Third US-Mongolia TIFA Joint Council, March 12, 2007, Part

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ULAANBAATAR 000316 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE PASS USTR, USTDA, OPIC, AND EXIMBANK USTR FOR M SANDLER, T STRATFORD, AND T WINELAND STATE FOR EAP/CM, EAP/PD, AND EB/TPP USAID FOR ANE FOR D. WINSTON MANILA AND LONDON FOR ADB, EBRD USEDS TREASURY FOR USEDS TO IMF, WORLD BANK E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD PREL EAID ECON EFIN PGOV MG SUBJECT: Third US-Mongolia TIFA Joint Council, March 12, 2007, Part 3 of 3: USTR's Mongolian GSP Roadshow Ref: Ulaanbaatar 157 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Immediately following the March 12 Third US-Mongolia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Joint Council meeting, Marideth Sandler, Executive Director of USTR's Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, spearheaded a GSP education and outreach drive March 13-15 in Mongolia's three largest cities. The outreach presentations detailed how businesses of all types might take better advantage of U.S. import tariff exemptions on a wide assortment of handcrafted products, as well as manufacturered items, minerals, and agricultural goods. Ms. Sandler addressed the specific needs of low-income producers of handicrafts, delivering a detailed explanation of about opportunities for these small-scale producers under GSP in general and under the handicrafts agreement. In these and in presentations to larger, more prosperous producers, USG presenters also highlighted the need for producers to acknowledge that gains from GSP duty-free treatment would be increased by quality improvements in exports and enhanced capacity to distribute and market Mongolian products. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Piggybacking on March 2007's TIFA talks in Ulaanbaatar, post worked with USTR GSP Program Executive Director Marideth Sandler to develop a GSP road show that could take our message directly to the Mongolian producers and exporters best positioned to profit from the GSP program and opportunity for Mongolia to enter into a U.S.-Mongolia certified handicraft arrangement note: reftel contains background on Mongolia's GSP usage, and Mongolia's non-energized response to the U.S. handicrafts proposal). Previously, some officials in the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) offered gloomy predictions with respect to handicraft producer interest and product volumes. However, Ms. Sandler's GSP presentations in Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan and Erdenet played to standing room only audiences of enthusiastic small-scale cottage and medium-sized producers eager to learn about duty free import opportunities. ¶3. (U) Numbering some 200 participants total in the three cities, attending firms ranged from small individual business owners working with the USAID/USDA-funded Grow Entrepreneurs Rapidly (GER) Initiative to the larger member companies of the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI). The firms ranged in size from single mothers producing felt slippers to molybdenum and steel rod producers, and garment and leather goods manufacturers employing several hundred workers. Products included handmade items of wool, cashmere, felt, wood, stone etc, foodstuffs, textile and metallurgical products. For many of the attendees, it was the first time they had heard about duty free export opportunities to the United States. Previously, these same producers had focused their energies on exports to the European Union under the GSP Plus Program, but strict quality requirements and small scale orders from European buyers made GSP Plus unprofitable, unviable and generally a disappointment for Mongolia's exporters. ¶4. (U) All participants wanted to learn which products fall under the GSP program, saying the information was difficult for them to obtain and impossible to comprehend from the information they currently possessed. In response, a representative from the MNCCI promised to have the U.S. Harmonized Tariff System of Preference (USHTSP) translated into Mongolian and posted on its website so exporters could better access and understand the list. ¶5. (U) To ensure that eligible exports enter the U.S. duty free, Ms. Sandler reminded her audiences of the importance of correctly marking the letter "A" on the U.S. Customs Entry Form as well as making sure that exported products are categorized with the proper name and code from the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. A Mongolian Customs Official who attended the presentations echoed this point. ¶6. (U) Rules of Origin regulations were also a matter that confused many producers. MNCCI had been issuing Certificates of Origin to every U.S.-bound shipment, but both MNCCI and exporters were surprised by Ms. Sandler's statement that such certificates were not ULAANBAATA 00000316 002 OF 002 required under the GSP program, and that U.S. importers, rather than Mongolian exporters, bore the burden of proving country of origin. Nevertheless, MNCCI and MOIT representatives noted that both Mongolian exporters and U.S. Customs needed to cooperate to prevent products of fraudulent origin from being exported to the U.S. ¶7. (U) Besides learning the ins and outs of GSP paperwork, Mongolians wanted to know how to locate potential buyers for their products in the U.S., a theme hit upon in all three cities. Several ideas were mentioned to help increase awareness of Mongolian handicraft products including the organization of a handicraft expo and the creation of catalogues that could be distributed via commercial contacts in the U.S. Catalogues were seen as the best near term solution, as most handicraft producers in Mongolia are low income individuals or families who could not possibly afford the costs of participating in U.S. expos. Excellent quality catalogues are already being produced by CHF, the contract agency for USAID's Ger Initiative, to market the wares of affiliated producers. ¶8. (U) Speaking from her own experience in marketing handicrafts abroad, Margaret Herro, Director of CHF-Mongolia, encouraged producers to improve the quality of their handicraft products before engaging in expensive promotional campaigns. Recent promotional efforts in Germany, for example, failed because the quality of the products did not meet consumer demands. The MOIT representative felt producers should first focus on developing and improving their products locally by targeting foreign tourists to Mongolia in hotels, gift shops, tourist camps and other channels. She also suggested consolidating all handicraft products before export to address the quantity and shipping issue. ¶9. (U) COMMENT: Our GSP outreach was a timely and useful event, judging by the enthusiastic and interested reactions of the 200+ producers, and it underscored the USG's commitment to taking real steps that will increase bilateral trade. Mongolian exporters are eager to take advantage of any opportunity to sell their products abroad, but they often lack the correct information and capacity to make it happen. Ms. Sandler's presentations also sparked discussions that drove home the point to Mongolians that elimination of tariff barriers alone -- such as through an often-requested bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) -- would not by itself increase exports. Instead, Sandler and company emphasized that product quality, consistent and reliable product supply, and effective marketing are at least as important to exports as tariff rates. Post will monitor the progress of the handicraft agreement and especially the effects it may have on Mongolia's handicrafts industry over the next year. Post also wishes to express its thanks to Ms. Sandler and the others involved in making this outreach effort a success. END COMMENT. ¶10. (U) USTR GSP Executive Director Sandler cleared this message. Goldbeck