With current quota utilisation rates under this waiver from the normal rules of origin exceeding 50 percent, the reduction in the preference quota may play an important role in the annual period from October 2006.
It must be noted that the annual limit applies to aggregate imports into the U.S. of apparel under AGOA. As such, the quota does not discriminate between the (Sub-Saharan African) sources of these imports, and is applied on a first-come first-serve basis. In theory, therefore, it is possible for the annual preference level to be reached before the end of a particular annual period (which runs from October to September).
The quota utilisation rate for the annual period October 2003 to September 2004 was set at 956,568,715 SME. For the 12-month period to September 30, 2004, a total of 359,620,442 SME had entered the US under AGOA, which translates into a quota fill-rate of 37.59 percent.
In the 2004/2005 quota year (spanning October 2004 – September 2005) the utilisation rate for the 12-month period to September 2005 stood at 31.54 percent. The total allowable quota for the full 12-month period was 1,076,876,652 SME. For the full-year period October 2005 to SEPTEMBER 2006, the overall quota utilisation has been 23.43 percent.
For the current period (October 2006 to September 2007) the overall quota has been set at 1,498,846,694 SME. The sub-quota for LDCs (using 3rd country fabrics) is set at 374,225,583 SME ( see graph).
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