{President Barack Obama has revoked South Sudan’s eligibility for a US preferential trade programme known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).}<\/p>\n
President Obama also removed Gambia from the programme and reinstated Guinea-Bissau. <\/p>\n
All the moves take effect on January 1.<\/p>\n
A presidential proclamation on the actions did not specify the reasons for declaring South Sudan and Gambia ineligible for Agoa benefits.<\/p>\n
It instead referred to general standards for eligibility included in the law that established Agoa in 2000.<\/p>\n
Two of the requirements are that a country \u201cdoes not engage in activities that undermine US national security or foreign policy interests\u201d and \u201cdoes not engage in gross violations of internationally recognised human rights\u201d.<\/p>\n
The US has previously slapped sanctions on four South Sudan military leaders for their roles in a year-long civil war that has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths.<\/p>\n
Life imprisonment<\/p>\n
Washington is also drafting a resolution in the UN Security Council that would impose international sanctions on South Sudanese found to be impeding settlement of the conflict.<\/p>\n
President Obama’s action on Gambia appears to be a response to alleged human rights abuses by the West African country’s government, including recent enactment of a law under which persons convicted of \u201caggravated homosexuality\u201d face life imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Expulsion from Agoa has largely symbolic significance in both cases.<\/p>\n
Neither South Sudan nor Gambia benefits appreciably from the programme, which permits unlimited quantities of goods from eligible countries to enter the US duty-free. <\/p>\n
Gambia’s exports to the US last year were valued at $2 million, while South Sudan sold $29,000 worth of forest products to US buyers last year.<\/p>\n
A total of 40 sub-Saharan nations will be eligible to participate in Agoa in 2015.<\/p>\n
Africa Review<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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