[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 52 (Monday, January 3, 1994)]
[Pages 2639-2641]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Executive Order 12889--Implementation of the North American Free Trade
Agreement
December 27, 1993
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States of America, including the North American
Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Public Law 103-182, 107 Stat.
2057) (the NAFTA Implementation Act) and section 302 of title 3, United
States Code, and in order to implement the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Establishment of United States Section of the NAFTA
Secretariat. Pursuant to section 105(a) of the NAFTA Implementation Act,
a United States section of the NAFTA Secretariat shall be established
within the Department of Commerce and shall carry out the functions set
out in that section.
Sec. 2. Acceptance by the President of Panel and Committee
Decisions. Pursuant to subparagraph 516A(g)(7)(B) of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended, 19 U.S.C. 1516a(g)(7)(B), in the event that the
provisions of that subparagraph take effect, I accept, as a whole, all
decisions of binational panels and extraordinary challenge committees.
Sec. 3. Implementation of Safeguard Provisions for Textile and
Apparel Goods. Pursuant to section 201 of the NAFTA Implementation Act,
the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (the
Committee) shall take such action as necessary to implement the
bilateral safeguard provisions (tariff actions) set out in section 4 of
Annex 300-B of the NAFTA. The United States Customs Service shall take
such actions to carry out those safeguard provisions as directed by the
Secretary of the Treasury, upon the advice and recommendation of the
Chairman of the Committee.
Sec. 4. Publication of Proposed Rules regarding Technical
Regulations and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. (a) In accordance
with Articles 718 and 909 of the NAFTA, each agency subject to the
provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. 551
et seq.), shall, in applying section 553 of title 5, United States Code,
with respect to any proposed Federal technical regulation or any Federal
sanitary or phytosanitary measure of general application, other than a
regulation issued pursuant to section 104(a) of the NAFTA Implementation
Act, publish or serve notice of such regulation or measure not less than
75 days before the comment due date, except:
(1) in the case of a technical regulation relating to perishable
goods, in which case the agency shall, to the greatest extent
practicable, publish or serve notice at least 30 days prior to
adoption of such regulation;
(2) in the case of a technical regulation, where the United States
considers it necessary to address an urgent problem relating to
safety or to protection of human, animal or plant life or health,
the environment or consumers; or
(3) in the case of a sanitary or phytosanitary measure, where the
United States considers it necessary to address an urgent problem
relating to sanitary or phytosanitary protection.
(b) For purposes of this section, the term ``sanitary or
phytosanitary measure'' shall be defined in accordance with section 463
of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, and ``technical regulation'' shall
be defined in accordance with section 473 of the Trade Agreements Act of
1979.
(c) This section supersedes section 1 of Executive Order No. 12662
of December 31, 1988.
Sec. 5. Government Procurement Procedures. (a) Waiver.
(1) With respect to eligible products (as defined in section 381(c)
of the NAFTA Implementation Act) of Canada and Mexico, and suppliers of
such products, the application of any law, regulation, procedure, or
practice regarding Federal Government procurement that would, if applied
to such products or suppliers, result in treatment less favorable than
the most favorable treatment accorded:
(A) to United States products and services and suppliers of such
products and services; or
(B) to eligible products of either Mexico or Canada, shall be
waived.
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(2) This waiver shall be applied by all executive agencies listed in
Annexes 1 and 2 of this Executive order in consultation with, and when
deemed necessary at the direction of, the United States Trade
Representative (Trade Representative).
(b) The Secretary of Defense, or his designee, in consultation with
the Trade Representative, shall be responsible for determinations under
Article 1018(1), pursuant to Annex 1001.1b-1(A)(4), of the NAFTA. The
Secretary of Defense, or his designee, and the Trade Representative
shall establish procedures for this purpose.
(c) The executive agencies listed in Annex 2 are directed to procure
eligible products in compliance with the procedural provisions of
Chapter 10 of the NAFTA.
(d) The Trade Representative shall be responsible for calculating
and adjusting the threshold as required by Article 1001(1)(c) of the
NAFTA.
(e) This order shall apply only to solicitations issued on or after
the date of entry into force of the NAFTA for the United States.
(f) Although regulatory implementation of this order must await
revisions to the Federal Acquisitions Regulation (FAR), it is expected
that agencies listed in Annexes 1 and 2 of this order will take all
appropriate actions in the interim to implement those aspects of the
order that are not dependent upon regulatory revision.
(g) Pursuant to section 25 of the Office of Federal Procurement
Policy Act, as amended (41 U.S.C. 421(a)), the Federal Acquisition
Regulatory Council shall ensure that the policies established herein are
incorporated in the FAR within 30 days from the date this order is
issued.
Sec. 6. Government Use of Patented Technology. (a) Each agency
shall, within 30 days from the date this order is issued, modify or
adopt procedures to ensure compliance with Article 1709(10) of the NAFTA
regarding notice when patented technology is used by or for the Federal
Government without a license from the owner, except that the requirement
of Article 1709(10)(b) regarding reasonable efforts to obtain advance
authorization from the patent owner:
(1) is hereby waived for an invention used or manufactured by or for
the Federal Government, except that the patent owner must be
notified whenever the agency or its contractor, without making a
patent search, knows or has demonstrable reasonable grounds to
know that an invention described in and covered by a valid United
States patent is or will be used or manufactured without a
license; and
(2) is waived whenever a national emergency or other circumstances
of extreme urgency exists, except that the patent owner must be
notified as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so.
(b) Agencies shall treat the term ``remuneration'' as used in
Articles 1709(10) (h) and (j) and 1715 of the NAFTA as equivalent to
``reasonable and entire compensation'' as used in section 1498 of title
28, United States Code.
(c) In addition to the general provisions of section 7 of this order
regarding enforceable rights, nothing in this order is intended to
suggest that the giving of notice to a patent owner under Article
1709(10) of the NAFTA constitutes an admission that the Federal
Government has infringed a valid privately-owned patent.
Sec. 7. Judicial Review. This order does not create any right or
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party
against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any person.
Sec. 8. Effective Date. This order shall take effect upon the date
of entry into force of the NAFTA for the United States.
William J. Clinton
The White House,
December 27, 1993.
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:43 a.m., December 29,
1993]
Note: This Executive order was released by the Office of the Press
Secretary on December 28, and it was published with the attached annexes
in the Federal Register on December 30.
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