Qualifying Industrial Zones in Jordan and Egypt

Qualifying Industrial Zones in Jordan and Egypt

Order Code RS22002
Updated July 7, 2006
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Qualifying Industrial Zones in Jordan and
Egypt
Mary Jane Bolle, Alfred B. Prados, and Jeremy M. Sharp
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
In 1996, Congress authorized the creation of Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZs),
thereby entitling goods jointly produced by Israel and either Jordan or Egypt to enter the
United States duty free. The QIZ creation vehicle was an amendment to the United
States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-47), and its purpose
was to promote peace and development between Israel and her Arab neighbors.
Although Israeli-Palestinian violence has continued, some observers have praised QIZs
for helping to spark Jordan’s economic growth. Others note that QIZs, while promoting
U.S.-Jordanian trade, have had modest impact on promoting job growth in Jordan. In
2005, Egypt began participating in the QIZ program. This report provides an overview
of QIZs in the context of promoting regional development and peace. It will be updated
periodically to reflect recent developments. For more information on Jordan, see CRS
Issue Brief IB93085, Jordan: U.S. Relations and Bilateral Issues, by Alfred Prados. For
more information on Egypt, see CRS Report RL33003, Egypt: Background and U.S.
Relations, by Jeremy M. Sharp.
QIZ Authorizing Legislation
The 1996 West Bank and Gaza Strip Free Trade Benefits Act (P.L.104-234) amended
and extended the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act to permit certain
products from qualifying industrial zones (QIZs) to enter the United States duty free.
QIZs were designed to: (1) help broaden support for the Middle East peace process, since
Jordan and Egypt were the two Arab countries in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA)
region1 that had signed peace treaties with Israel; and (2) produce tangible economic
benefits for Jordan, Egypt, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip by stimulating their
economies and increasing employment. (S.Rept. 104-270, p.3.)
1 Middle East entities are: Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Gaza Strip/West Bank, Iran, Iraq, Israel,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
North African Countries are: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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During the first eight years after the QIZ amendment was adopted, Jordan, but not
Egypt, entered an agreement with Israel to take advantage of QIZ benefits offered.
Subsequently, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), on behalf of the President,
designated 13 QIZs (one was later expanded) in Jordan. Finally, in December of 2004,
following an agreement between Israel and Egypt, the USTR designated the first three
QIZs in Egypt, and in 2005 expanded two of these and added a fourth.2
QIZs in a Nutshell
QIZs can be compared to free trade zones. QIZs are typically industrial parks housing
manufacturing operations. They simplify cooperative production between countries because they: 1)
are enclaves of infrastructure in developing countries where infrastructure may be sparse; and 2) are
fiscally outside the customs territory of a country. Thus, on raw materials flowing into and goods
moving out of zones, customs procedures are streamlined and tariffs do not apply until the item
formally enters a country as an import for consumption. QIZs are distinguished from other trade zones
as follows: Trade zones in general: (a) are stand-alone entities within one country (not directly
connected to other countries); (b) produce for export to or domestic consumption in any country; and
(c) operate solely under the authority of and conditions determined by the host government. QIZs,
however: (a) have operations in two countries (Israel and either Jordan or Egypt); (b) produce goods
solely for export to the United States; and (c) operate under both the authority of the host countries and
the oversight authority of the United States, which determines conditions for and authorizes tariff relief
for QIZ imports.
P.L. 104-234 requires that articles eligible for QIZ status must: (1) be wholly the
growth, product, or manufacture of, and must be imported directly from, the West
Bank/Gaza Strip (administered by the Palestinian Authority), or a QIZ; and (2) meet the
following rules-of-origin requirements: At the time the product enters the United States,
material and processing costs incurred in a QIZ3 must total not less than 35% of the
appraised value of the product. Of this 35%, 20% must come from Israel and Jordan or
Egypt, and 15% may be either U.S. materials or materials from Israel, the West
Bank/Gaza Strip, and/or Jordan or Egypt, depending on the participating QIZ program.
The remaining 65% can come from anywhere in the world. In addition, the article must
have been “substantially transformed in the manufacturing process.”4 The importer must
certify that the article meets the conditions for the duty exemption. Details of the
Jordanian-Israeli and Egyptian-Israeli QIZ programs (including exact shares comprising
the minimum 20% from Israel and either Jordan or Egypt) differ slightly, based on the
QIZ agreements between Israel and Jordan and Israel and Egypt, respectively, and on
U.S. approval.5
2 Proclamation 6955, Nov. 13, 1996 (61CFR 58761) gave the USTR power to designate.
3 Examples of such costs are originating materials, wages and salaries, design research and
development, depreciation of capital investment, and overhead.
4 Section 1 of P.L. 104-234, amending Section 9 of P.L. 99-47.
5 For example, the manufacturer from the Jordanian side must contribute at least 11.7% of the
final produce and the manufacturer on the Israeli side must contribute 8% (7% on high tech
products); and under the Israeli-Egyptian agreement, 11.7% of the inputs must be made in Israel.

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QIZs in Jordan
For Jordanian-Israeli QIZs, a Jordanian-Israeli joint committee with two co-
chairmen, each appointed by the respective government, and an American Observer must
approve all eligible products. Product approval is renewed every 12 months.6
Both the public and private sectors in Jordan have a role in the industrial activity
taking place in Jordan’s QIZs. Of Jordan’s 13 QIZs, three are publicly operated industrial
estates and function under the supervision of the Jordan Industrial Estates Corporation
(JIEC). A semi-governmental corporation with financial and administrative autonomy,
the JIEC was created by law in 1985 to promote the establishment of industrial estates in
Jordan. Subsequently, JIEC spearheaded the development of QIZs after President Clinton
inaugurated the program in 1996.
Impact of the QIZs on Trade and the Jordanian Economy
U.S. trade with Jordan has grown substantially in recent years — from both the QIZ
program and, to a substantially lesser extent, from the U.S.-Jordan free trade agreement
which went into effect in 2001. Between 1998 and 2005 Jordan moved up from the
United States’ 13th to 8th largest trading partner among the 20 Middle-East-North African
(MENA) entities. In 2005, U.S. exports to and imports from Jordan totaled an estimated
$1.9 billion: U.S. exports, at an estimated $646 million, were 1.8 times their 1998 level;
U.S. imports, at $1.3 billion, were 80 times their 1998 level (USITC Dataweb). (See
Figure 1.) Despite the 2001 FTA between the United States and Jordan, most Jordanian
articles still enter the United States through the QIZ program (75%). The apparel industry
dominates both Jordan’s QIZs and total exports to the United States, accounting for
99.9% of all QIZ exports and 86% of all Jordanian exports to the United States. The
reason for continuing QIZ dominance is that QIZ products enter the United States free of
duty, whereas, under the U.S.-Jordan FTA, tariffs will not be fully eliminated until the end
of the ten-year phase-in period, in 2011. Nevertheless, in 2005, the growth in QIZ exports
from Jordan leveled off to only a 2% growth over 2004 exports. This growth slowdown
could have been affected by the removal of textile and clothing quotas (but not tariffs) that
occurred with the January 2005 expiration of the 1995 WTO Agreement on Textiles and
Clothing.
Trade in general and QIZ trade in particular has been a major engine of growth for
Jordan’s economy in the past few years. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) projects
that from an average annual rate of around 20% in 2000-2004, export earnings growth is
expected to slow to a more modest 9% for 2005-2007 as the initial impact of the special
trade agreement with the United States wanes, and competition from Asian textile
producers toughens. The gains in export earnings have been overwhelmed by a surge in
import spending, which was driven sharply upward in 2005 by rapid growth in
international oil prices.7
6 Export and Finance Bank, Jordan. Qualifying Industrial Zones. Sector Report, June 10, 2003.
7 The Economist. Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Country Outlook: Jordan, Dec. 2005.

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Figure 1. U.S. Trade with Jordan, 1997-2005, in
$Millions
1400
1200
1000
800
600
U.S. Imports
400
U.S. Exports
200
0
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Data source: U.S. International Trade Commission Dataweb
Jobs. An important ancillary effect of the QIZ program in Jordan has been the
creation of jobs to ease generally high rates of unemployment. In late 2003, the State
Department estimated that QIZs had created more than 40,000 new jobs in Jordan, mainly
for women.8 According to local Jordanian press reports and international economists,
however, close to half of these jobs have been filled by expatriates, mainly from southern
Asia.9 A breakdown of the number of workers employed at each of the 13 QIZs is not
available.
QIZs in Egypt
On December 14, 2004, after an agreement between Israel and Egypt (which has the
largest economy of the Middle East countries), the USTR designated three QIZs in Egypt:
the Greater Cairo Zone, the Alexandria Zone, and the Suez Canal Zone (69 CFR 78094).
On November 4, 2005, the USTR designated a fourth zone in the Central Delta region and
expanded the Greater Cairo and Suez Canal zones. Several factors contributed to Egypt’s
desire for QIZ participation at this time. First was the January 1, 2005 end of quotas on
textiles and apparel (which dominate Egypt’s as well as Jordan’s exports to the United
States) under a WTO agreement. This meant that the flood of similar articles from China
and India to the United States could crowd out Egyptian exports, and could result in the
loss of 150,000 job opportunities in the industry,10 and some of the $3.2 billion U.S.
foreign direct investment in Egypt. In addition, Egypt was in search of sources for
increased economic growth and trade to provide jobs for its rapidly growing labor force,
to contain the fiscal deficit, to arrest the growth of public debt, and to address the trade
deficit with the United States, and bolster ties with Israel in order to improve regional
relations. The United States, on the other hand, views Egypt’s interest in QIZ
8 U.S. Department of State, International Information Programs, “U.S.-Jordan Free Trade
Agreement Spurs Jordan’s Economic Growth,” Oct. 16, 2003.
9 According to the Jordanian press in late 2003, QIZs were employing 21,486 local workers and
15,078 expatriates. Sahar Aloul, “QIZ investors voice concerns at workshop,” The Jordan Times,
Sept. 23, 2003.
10 Embassy of Egypt. Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) Protocol and the Potential Impact on
the Egyptian Economy, 2004, p. 16.

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participation as an opportunity to press for desired economic reforms in Egypt.11
Negotiations toward a U.S.-Egyptian free trade agreement have recently been suspended
over human rights issues.12
Among the 20 MENA entities, Egypt is the United States’ 7th largest trading partner,
with U.S. imports for 2005 at an estimated $2.1 billion and exports at an estimated $3.1
billion for the first 11 months of 2005. For 2005, Egypt’s first full year of QIZ
participation, Egypt exported $230 million dollars worth of goods to the United States
through the QIZ program. This represents 12% of Egypt’s total exports to the United
States. As with the Israel-Jordan QIZ program, textiles and apparel exports dominated
Egypt’s QIZ exports to the United States: 89% of those exports were apparel and 5% were
textiles.
QIZs: Broader Implications
Although the creation of QIZs has been a positive step toward Jordan’s and Egypt’s
economic growth, Jordan, like other non oil-producing Middle East countries, faces
enormous challenges to its long term economic well being. For some countries in the
region, lack of adequate water resources impedes growth (Jordan is one of the ten most
water-deprived countries in the world). Beyond natural resources, the region’s human
resources also need to be further developed in order to spur economic development. For
example, most experts note that Jordan’s workforce is still largely unskilled, which
hinders the economy’s transformation from one based on small-scale agriculture and
pastoral grazing to a labor-intensive, industrialized economy. Despite recent government
investment in higher education and vocational training, Jordanian workers, according to
one Jordanian businessman, “lack vocational experience and a strong work ethic.”13
Some factories located in QIZs have high numbers of more productive foreign workers
from China and Southeast Asia.14 In order to increase the competitiveness of Jordanian
labor, the Ministry of Labor has launched several programs aimed at recruiting skilled
rural workers, particularly women.
The Social Impact of QIZs. Although most experts note that companies based
in QIZs continue to hire foreign laborers, thousands of Jordanians, particularly women
from the rural countryside, have found jobs at garment factories in QIZs. In a traditional
society such as Jordan, many of these women had little previous work experience and
were largely caretakers of their home. Despite the low wages paid by apparel factories
in the QIZs, some women have been able to support their families where the father or
husband had fallen sick or died, and others have been able to supplement the income of
the male breadwinner. However, traditional attitudes toward a woman’s place in the
home persist, and many families continue to prohibit female members from working in
11 “U.S. to Consider Egypt FTA after next TIFA, wants Further Reforms.” Inside U.S. Trade.
Jan. 14, 2005.
12 The Realities of Exporting Democracy. The Washington Post, Jan. 25, 2006, p. A-1.
13 “Jordan’s Peace Dividend,” Jerusalem Post, Oct. 26, 2004.
14 Some estimate that approximately 20% of companies based in QIZs are wholly owned by
Jordanians. See “Trade Without Consent — Choosing Between Free Trade and Democracy in
Jordan,” Daily Star, July 14, 2003.

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QIZs. In response, the Jordanian Ministry of Labor has worked to ease the adjustment of
women moving from the home to a new job by providing free transportation to work,
subsidizing the cost of food in QIZs, and paying for dormitories near factories to cut
commuting times. According to the Jordanian Trade Minister, “a new sort of culture is
being established where girls are going to work, they are supporting their families and
they are raising the standard of living in their villages.”15 The long term effect of female
employment in QIZs has yet to be measured, and there is some concern that over time,
Jordanian women may have difficulty in achieving higher wages in a global economy
where apparel manufacturers can easily relocate to cheaper labor markets.
Impact on the Arab-Israeli Peace Process. When the QIZ program came into
being in 1996, many observers regarded it as a vehicle to support the development of
peaceful relations and normalization of commercial ties between Israel and the two Arab
states (Jordan and Egypt) with which it had signed peace treaties. In both cases, however,
a “cold peace” continues to prevail between Israel and the two Arab states. Since the
conclusion of the Jordan-Israel peace treaty in October 1994, large numbers of Jordanians,
particularly Islamic fundamentalists, those of Palestinian origin, and members of the
professional unions continue to oppose normalization with Israel and resist the expansion
of commercial relations. With the establishment of 13 QIZs in Jordan, there has been an
increase in the volume of bilateral trade, though the overall totals remain modest. Trade
between Israel and Jordan in 2004 were nearly six times what they were in 1997. Israel’s
exports to Jordan in 2004 were roughly $133 million (up from about $21 million in 1997).
Israel’s imports from Jordan were roughly $51 million (up from about $12.5 million in
1997.)16 It is possible that some incremental improvement in bilateral relations could
occur over time as a result of increased commercial contacts and joint participation in
mechanisms related to the QIZ program.
Recent Issues
In May of 2006, the National Labor Committee (NLC), a human rights advocacy
group, issued a 161-page report alleging sweatshop-like conditions in 28 out of 100 QIZ
plants in Jordan. The report, U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement Descends into Human
Trafficking and Involuntary Servitude, was compiled from interviews with over 100
foreign guest workers in Jordan and workers forcibly returned to Bangladesh. In response
to the allegations, the USTR raised the matter with the Jordanian Government. Jordan’s
trade minister Sharif Zu’bi subsequently indicated that the report incorrectly identified
three sweatshops that are not even in Jordan, and that three others had been closed before
the report was released in May. In addition, he noted that the Jordanian government had
formed nine inspections teams to investigate the entire garment trade in the country, and
is working with the International Labor Organization, U.S. labor committees, the USTR,
the State Department, and U.S. and Jordanian apparel companies to address the challenges
and improve their monitoring system.
15 “Jordan’s Peace Dividend,” op. cit.
16 Source of data: U.S. Department of Commerce. Trade Policy Information System (TPIS).