The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) should have its third-country fabric provision extended to improve economic opportunities in the textile and apparel sector, according to a US Congressman.

Democrat Jim McDermott, who authored legislation establishing and refining AGOA, said the extension was a “critical component of the continued success of the law”, and called for AGOA to be updated to include the new Republic of South Sudan.

Passage of the bill, which is supported by the Obama administration, would align the third-country fabric provision with the rest of the AGOA programme, which is due to expire in 2015.

“In 2010, textiles and apparel were one of the leading AGOA import categories – US$730m in trade last year alone,” said McDermott.

“Much of these exports require fabric that is not commercially available in sub-Saharan Africa.

“It is critical that the AGOA third-country fabric provision be extended now. It’s critical for businesses and jobs in the US and Africa.”

[See previous article on AGOA.info at this link]

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