United States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act; Designation of Qualifying Industrial Zones, 69622-69623 [05-22750]

Download as PDF 69622 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 220 / Wednesday, November 16, 2005 / Notices telecommunications products and services of the United States that are in force with respect to the United States. The purpose of the review is to determine whether any act, policy, or practice of a country that has entered into a telecommunications trade agreement with the United States is inconsistent with the terms of such agreement or otherwise denies to U.S. firms, within the context of the terms of such agreements, mutually advantageous market opportunities. For the current review, the USTR seeks comments on: (1) Whether any WTO member is acting in a manner that is inconsistent with its commitments under WTO agreements affecting market opportunities for telecommunications products and services, e.g., the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (‘‘GATS’’), including the Annex on Telecommunications and any scheduled commitments including the Reference Paper on Pro-Competitive Regulatory Principles; (2) Whether Canada or Mexico has failed to comply with its telecommunications commitments or obligations under NAFTA; (3) Whether Chile, Singapore, or Australia, or any other FTA partner with an Agreement that comes into force on or before January 1, 2006 has failed to comply with its telecommunications commitments or obligations under the respective FTA between the United States and that country (see https:// www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/ Section_Index.html for U.S. FTAs); (4) Whether other countries have failed to comply with their commitments under additional telecommunications agreements with the United States, e.g., Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) for Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment (see https://www.tcc.mac.doc.gov for a collection of trade agreements, including ones related to telecommunications); and (5) Whether there remain outstanding issues from previous section 1377 reviews on those countries or issues previously cited (see https:// www.ustr.gov/Trade_Sectors/TelecomE-commerce/Section_1377/ Section_Index.html for the 2005 review); Public Comment and Reply Comment: Requirements for Submission All comments must be in English, identify on the first page of the comments the telecommunications trade agreement(s) discussed therein, and be submitted by noon on December 16, VerDate Aug<31>2005 13:56 Nov 15, 2005 Jkt 208001 2005. Reply comments must also be in English and be submitted by noon on January 13, 2006. Reply comments should only address issues raised by the comments. In order to ensure the most timely and expeditious receipt and consideration of comments and reply comments, USTR has arranged to accept submissions in electronic format (e-mail). Comments should be submitted electronically to FR0502@ustr.eop.gov. An automatic reply confirming receipt of e-mail submission will be sent. E-mail submissions in Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect are preferred. If a word processing application other than those two is used, please include in your submission the specific application used. For any document submitted electronically containing business confidential information, the file name of the business confidential version should begin with the characters ‘‘BC’’. Any page containing business confidential information must be clearly marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’ on the top of that page. Filers must also submit a public version of their comments. The file name of the public version should begin with the character ‘‘P’’. The ‘‘BC’’ and ‘‘P’’ should be followed by the name of the person or entity submitting the comments or reply comments. Interested persons who make submissions electronically should not provide separate cover letters; rather, information that might appear in a cover letter should be included in the submission itself. Similarly, to the extent possible, any attachments to the submission should be included in the same file as the submission itself and not as separate files. All nonconfidential comments and reply comments will be placed on the USTR Web site, https://www.USTR.gov, and in the USTR Reading Room for inspection shortly after the filing deadline, except business confidential information exempt from public inspection in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. We strongly urge use of the electronic filing procedures, if at all possible. If an e-mail submission is impossible, 15 copies of both the business confidential and the public versions must be delivered via private commercial courier, and arrangements must be made with Ms. Blue prior to delivery for their receipt. Ms. Blue should be contacted at (202) 395–3475. Because comments and reply comments will be posted on USTR’s Web site, those persons not availing themselves of electronic filing must submit their 15 copies with a diskette. An appointment to review the comments may be made by calling the PO 00000 Frm 00115 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 USTR Reading Room at (202) 395–6186. The USTR Reading Room is open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is located in Room 3 of 1724 F Street, NW. Carmen Suro-Bredie, Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee. [FR Doc. 05–22749 Filed 11–15–05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3190–W6–P OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE United States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act; Designation of Qualifying Industrial Zones Office of the United States Trade Representative. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: This provision will become effective upon publication. SUMMARY: Under the United States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act of 1985 (‘‘IFTA Act’’), articles of qualifying industrial zones encompassing portions of Israel and Jordan or Israel and Egypt are eligible to receive duty-free treatment. Effective upon publication of this notice, the United States Trade Representative, pursuant to authority delegated by the President, is designating the Central Delta zone of Egypt as a qualifying industrial zone and expanding the already-designated Greater Cairo and Suez Canal qualified industrial zones under the IFTA Act. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edmund Saums, Director for Middle East Affairs, (202) 395–4987, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to authority granted under section 9 of the IFTA Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2112 note), Presidential Proclamation 6955 of November 13, 1996 (61 FR 58761) proclaimed certain tariff treatment for articles of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and qualifying industrial zones. In particular, the Presidential Proclamation modified general notes 3 and 8 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States: (a) To provide duty-free treatment to qualifying articles that are the product of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or a qualifying industrial zone and are entered in accordance with the provisions of section 9 of the IFTA Act; (b) to provide that articles of Israel may be treated as though they were articles directly shipped from Israel for the purposes of the United States-Israel Free DATES: E:\FR\FM\16NON1.SGM 16NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 220 / Wednesday, November 16, 2005 / Notices Trade Area Agreement (‘‘the Agreement’’) even if shipped to the United States from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or a qualifying industrial zone, if the articles otherwise meet the requirements of the Agreement; and (c) to provide that the cost or value of materials produced in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or a qualifying industrial zone may be included in the cost or value of materials produced in Israel under section 1(c)(i) of Annex 3 of the Agreement and that the direct costs of processing operations performed in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or a qualifying industrial zone may be included in the direct costs of processing operations performed in Israel under section 1(c)(ii) of Annex 3 of the Agreement. Section 9(e) of the IFTA Act defines a ‘‘qualifying industrial zone’’ as an area that ‘‘(1) encompasses portions of the territory of Israel and Jordan or Israel and Egypt; (2) has been designated by local authorities as an enclave where merchandise may enter without payment of duty or excise taxes; and (3) has been specified by the President as a qualifying industrial zone.’’ Presidential Proclamation 6955 delegated to the United States Trade Representative the authority to designate qualifying industrial zones. The United States Trade Representative has previously designated qualifying industrial zones under Section 9 of the IFTA Act on March 13, 1998 (63 FR 12572), March 19, 1999 (64 FR 13623), October 15, 1999 (64 FR 56015), October 24, 2000 (65 FR 64472), December 12, 2000 (65 FR 77688), June 15, 2001 (66 FR 32660), January 28, 2004 (69 FR 4199) , and December 29, 2004 (69 FR 78094). The governments of Israel and Egypt jointly requested in a letter submitted to the United States Trade Representative on August 24, 2005, the designation as a qualifying industrial zone of areas comprising the Central Delta zone, as well as the expansion of the already designated Greater Cairo and Suez Canal qualified industrial zones. The names and locations of the factories comprising the Central Delta zone and the expanded areas of the Greater Cairo zone and Suez Canal zone are specified on maps and materials submitted by Egypt and Israel and on file with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Israel and Egypt have agreed that merchandise may enter, without payment of duty or excise taxes, areas under their respective customs control that comprise the Central Delta zone, Greater Cairo zone and Suez Canal zone. Further, the operation and administration of these zones are provided for in the previously VerDate Aug<31>2005 13:56 Nov 15, 2005 Jkt 208001 agreed ‘‘Protocol between the Government of the State of Israel and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt On Qualifying Industrial Zones.’’ Accordingly, the Central Delta zone, Greater Cairo zone and Suez Canal zone meet the criteria under sections 9(e)(1) and (2) of the IFTA Act. Therefore, pursuant to the authority delegated to me by Presidential Proclamation 6955, I hereby designate the areas occupied by the factories that comprise the Central Delta zone and the expanded Greater Cairo and Suez Canal zones as specified on maps and materials received from Egypt and Israel, as qualifying industrial zones under section 9 of the IFTA Act, effective upon the date of publication of this notice, applicable to articles shipped from these qualifying industrial zones after such date. Rob Portman, United States Trade Representative. [FR Doc. 05–22750 Filed 11–15–05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3190–W6–P DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration Proposed Advisory Circular 25–17A Revision, Transport Airplane Cabin Interiors Crashworthiness Handbook Federal Aviation Administration, DOT. ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed advisory circular (AC) 25–17A revision and request for comments. AGENCY: SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of and requests comments on a proposed advisory circular (AC) revision that sets forth acceptable methods of compliance with Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR), part 25, concerning the crashworthiness requirements as applied to cabin interiors. Like all ACs, it is not regulatory but provides guidance for applicants in demonstrating compliance with the objective safety standards set forth in part 25. This notice is necessary to give all interested persons an opportunity to present their views on the proposed AC. DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 16, 2006. ADDRESSES: Send all comments on the proposed AC to: Federal Aviation Administration, Attention: Jayson Claar, Airframe/Cabin Safety, ANM–115, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue SW, Renton, WA 98055–4056. Comments may be inspected at the PO 00000 Frm 00116 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 69623 above address between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays, except Federal holidays. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayson Claar at telephone number 425– 227–2194; fax number 425–227–1232. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments Invited Interested persons are invited to comment on the proposed AC revision by submitting such written data, views, or arguments, as they may desire. Commenters should identify AC 25–17A and submit comments, in duplicate, to the address specified above. The Transport Airplane Directorate will consider all communications received on or before the closing date for comments before issuing the final AC. The proposed AC revision can be found and downloaded from the Internet at https://www.airweb.faa.gov/rgl under ‘‘Draft Advisory Circulars.’’ A paper copy or a CD ROM (Adobe Acrobat Reader required) of the proposed AC may be obtained by contacting the person named above under the caption FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Because of the large size of this proposed AC (approximately 860 pages) and the time necessary for copying the document, expect extra time for fulfilling requests for paper copies. Discussion The proposed AC 25–17A revision contains guidance pertinent to the cabin safety and crashworthiness type certification requirements of part 25 as amended by Amendments 25–1 through 25–112. Previously, two ACs on this subject have been available to the public: • AC 25–17 was issued on 7/15/91. It covers Amendments 25–1 through 25– 59. • A proposed AC 25–17A revision was published on 10/7/99, for public comment. Itcovered Amendments 25–1 through 25–70. That revision was never issued as a final document. Several commentors to the 1999 draft revision requested that the format of the AC bechanged to repeat the complete regulatory text and all of the applicable guidance material at eachamendment level. The FAA agrees with those commentors and has revised the format of thisproposed revision to the AC to implement that change. This change, however, significantlyincreases the size of this document. The formats of the current version of the AC issued in 1991, and the 1999 proposedrevision presented the entire regulatory text and applicable guidance only when any regulatorysection is first included in the AC. For subsequent E:\FR\FM\16NON1.SGM 16NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 16, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69622-69623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-22750]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


United States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act; 
Designation of Qualifying Industrial Zones

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DATES: This provision will become effective upon publication.

SUMMARY: Under the United States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation 
Act of 1985 (``IFTA Act''), articles of qualifying industrial zones 
encompassing portions of Israel and Jordan or Israel and Egypt are 
eligible to receive duty-free treatment. Effective upon publication of 
this notice, the United States Trade Representative, pursuant to 
authority delegated by the President, is designating the Central Delta 
zone of Egypt as a qualifying industrial zone and expanding the 
already-designated Greater Cairo and Suez Canal qualified industrial 
zones under the IFTA Act.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edmund Saums, Director for Middle East 
Affairs, (202) 395-4987, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to authority granted under section 
9 of the IFTA Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2112 note), Presidential 
Proclamation 6955 of November 13, 1996 (61 FR 58761) proclaimed certain 
tariff treatment for articles of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and 
qualifying industrial zones. In particular, the Presidential 
Proclamation modified general notes 3 and 8 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States: (a) To provide duty-free treatment to 
qualifying articles that are the product of the West Bank, the Gaza 
Strip, or a qualifying industrial zone and are entered in accordance 
with the provisions of section 9 of the IFTA Act; (b) to provide that 
articles of Israel may be treated as though they were articles directly 
shipped from Israel for the purposes of the United States-Israel Free

[[Page 69623]]

Trade Area Agreement (``the Agreement'') even if shipped to the United 
States from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or a qualifying industrial 
zone, if the articles otherwise meet the requirements of the Agreement; 
and (c) to provide that the cost or value of materials produced in the 
West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or a qualifying industrial zone may be 
included in the cost or value of materials produced in Israel under 
section 1(c)(i) of Annex 3 of the Agreement and that the direct costs 
of processing operations performed in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or 
a qualifying industrial zone may be included in the direct costs of 
processing operations performed in Israel under section 1(c)(ii) of 
Annex 3 of the Agreement.
    Section 9(e) of the IFTA Act defines a ``qualifying industrial 
zone'' as an area that ``(1) encompasses portions of the territory of 
Israel and Jordan or Israel and Egypt; (2) has been designated by local 
authorities as an enclave where merchandise may enter without payment 
of duty or excise taxes; and (3) has been specified by the President as 
a qualifying industrial zone.'' Presidential Proclamation 6955 
delegated to the United States Trade Representative the authority to 
designate qualifying industrial zones.
    The United States Trade Representative has previously designated 
qualifying industrial zones under Section 9 of the IFTA Act on March 
13, 1998 (63 FR 12572), March 19, 1999 (64 FR 13623), October 15, 1999 
(64 FR 56015), October 24, 2000 (65 FR 64472), December 12, 2000 (65 FR 
77688), June 15, 2001 (66 FR 32660), January 28, 2004 (69 FR 4199) , 
and December 29, 2004 (69 FR 78094).
    The governments of Israel and Egypt jointly requested in a letter 
submitted to the United States Trade Representative on August 24, 2005, 
the designation as a qualifying industrial zone of areas comprising the 
Central Delta zone, as well as the expansion of the already designated 
Greater Cairo and Suez Canal qualified industrial zones. The names and 
locations of the factories comprising the Central Delta zone and the 
expanded areas of the Greater Cairo zone and Suez Canal zone are 
specified on maps and materials submitted by Egypt and Israel and on 
file with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Israel and Egypt 
have agreed that merchandise may enter, without payment of duty or 
excise taxes, areas under their respective customs control that 
comprise the Central Delta zone, Greater Cairo zone and Suez Canal 
zone. Further, the operation and administration of these zones are 
provided for in the previously agreed ``Protocol between the Government 
of the State of Israel and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt 
On Qualifying Industrial Zones.'' Accordingly, the Central Delta zone, 
Greater Cairo zone and Suez Canal zone meet the criteria under sections 
9(e)(1) and (2) of the IFTA Act.
    Therefore, pursuant to the authority delegated to me by 
Presidential Proclamation 6955, I hereby designate the areas occupied 
by the factories that comprise the Central Delta zone and the expanded 
Greater Cairo and Suez Canal zones as specified on maps and materials 
received from Egypt and Israel, as qualifying industrial zones under 
section 9 of the IFTA Act, effective upon the date of publication of 
this notice, applicable to articles shipped from these qualifying 
industrial zones after such date.

Rob Portman,
United States Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 05-22750 Filed 11-15-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P
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