Duty Free Access-AGOA and QIZ
All Sub-Saharan countries where Bilcotex operates are AGOA eligible and qualify for the Third Country Fabric Provision.
Egypt qualifies under QIZ.
All can access the EU countries duty free.
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The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a United States Trade Act, enacted on 18 May 2000. AGOA has since been renewed to 2025. The legislation significantly enhances market access to the US for qualifying Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.
​Qualification for AGOA preferences is based on a set of conditions contained in the AGOA legislation. In order to qualify and remain eligible for AGOA, each country must be working to improve its rule of law, human rights, and respect for core labor standards.
​The Third Country Fabric provision is unique in that it grants duty free access to the US market to countries defined by the legislation as “lesser developed”, even if fabric is imported from any other part of the world.
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Duty-free access to the U.S. market under the combined AGOA program stands at approximately 8,000 product tariff lines.​
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AGOA did lapse for a short time on September 30, 2025.
On January 23rd, 2026, AGOA was again extended until December 31, 2026. All duites paid from October 1st, 2025 until January 23rd, 2026 will be funded.
In 1996, the U.S. Congress established the Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) initiative to support the peace process in the Middle East. The QIZ initiative allows Egypt and Jordan to export products to the United States duty-free as long as such products contain inputs from Israel. The QIZ legislation authorizes the President to proclaim elimination of duties on articles produced in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and qualifying industrial zones in Jordan and Egypt. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), in consultation with other U.S. Government agencies, designates QIZs.
In order for QIZ products to be eligible for duty-free entry into the United States, the article must be a new and different article of commerce that has been grown, produced or manufactured, or a “new and different” article imported directly from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, or a QIZ. Country input share requirements come from the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement (USIFTA), which requires that the sum or the cost of the value of the materials or the total costs of production must be not less than 35% of the appraised value of the product at the time it enters the United States. Of this 35%, U.S. components may contribute up to approximately 15%, and inputs from Israel and Jordan, or Israel and Egypt, must total roughly 20%.