North American Free-Trade Agreement, Article 1904; NAFTA Panel Reviews; Request for Panel Review, 3051-3052 [E6-530]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3051-3052]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-530]



[[Page 3051]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


North American Free-Trade Agreement, Article 1904; NAFTA Panel 
Reviews; Request for Panel Review

AGENCY: NAFTA Secretariat, United States Section, International Trade 
Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of first request for panel review.

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SUMMARY: On January 11, 2006, Tembec Inc., Aspen Planers Ltd., Downie 
Timber Ltd., Federated Co-operatives Ltd., Gorman Bros. Lumber Ltd., 
Haida Forest Products Ltd., Kenora Forest Products Ltd., Lecours Lumber 
Co. Ltd., Liskeard Lumber Co. Ltd., Midway Lumber Mills Ltd., Mill & 
Timber Products Ltd., Nickel Lake Lumber, North Enderby Distribution 
Ltd., North Enderby Timber Ltd., Olav Haavaldsrud Timber Co. Ltd., 
Ontario Forest Industries Association and its members, Ontario Lumber 
Manufacturers Association and its members, R. Fryer Forest Products 
Ltd., Selkirk Specialty Wood Ltd., Tall Tree Lumber Co., and Tyee 
Timber Products Ltd. (collectively, ``the Plaintiffs'') filed a First 
Request for Panel Review with the United States Section of the NAFTA 
Secretariat pursuant to Article 1904 of the North American Free Trade 
Agreement. Seventeen additional Requests for Panel Review were filed on 
January 11, 2006 on behalf of Dunkley Lumber Ltd.; Abitibi-Consolidated 
Inc. (``ACI''), Abitibi-Consolidated Company of Canada (``ACCC''), 
Produits Forestiers Petits Paris Inc. (``PFPP''), Produits Forestiers 
La Tuque Inc. (``PFLT''), Produits Forestiers Saguenay Inc. (``PFS''), 
Societe en Commandite Opitciwan (``Opitciwan''), Gestofor--Inc., 
Scieries Saguenay Ltee., and Abitibi-LP Engineered Wood Inc.; the 
British Columbia Lumber Trade Council and its constituent associations: 
The Coast Forest & Lumber Association and the Council of Forest 
Industries; Weyerhaeuser Company; International Forest Products, Ltd. 
(``Interfor''); the Canadian Lumber Remanufacturers' Alliance 
(``CLRA''), and each of its individual members: Alpha Lumber Mills 
Inc., American Bayridge Corporation, Bois Neos Inc., Brittania Lumber 
Company Limited, Falcon Lumber Limited, Finmac Lumber Limited, Great 
Lakes MSR Lumber Ltd., Hughes Lumber Specialties Inc., Les Bois 
d'Oeuvre Beaudoin & Gauthier Inc., Mid America Lumber, Monterra Lumber 
Mills Limited, Nicholson and Cates Limited, Palliser Lumber Sales Ltd., 
Phoenix Forest Products Inc., Weston Forest Corp.; Buchanan Lumber 
Sales Inc., and the Buchanan affiliated mills, exporters and importers, 
and other affiliates, including Atikokan Forest Products Ltd.; Buchanan 
Forest Products Ltd.; Buchanan Northern Hardwoods Inc.; Long Lake 
Forest Products Inc. (including the Nakina division (Nakina Forest 
Products)); Buchanan Distribution Inc.; Great West Timber Limited; 
Dubreuil Forest Products Limited; Northern Sawmills Inc.; McKenzie 
Forest Products Inc.; and Solid Wood Products Inc.; Leggett & Platt 
Canada Co., Leggett & Platt Ltd., Leggett & Platt (B.C.) Ltd., and 
Leggett & Platt, Inc. and Pleasant Valley Remanufacturing Ltd.; West 
Fraser Mills, Ltd.; Doman Industries Limited, Doman Forest Products 
Limited, and Doman Western Lumber Ltd. (now doing business as Western 
Forest Products Inc. and its subsidiaries); Weldwood of Canada Limited; 
Tolko Industries Ltd. and its affiliates, Gilbert Smith Forest Products 
Ltd., Compwood Products Ltd., and Pinnacle Wood Products Ltd.; Millar 
Western Forest Products Ltd.; Riverside Forest Products Ltd.; Lignum 
Ltd.; Bowater Incorporated and Its Canadian Subsidiaries, Principally 
Bowater Canadian Forest Products Incorporated; Quebec Lumber 
Manufacturers Association (``QLMA'') and certain Quebec lumber 
producers, including: Clermond Hamel Ltee; Carrier & Begin Inc.; Gerard 
Crete et Fils Inc.; P. Proulx Forest Products Inc. (also known as 
Proulx, Proulx Forest Products Inc., and Produits Forestiers P. Proulx 
Inc.); Marcel Lauzon Inc.; Groupe Lebel; Lulumco Inc.; Industries 
Maibec Inc. (also known as Maibec Industries Inc.); Les Produits 
Forestiers D.G. Ltee.; Les Produits Forestiers Portbec Ltee. (also 
known as Portbec Forest Products Ltd.); Les Chantiers de Chibougamau 
Ltee.; Industries G.D.S. Inc.; G.D.S. Valoribois Inc.; Bois Marsoui 
G.D.S. Inc.; Bois Granval G.D.S. Inc.; Promobois G.D.S. Inc.; Paul 
Valee Inc.; Bois d'oeuvre Cedrico Inc. (also known as Cedrico Lumber 
Inc.); Scierie Lemay Inc.; Scierie Gauthier Ltee.; Industries Perron 
Inc.; Fenclo Ltee.; Barrette-Chapais Ltee.; Blanchette et Blanchette 
Inc.; Scierie Norbois Inc.; Les Scieries du Lac St.-Jean Inc.; Bois de 
l'est F.B. Inc.; Domtar Inc.; Arbec Forest Products Inc.; Uniforet 
Inc.; Uniforet Scierie-Pate; Bois Kheops Inc.; Les Produits Forestiers 
F.B.M. Inc.; Les Produits Forestiers Maxibois Inc.; Careau Bois Inc.; 
Les Produits Forestiers Dube Inc.; Armand Duhamel & Fils Inc.; 
Precibois Inc.; Byrnexco Inc.; Optibois Inc.; Max Meilleur et Fils 
Ltee.; Materiau Blanchet Inc.; Bois Cobodex (1995) Inc.; Bois Nor Que 
Wood Inc.; Produits Forestiers Berscifor Inc.; Boscus Canada Inc.; 
Rembos Inc.; Les Produits Forestiers Miradas Inc.; Scierie Alexandre 
Lemay et Fils Ltee.; Les Bois S.& P. Grondin Inc.; Wilfrid Paquet & 
Fils Ltee.; Beaubois Coaticook Inc.; Scierie Landrienne Inc.; 
Domexport, Inc.; Kruger, Inc.; Scierie Gallichan Inc.; Fontaine Inc. 
(doing business as J.A. Fontaine et fils Incorporee), Bois Fontaine, 
Gestion Natanis Inc., Les Placements Jean-Paul Fontaine Ltee.; 
Commonwealth Plywood Company Ltd. doing business as Bois Clo-Val 
(formerly Bois Clo-Val Inc.), and Les Enterprises Atlas (formerly Les 
Enterprises Atlas (1985) Inc.); Scierie Nord-Sud Inc. (also known as 
North-South Sawmill Inc.); Mobilier Rustique (Beauce) Inc.; and 
Bardeaux et Cedres St-Honore Inc. (also known as Bardeaux et Cedres), 
respectively. Panel review was requested of the final results of the 
antidumping duty administrative review made by the United States 
Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, respecting 
Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada. This determination was 
published in the Federal Register (70 FR 73437), on December 12, 2005. 
The NAFTA Secretariat has assigned Case Number USA-CDA-2006-1904-01 to 
this request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caratina L. Alston, United States 
Secretary, NAFTA Secretariat, Suite 2061, 14th and Constitution Avenue, 
Washington, DC 20230, (202) 482-5438.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Chapter 19 of the North American Free-Trade 
Agreement (``Agreement'') establishes a mechanism to replace domestic 
judicial review of final determinations in antidumping and 
countervailing duty cases involving imports from a NAFTA country with 
review by independent binational panels. When a Request for Panel 
Review is filed, a panel is established to act in place of national 
courts to review expeditiously the final determination to determine 
whether it conforms with the antidumping or countervailing duty law of 
the country that made the determination.
    Under Article 1904 of the Agreement, which came into force on 
January 1, 1994, the Government of the United States, the Government of 
Canada and the Government of Mexico established Rules of Procedure for 
Article 1904 Binational Panel Reviews (``Rules''). These Rules were 
published in the Federal Register on February 23, 1994 (59 FR 8686).

[[Page 3052]]

    A first Request for Panel Review was filed with the United States 
Section of the NAFTA Secretariat, pursuant to Article 1904 of the 
Agreement, on January 11, 2006, requesting panel review of the final 
determination described above.
    The Rules provide that:
    (a) A Party or interested person may challenge the final 
determination in whole or in part by filing a Complaint in accordance 
with Rule 39 within 30 days after the filing of the first Request for 
Panel Review (the deadline for filing a Complaint is February 10, 
2006);
    (b) A Party, investigating authority or interested person that does 
not file a Complaint but that intends to appear in support of any 
reviewable portion of the final determination may participate in the 
panel review by filing a Notice of Appearance in accordance with Rule 
40 within 45 days after the filing of the first Request for Panel 
Review (the deadline for filing a Notice of Appearance is February 27, 
2006); and
    (c) The panel review shall be limited to the allegations of error 
of fact or law, including the jurisdiction of the investigating 
authority, that are set out in the Complaints filed in the panel review 
and the procedural and substantive defenses raised in the panel review.

    Dated: January 12, 2006.
Caratina L. Alston,
United States Secretary, NAFTA Secretariat.
[FR Doc. E6-530 Filed 1-18-06; 8:45 am]
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