Lawrence Bogard, on behalf of the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association ("SMART") will testify as to the following:

• • SMART is the trade association that represents mostly small- and medium-sized companies (non-profit and for-profit) that are involved in using, converting, and recycling pre- and post- consumer textiles -- otherwise known as used or secondhand clothing.

• • SMART requested this out-of-cycle review because in March 2016, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda issued a Joint Communique in which they announced a ban on the importation of used clothing into its member countries. The first phases of the ban have come into effect. These tariff increases are so high that they amount to a de facto ban on secondhand clothing imports.

• • SMART is aware of news reports that Kenya has recently announced that it will impose "minimum tariffs" on containers of "used goods." Depending on how the Kenyan government interprets the term "used goods" this action threatens to negate Kenya's announced roll back of its tariffs on imported used clothing. For this reason,

SMART requests that Kenya also be included in this out-of-cycle review.

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