AGOA Headline Stats
Aggregate exports to US by 2023 AGOA beneficiaries - full year 2023
-4.8% over 2022. Trade data covers only 2023 AGOA-eligible countries
AGOA exports - full year to end 2023 (-6.1% over 2022)
AGOA trade represents 34% of total US-bound exports from AGOA beneficiaries. (Based on 2023 eligible countries)
AGOA eligible tariff-lines (incl. textiles and apparel)
Products that have duty-free access to the United States under AGOA (subject to Rules of Origin)
Number of AGOA beneficiary countries
African countries that currently have AGOA beneficiary status (Status: January 2024)
AGOA product eligibility check
Visit the AGOA Business Connector
A new facility to assist trade and business connections between producers, exporters, importers, sourcing agents, and trade-related service suppliers, across sub-Saharan African AGOA beneficiary countries and the United States.
Read the latest AGOA news
![US senators will introduce bill to renew Africa trade pact through 2041 [Download copy]](https://agoa.info/images/articles/16451/_thumb2/coonssenatepress.jpg "US senators will introduce bill to renew Africa trade pact through 2041 [Download copy]")
![US keen to strengthen Kenya’s public procurement system as trade talks resume [incl. Readout]](https://agoa.info/images/articles/16431/_thumb2/whitman2kenya.jpg "US keen to strengthen Kenya’s public procurement system as trade talks resume [incl. Readout]")
Official announcements and other news
![AGOA Forum 2023: Digital press briefing with officials in the USTR and State Department [Transcript]](https://agoa.info/images/articles/16344/_thumb2/ustr-blue.jpg "AGOA Forum 2023: Digital press briefing with officials in the USTR and State Department [Transcript]")
![Department of Trade, Industry and Competition invites media to apply for accreditation for upcoming AGOA Forum [Deadline 8 October 2023]](https://agoa.info/images/articles/16311/_thumb2/dtic.jpg "Department of Trade, Industry and Competition invites media to apply for accreditation for upcoming AGOA Forum [Deadline 8 October 2023]")
![** AGOA eligibility review 2023 (for year 2024): Timelines of hearings and request for comments ** [Deadline written submissions 7 July]](https://agoa.info/images/articles/16212/_thumb2/ustrlogo.jpg "** AGOA eligibility review 2023 (for year 2024): Timelines of hearings and request for comments ** [Deadline written submissions 7 July]")
![A proclamation to take certain actions under AGOA and for other purposes [Burkina Faso]](https://agoa.info/images/articles/16125/_thumb2/whitehouselogo.jpg "A proclamation to take certain actions under AGOA and for other purposes [Burkina Faso]")
AGOA.info Resources | US-Kenya FTA negotiations
A snapshot of selected resources on the Kenya-US FTA negotiations.
SPS measures, plant and animal regulations
Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and other regulations are at the fundamental level aimed at protecting human and animal life from the risks and threats arising from additives, contaminants, toxins or disease-carrying organisms in food, beverages or feedstuffs, and to reduce the risk of the spread and establishment of pests.
Examples of SPS and animal or plant health measures include inspections of products for microbiological contaminants, setting maximum allowable levels of pesticide and other residues in food, obligating the specific treatment or fumigation of products entering the United States (or other country) or requiring that products originate from specific disease-free areas.
This section provides resources that will assist producers and exporters gain a better understanding of the United States requirements relating to SPS, plant and animal health safety issues, as relevant to African exporters accessing the United States market.
Download related documents
APHIS Commodity import approval process for agricultural products into the US
To obtain access to U.S. markets for a fruit, vegetable, plant, or plant product that is not already an approved commodity, one must initiate a commodity import request. There are 4 steps in the process: Determine if the commodity is an approved commodity or currently undergoing a pest risk analysis If it is not approved or currently undergoing a pest risk analysis, submit a commodity import request APHIS will conduct a pest risk analysis...
APHIS Permitted fruit and vegetables into the US - APHIS Guide 2012
The Fruits and Vegetables Import Manual provides the import requirements for regulating imported articles of fresh, usable parts of plants such as fruits, stems, leaves, roots, and flowers (herbs and vegetables). These imported articles are not intended for planting or growing, but they might serve to introduce exotic pests.
Questions and Answers: Importing irradiated fruit into the United States
Factsheet produced in 2008 by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture, on importing irradiated fruit into the United States
AGOA Countries: Challenges and considerations in exporting horticultural products to the United States
Congress, the Administration, and other stakeholders continue to be involved in serious efforts to improve upon the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), which was first signed into law a decade ago, on May 18, 2000. To meet its objective of enhancing U.S. market access for subSaharan African countries that are pursuing market reforms measures, the AGOA preferential trade legislation was designed to encourage and support countries in this...
Read related news articles
Tough US quality checks lock out Kenya flowers
High cost of transport and stringent quality standards have locked out most of Kenya's fresh produce from the American market in spite of the decade old preferential export window extended to African countries, market players say. Flowers, vegetables, and fruits are allowed duty-free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), but market players said high cost of getting their goods to the market has confined...
09 May 2011
Kenyan farmers reap gloom from American market
Sometime in 2004, some 'agents' promised Rift Valley farmers a fortune if they turned to 'more lucrative cash crops' which would be exported to America. French beans dominated the list of the new cash crops. To the small-scale pyrethrum farmers, the campaign came as a godsend. One of extraction plants belonging to the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya had just burnt down, leaving them with no alternative market. They were promised Sh150,000 per acre...
23 July 2009