Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program: Notice Regarding the 2005 and Ongoing Country Practice Reviews, 54435-54436 [05-18228]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 177 / Wednesday, September 14, 2005 / Notices
(202) 395–6186. Appointments must be
scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.
Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 05–18278 Filed 9–13–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190–W5–P
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Generalized System of Preferences
(GSP) Program: Notice Regarding the
2005 and Ongoing Country Practice
Reviews
Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the
timetable for the hearing and public
comments on petitions requesting
modifications in the status of certain
GSP beneficiary countries.
DATES: The GSP regulations (15 CFR
part 2007) provide the schedule of dates
for conducting the annual country
practice review unless otherwise
specified in a Federal Register notice.
The current revised schedule follows.
Notification of any other changes will be
given in the Federal Register.
Notice of Public Hearing
A hearing will be held by the GSP
Subcommittee of the TPSC on
November 30, 2005, beginning at 10
a.m., in combined Rooms 1 and 2, 1724
F Street NW., Washington, DC. The
hearing will be open to the public and
a transcript of the hearing will be made
available for public inspection or can be
purchased from the reporting company.
No electronic media coverage will be
allowed.
All interested parties wishing to make
an oral presentation at the hearing must
submit, following the ‘‘Requirements for
Submissions’’ below, the name, address,
telephone number, and facsimile
number and e-mail address, if available,
of the witness(es) representing their
organization to Marideth Sandler,
Executive Director of the GSP Program
and Chairman of the GSP Subcommittee
of the TPSC by 5 p.m., November 9,
2005. Requests to present oral testimony
in connection with the public hearing
must be accompanied by a written brief
or statement, in English, and also must
be received by 5 p.m., November 9,
2005. Oral testimony before the GSP
Subcommittee of the TPSC will be
limited to five-minute presentations that
summarize or supplement information
contained in briefs or statements
submitted for the record. Post-hearing
briefs or statements will be accepted if
VerDate Aug<18>2005
16:17 Sep 13, 2005
Jkt 205001
they conform with the regulations cited
below and are submitted, in English, by
5 p.m., December 14, 2005. Parties not
wishing to appear at the public hearing
may submit post-hearing written briefs
or statements, in English, by 5 p.m.,
December 14, 2005.
Modifications to the list of countries
eligible for GSP benefits resulting from
the 2005 Annual Review of Country
Practice Cases will be announced on or
about June 30, 2006, in the Federal
Register, and any changes will take
effect on the effective date announced.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The
GSP Subcommittee, Office of the United
States Trade Representative, 1724 F
Street, NW., Room F–220, Washington,
DC 20508. Telephone number is (202)
395–6971; fax number is (202) 395–
9481.
The GSP
statute, Title V of the Trade Act of 1974
(19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) provides dutyfree treatment to designated eligible
articles that are imported from
designated beneficiary developing
countries. USTR has received a number
of petitions requesting that certain
practices in certain beneficiary
developing countries be reviewed to
determine whether such countries are in
compliance with the eligibility criteria
set forth in sections 502(b) and 502(c) of
the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(a),
2462(b), and 2462(c)).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Petitions Accepted for Review
Regarding Country Practices
Pursuant to 15 CFR 2007.0(b), the GSP
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff
Committee (TPSC) has recommended,
and the TPSC has accepted, certain
country practice petitions (see Annex A)
to be included in the 2005 Annual
Review. Acceptance of a petition for
review is not indicative of the ultimate
disposition of the petition. Acceptance
indicates only that the listed petitions
warrant further consideration.
Opportunities for Public Comment
The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC
invites comments in support of or in
opposition to any petition that have
been accepted for review. Submissions
should comply with 15 CFR Part 2007,
except as modified below.
Requirements for Submission
In order to facilitate prompt
processing of submissions, USTR will
accept only electronic e-mail
submissions in response to this notice.
Hand-delivered submissions will not be
accepted. These submissions should be
single-copy transmissions in English
with the total submission not to exceed
PO 00000
Frm 00086
Fmt 4703
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54435
20 single-spaced standard letter-size
pages. E-mail submissions should use
the following subject line: ‘‘2005 GSP
Annual Country Practice Review’’
followed by the subject country, case
number, and, as appropriate ‘‘Written
Comments’’, ‘‘Notice of Intent to
Testify’’, ‘‘Pre-hearing brief’’, or ‘‘Posthearing brief’’. Documents must be
submitted in English in one of the
following formats: MSWord (.DOC),
WordPerfect (.WPD), or text (.TXT) files.
Documents may not be submitted as
electronic image files or contain
imbedded images (for example, ‘‘.JPG’’,
‘‘.TIF’’, ‘‘.PDF’’, ‘‘.BMP’’, or ‘‘.GIF’’).
Supporting documentation submitted as
spreadsheets are acceptable as Excel
files, formatted for printing on 81⁄2 x 11
inch paper. Any data attachments to the
submission must be included in the
same file as the submission itself, and
not as separate files.
If the submission contains business
confidential information, a nonconfidential version of the submission
must also be submitted that indicates
where confidential information was
redacted by inserting asterisks where
material was deleted. In addition, the
confidential submission must be clearly
marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’
at the top and bottom of each page of the
document. The non-confidential version
must also be clearly marked at the top
and bottom of each page (either
‘‘PUBLIC VERSION’’ or ‘‘NONCONFIDENTIAL’’). Documents that are
submitted without any marking might
not be accepted or will be considered
public documents.
For any document containing
business confidential information
submitted as an electronic attached file
to an e-mail transmission, the file name
of the business confidential version
should begin with the characters ‘‘BC-’’,
and the file name of the public version
should begin with the characters ‘‘P-’’.
The ‘‘P-’’ or ‘‘BC-’’ should be followed
by the name of the party (government,
company, union, association, etc.)
which is making the submission.
E-mail submissions should not
include separate cover letters or
messages in the message area of the email; information that might appear in
any cover letter should be included
directly in the attached file containing
the submission itself, including the
sender’s e-mail address and other
identifying information. The e-mail
address for these submissions is
FR0441@USTR.GOV. Documents not
submitted in accordance with these
instructions might not be considered in
this review. If unable to provide
submissions by e-mail, please contact
the GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC to
E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM
14SEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 177 / Wednesday, September 14, 2005 / Notices
arrange for an alternative method of
transmission.
Public versions of all documents
relating to this review will be available
for review approximately two weeks
after the relevant due date by
appointment in the USTR public
reading room, 1724 F Street NW.,
Washington, DC. Appointments may be
made from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m.
[FR Doc. 05–18228 Filed 9–13–05; 8:45 am]
USTR is required to determine which of
those countries should be identified as
Priority Foreign Countries. On April 30,
2005, USTR announced the results of
the 2005 Special 301 review and stated
that Out-of-Cycle Reviews (OCRs)
would be conducted for Ukraine and
Saudi Arabia. USTR will conduct these
OCRs in the fall of 2005. USTR requests
written comments from the public
concerning the acts, policies, and
practices relevant for this review under
Section 182 of the Trade Act.
BILLING CODE 3901–W5–C
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Identification of Countries Under
Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974:
Request for Public Comment
Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
ACTION: Request for written submissions
from the public.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: Section 182 of the Trade Act
of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2242),
requires the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) to identify
countries that deny adequate and
effective protection of intellectual
property rights or deny fair and
equitable market access to U.S. persons
who rely on intellectual property
protection. Section 182 is commonly
referred to as the ‘‘Special 301’’
provision of the Trade Act. In addition,
VerDate Aug<18>2005
16:17 Sep 13, 2005
Jkt 205001
to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, by
calling (202) 395–6186.
Marideth J. Sandler,
Executive Director, Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) Program, Office of the U.S.
Trade Representative.
BILLING CODE 3901–W5–P
Submissions must be received on
or before 5 p.m. on Friday, October 14,
2005.
DATES:
Comments should be
addressed to Sybia Harrison, Special
Assistant to the Section 301 Committee,
and sent (i) electronically, to
FR0526@ustr.gov, with ‘‘Special 301
Out-of-Cycle Review: Ukraine and Saudi
Arabia’’ in the subject line, or (ii) by fax,
to (202) 395–9458, with a confirmation
copy sent electronically to the e-mail
address above.
ADDRESSES:
PO 00000
Frm 00087
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jennifer Choe Groves, Director for
Intellectual Property and Chair of the
Special 301 Committee, Office of the
United States Trade Representative,
(202) 395–4510.
Pursuant
to Section 182 of the Trade Act, USTR
must identify those countries that deny
adequate and effective protection for
intellectual property rights or deny fair
and equitable market access to U.S.
persons who rely on intellectual
property protection. Those countries
that have the most onerous or egregious
acts, policies, or practices and whose
acts, policies, or practices have the
greatest adverse impact (actual or
potential) on relevant U.S. products may
be identified as Priority Foreign
Countries. Acts, policies, or practices
that are the basis of a country’s
designation as a Priority Foreign
Country are normally the subject of an
investigation under the Section 301
provisions of the Trade Act.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM
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EN14SE05.002</GPH>
54436
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 14, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54435-54436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-18228]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program: Notice Regarding
the 2005 and Ongoing Country Practice Reviews
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the timetable for the hearing and
public comments on petitions requesting modifications in the status of
certain GSP beneficiary countries.
DATES: The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the schedule of
dates for conducting the annual country practice review unless
otherwise specified in a Federal Register notice. The current revised
schedule follows. Notification of any other changes will be given in
the Federal Register.
Notice of Public Hearing
A hearing will be held by the GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC on
November 30, 2005, beginning at 10 a.m., in combined Rooms 1 and 2,
1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC. The hearing will be open to the
public and a transcript of the hearing will be made available for
public inspection or can be purchased from the reporting company. No
electronic media coverage will be allowed.
All interested parties wishing to make an oral presentation at the
hearing must submit, following the ``Requirements for Submissions''
below, the name, address, telephone number, and facsimile number and e-
mail address, if available, of the witness(es) representing their
organization to Marideth Sandler, Executive Director of the GSP Program
and Chairman of the GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC by 5 p.m., November 9,
2005. Requests to present oral testimony in connection with the public
hearing must be accompanied by a written brief or statement, in
English, and also must be received by 5 p.m., November 9, 2005. Oral
testimony before the GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC will be limited to
five-minute presentations that summarize or supplement information
contained in briefs or statements submitted for the record. Post-
hearing briefs or statements will be accepted if they conform with the
regulations cited below and are submitted, in English, by 5 p.m.,
December 14, 2005. Parties not wishing to appear at the public hearing
may submit post-hearing written briefs or statements, in English, by 5
p.m., December 14, 2005.
Modifications to the list of countries eligible for GSP benefits
resulting from the 2005 Annual Review of Country Practice Cases will be
announced on or about June 30, 2006, in the Federal Register, and any
changes will take effect on the effective date announced.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The GSP Subcommittee, Office of the
United States Trade Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., Room F-220,
Washington, DC 20508. Telephone number is (202) 395-6971; fax number is
(202) 395-9481.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP statute, Title V of the Trade Act of
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) provides duty-free treatment to
designated eligible articles that are imported from designated
beneficiary developing countries. USTR has received a number of
petitions requesting that certain practices in certain beneficiary
developing countries be reviewed to determine whether such countries
are in compliance with the eligibility criteria set forth in sections
502(b) and 502(c) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(a), 2462(b), and
2462(c)).
Petitions Accepted for Review Regarding Country Practices
Pursuant to 15 CFR 2007.0(b), the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade
Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) has recommended, and the TPSC has
accepted, certain country practice petitions (see Annex A) to be
included in the 2005 Annual Review. Acceptance of a petition for review
is not indicative of the ultimate disposition of the petition.
Acceptance indicates only that the listed petitions warrant further
consideration.
Opportunities for Public Comment
The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC invites comments in support of or
in opposition to any petition that have been accepted for review.
Submissions should comply with 15 CFR Part 2007, except as modified
below.
Requirements for Submission
In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR will
accept only electronic e-mail submissions in response to this notice.
Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. These submissions
should be single-copy transmissions in English with the total
submission not to exceed 20 single-spaced standard letter-size pages.
E-mail submissions should use the following subject line: ``2005 GSP
Annual Country Practice Review'' followed by the subject country, case
number, and, as appropriate ``Written Comments'', ``Notice of Intent to
Testify'', ``Pre-hearing brief'', or ``Post-hearing brief''. Documents
must be submitted in English in one of the following formats: MSWord
(.DOC), WordPerfect (.WPD), or text (.TXT) files. Documents may not be
submitted as electronic image files or contain imbedded images (for
example, ``.JPG'', ``.TIF'', ``.PDF'', ``.BMP'', or ``.GIF'').
Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as
Excel files, formatted for printing on 8\1/2\ x 11 inch paper. Any data
attachments to the submission must be included in the same file as the
submission itself, and not as separate files.
If the submission contains business confidential information, a
non-confidential version of the submission must also be submitted that
indicates where confidential information was redacted by inserting
asterisks where material was deleted. In addition, the confidential
submission must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top
and bottom of each page of the document. The non-confidential version
must also be clearly marked at the top and bottom of each page (either
``PUBLIC VERSION'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL''). Documents that are
submitted without any marking might not be accepted or will be
considered public documents.
For any document containing business confidential information
submitted as an electronic attached file to an e-mail transmission, the
file name of the business confidential version should begin with the
characters ``BC-'', and the file name of the public version should
begin with the characters ``P-''. The ``P-'' or ``BC-'' should be
followed by the name of the party (government, company, union,
association, etc.) which is making the submission.
E-mail submissions should not include separate cover letters or
messages in the message area of the e-mail; information that might
appear in any cover letter should be included directly in the attached
file containing the submission itself, including the sender's e-mail
address and other identifying information. The e-mail address for these
submissions is FR0441@USTR.GOV. Documents not submitted in accordance
with these instructions might not be considered in this review. If
unable to provide submissions by e-mail, please contact the GSP
Subcommittee of the TPSC to
[[Page 54436]]
arrange for an alternative method of transmission.
Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be
available for review approximately two weeks after the relevant due
date by appointment in the USTR public reading room, 1724 F Street NW.,
Washington, DC. Appointments may be made from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1
p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, by calling (202) 395-6186.
Marideth J. Sandler,
Executive Director, Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program,
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
BILLING CODE 3901-W5-P
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN14SE05.002
[FR Doc. 05-18228 Filed 9-13-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3901-W5-C
