Washington — By a voice vote Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an expansion of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA II) that doubles the volume of duty free clothing African producers can ship to the United States. The legislation is expected to boost U.S. apparel imports from Africa from between 1.5 and 3.5 percent currently to between three and seven percent of over eight years.

The measure was included as part of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act [H.R. 3009]. "This legislation is a step in the right direction for our many interests in Africa," said House Africa Subcommittee Chairnan Edward Royce (R-CA). "We need to be doing all that we can, as soon as we can, to see that large parts of the world aren't mired in hopelessness."

A dispute over duty-free access for so-called "knit-to-shape apparel" - previously prohibited by customs law from duty free export to the United States - is also settled by the legislation.

Referring to the first AGOA, passed a year ago, Royce praised its "profoundly positive impact on Africa." The bill has encouraged economic reform in several nations, he said. "It is the best Africa policy we've adopted in years."