (2) any resources the institution can provide the Center in 
    addition to Federal funds provided under this program.

(d) Programs and activities

    The Center shall conduct the following activities:
        (1) Provide forums for international discussion and debate for 
    representatives from countries in the Western Hemisphere regarding 
    issues which affect trade and other economic relations within the 
    hemisphere, including the impact of the NAFTA on individual 
    economies and the desirability and feasibility of possible 
    accessions to the NAFTA by such countries.
        (2) Conduct studies and research projects on subjects which 
    affect Western Hemisphere trade, including tariffs, customs, 
    regional and national economics, business development and finance, 
    production and personnel management, manufacturing, agriculture, 
    engineering, transportation, immigration, telecommunications, 
    medicine, science, urban studies, border demographics, social 
    anthropology, and population.
        (3) Publish materials, disseminate information, and conduct 
    seminars and conferences to support and educate representatives from 
    countries in the Western Hemisphere who seek to do business with or 
    invest in other Western Hemisphere countries.
        (4) Provide grants, fellowships, endowed chairs, and financial 
    assistance to outstanding scholars and authorities from Western 
    Hemisphere countries.
        (5) Provide grants, fellowships, and other financial assistance 
    to qualified graduate students, from Western Hemisphere countries, 
    to study at the Center.
        (6) Implement academic exchange programs and other cooperative 
    research and instructional agreements with the complementary Dante 
    B. Fascell North-South Center at the University of Miami at Coral 
    Gables.

(e) Definitions

    For purposes of this section--

                              (1) NAFTA

        The term ``NAFTA'' means the North American Free Trade 
    Agreement.

                  (2) Western Hemisphere countries

        The terms ``Western Hemisphere countries'', ``countries in the 
    Western Hemisphere'', and ``Western Hemisphere'' mean Canada, the 
    United States, Mexico, countries located in South America, 
    beneficiary countries (as defined by section 2702 of this title), 
    the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin 
    Islands.

(f) Fees for seminars and publications

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a grant made under this 
section may provide that the Center may charge a reasonable fee for 
attendance at seminars and conferences and for copies of publications, 
studies, reports, and other documents the Center publishes. The Center 
may waive such fees in any case in which it determines imposing a fee 
would impose a financial hardship and the purposes of the Center would 
be served by granting such a waiver.

(g) Duration of grant

    The Commissioner of Customs is directed to make grants to any 
institution or institutions selected as the Center for fiscal years 
1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997.

(h) Report

    The Commissioner of Customs shall, no later than July 1, 1994, and 
annually thereafter for years for which grants are made, submit a 
written report to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives. The first 
report shall include--
        (1) a statement identifying the institution or institutions 
    selected as the Center;
        (2) the reasons for selecting the institution or institutions as 
    the Center; and
        (3) the plan of such institution or institutions for operating 
    the Center.

Each subsequent report shall include information with respect to the 
operations of the Center, the collaboration of the Center with, and 
dissemination of information to, Government policymakers and the 
business community with respect to the study of Western Hemispheric 
trade by the Center, and the plan and efforts of the Center to continue 
operations after grants under this section have expired.

(Pub. L. 98-67, title II, Sec. 219, as added Pub. L. 103-182, title V, 
Sec. 515(a), Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2158; amended Pub. L. 104-295, 
Sec. 21(d), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3530; Pub. L. 106-29, Sec. 2(a), 
May 21, 1999, 113 Stat. 54.)


                               Amendments

    1999--Subsec. (d)(6). Pub. L. 106-29 substituted ``Dante B. Fascell 
North-South Center'' for ``North/South Center''.
    1996--Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 104-295, Sec. 21(d)(1), substituted 
semicolon for comma at end.
    Subsec. (h)(1), (2). Pub. L. 104-295, Sec. 21(d)(2), substituted 
semicolon for comma after ``Center''.

                          Transfer of Functions

    For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the 
United States Customs Service of the Department of the Treasury, 
including functions of the Secretary of the Treasury relating thereto, 
to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related 
references, see sections 203(1), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, 
Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security 
Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note 
under section 542 of Title 6.


                     Authorization of Appropriations

    Section 515(b) of Pub. L. 103-182 provided that: ``There are 
authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, and such 
sums as may be necessary in the 3 succeeding fiscal years to carry out 
the purposes of section 219 of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act 
[19 U.S.C. 2707] (as added by subsection (a)).''