In a surprise move, the United States House of Representatives voted Friday to double the quota of apparel certain African nations, including Uganda, can export to the U.S.

The House passed the African Growth and Opportunities Act II (AGOA II) by a 250-168 margin. The bill doubles the annual limits placed on AGOA-eligible countries over the next seven years. Its immediate effect is to double the cap on the percentage of U.S. apparel imports from Africa to 3 percent, from 1.5 percent under AGOA.

The new legislation also corrected an ambiguity in the original bill which, as interpreted by U.S. Customs officials, excluded knit-to-shape exclusions. This technicality impeded investment in AGOA-eligible nations.

"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."

However, the new bill struck some as too limited. Some legislators pushed for aid to non-AGOA-eligible countries to institute the anti-smuggling efforts necessary to qualify for the benefits of AGOA. Others sought to extend beyond 2004 the period in which the least developed African countries can receive preference for garments made with low-cost Asian and other third-country fabric.