By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Clinton released yesterday a list of 34 African and 24 Caribbean countries that will be eligible for expanded opportunities for trade in American markets.
"We will help promote economic development, alleviate global poverty and create new opportunities for American workers and businesses," Clinton said in a statement.
He said the action "truly marks a new era of stronger relations" between the United States and friendly countries in the Caribbean, Central America and Africa.
All countries in the Central America-Caribbean area were on the list except Cuba, with which the United States maintains a trade embargo.
Fourteen African countries were excluded from the list either because they showed no interest in taking part or because they are considered hostile to U.S. interests, have a poor human rights record or pursue economic policies deemed unsound.
The measures had been rejected by the Congress for years before finally winning approval this past spring.
The Caribbean-Central American section of the legislation gives these countries the same benefits that Mexico has enjoyed under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Many countries in the region have had difficulty competing with Mexico in their quest to penetrate the U.S. market since Mexico joined the United States and Canada in NAFTA almost seven years ago.
Trade officials said some of the countries will not qualify for immediate eligibility because they have not met requisite labor standards.
The African countries which will not take part are Angola, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Togo and Zimbabwe.
Comoros, Somalia and Sudan did not express interest in participating, the officials said.
Sierra Leone was deemed eligible despite continuing civil strife that has prompted the U.N. Security Council to commit more the 20,000 troops in hopes of restoring order.
Officials noted that Sierra Leone has an elected government and a market economy but they acknowledged that it may be some time before the country will be able to benefit from the new trade opportunities.
Over the short term, officials said the greatest benefit for eligible countries in Africa will be in apparel exports.
A major concern of the Congress was that non-African countries would attempt to pass off apparel products as made on that continent.
The officials said all countries on the eligible list must first demonstrate they have the capacity to protect against illicit transshipments.
