Trade Policy Staff Committee; Public Comments on the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act and the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act: Report to Congress, 60696-60697 [E7-21064]

Download as PDF mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES 60696 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 206 / Thursday, October 25, 2007 / Notices this guide lists the supplements reviewed, the edition, the supplement number, and the date on which the supplement was approved by the ASME Board on Nuclear Codes and Standards. Appendix B is a list of the Section XI Code Cases published by the ASME in the seven supplements. Finally, Appendix C is a current list of all Section XI Code Cases. Code cases approved by the NRC may be used voluntarily by licensees as an alternative to compliance with ASME Code provisions incorporated by reference into Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 50.55a. In October 2006, the NRC published proposed Revision 15 as DG–1134. The public comment period closed on January 2, 2007. The staff’s responses to the public comments are located in the NRC’s ADAMS, Accession Number ML072080205. Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 1.193, ‘‘ASME Code Cases Not Approved for Use,’’ lists the code cases that the NRC determined unacceptable for use on a generic basis. Licensees may request NRC approval to implement one or more of the code cases listed in Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 1.193, as provided in 10 CFR 50.55a(a)(3), which permits the use of alternatives to the code requirements referenced in 10 CFR 50.55a, provided the proposed alternatives result in an acceptable level of quality and safety. To do so licensees must submit a plant-specific request that addresses the NRC’s concerns about the code case at issue. On May 19, 2006, the NRC published a draft of this guide as DG–1135. The public comment period closed on July 14, 2006, and no comments were received. However, changes made to Regulatory Guides 1.84 and 1.147 resulted in changes to Regulatory Guide 1.193. Electronic copies of Regulatory Guides 1.84, 1.147 and 1.193 are available through the NRC’s public Web site under ‘‘Regulatory Guides’’ at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/. In addition, regulatory guides are available for inspection at the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR), which is located at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The PDR’s mailing address is USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555–0001. The PDR can also be reached by telephone at (301) 415–4737 or (800) 397–4209, by fax at (301) 415– 3548, and by e-mail to PDR@nrc.gov. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not required to reproduce them. VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:26 Oct 24, 2007 Jkt 214001 Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of October, 2007. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Brian W. Sheron, Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. E7–21017 Filed 10–24–07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Trade Policy Staff Committee; Public Comments on the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act and the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act: Report to Congress Office of the United States Trade Representative. ACTION: Notice and request for public comment. AGENCY: SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking the views of interested parties on the operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), as amended by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). Section 212(f) of the CBERA, as amended, requires the President to submit a report to Congress regarding the operation of the CBERA and CBTPA (together commonly referred to as the Caribbean Basin Initiative, or CBI) on or before December 31, 2001, and every two years thereafter. The TPSC invites written comments concerning the operation of the CBI, including comments on the performance of each CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary country, as the case may be, under the criteria described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended. This information will be used in the preparation of a report to the U.S. Congress on the operation of the program. DATES: Public comments are due at USTR no later than 5 p.m., November 16, 2007. ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: FR0803@ustr.eop.gov. Submissions by facsimile: Kent Shigetomi, Office of the Americas, at (202) 395–9675. The public is strongly encouraged to submit documents electronically rather than by facsimile. See requirements for submissions below. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Shigetomi, Office of the Americas, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., Room 523, Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395–3412. PO 00000 Frm 00080 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Interested parties are invited to submit comments on any aspect of the program’s operation, including the performance of CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary countries, as the case may be, under the criteria described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended, and provided below. Other issues to be examined in this report include: the CBI’s effect on the volume and composition of trade and investment between the United States and the Caribbean Basin beneficiary countries; and its effect in advancing U.S. trade policy goals as set forth in the CBTPA. The following countries are both CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary countries: Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines currently receive benefits only under CBERA. The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua ceased to be designated as beneficiary countries when the Dominican Republic—Central America—United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA–DR) entered into force for each country. The CAFTA–DR entered info for El Salvador on March 1, 2006; for Honduras on April 1, 2006; for Nicaragua on April 1, 2006; for Guatemala on July 1, 2006; and for the Dominican Republic on March 1, 2007. Comments on these five former beneficiary countries should pertain to the time period when each country was still a beneficiary country. When the CAFTA-DR enters into force for Costa Rica, that country will cease to be designated as a CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary country. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Eligibility Criteria for CBTPA Beneficiary Countries (Section 213(b)(5)(B) of CBERA) In determining whether to designate a country as a CBTPA beneficiary country, the President must take into account the criteria contained in sections 212(b) and (c) of CBERA, and other appropriate criteria, including the following: (1) Whether the beneficiary country has demonstrated a commitment to undertake its obligations under the WTO under or ahead of schedule and participate in negotiations toward the completion of the FTAA or another free trade agreement. (2) The extent to which the country provides protection of intellectual E:\FR\FM\25OCN1.SGM 25OCN1 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 206 / Thursday, October 25, 2007 / Notices mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES property rights consistent with or greater than the protection afforded under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. (3) The extent to which the country provides internationally recognized worker rights including— (I) The right of association; (II) The right to organize and bargain collectively; (III) A prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory labor; (IV) A minimum age for the employment of children; and (V) Acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health. (4) Whether the country has implemented its commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. (5) The extent to which the country has met U.S. counter-narcotics certification criteria under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. (6) The extent to which the country has taken steps to become a party to and implement the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption. (7) The extent to which the country applies transparent, nondiscriminatory and competitive procedures in government procurement, and contributes to efforts in international fora to develop and implement rules on transparency in government procurement. Additionally, before a country can receive benefits under the CBTPA, the President must also determine that the country has satisfied the requirements of section 213(b)(4)(A)(ii) of CBERA (19 U.S.C. 2703(b)(4)(A)(ii)) relating to the implementation of procedures and requirements similar in all material aspects to the relevant procedures and requirements contained in chapter 5 of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Requirements for Submissions Comments must be submitted in English by the deadline indicated above. In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, the Office of the United States Trade Representative strongly urges and prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in response to this notice. In the event that an e-mail submission is impossible, submissions should be made by facsimile. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. Persons making submissions by email should use the following subject line: ‘‘CBI Report to Congress.’’ Documents should be submitted as either WordPerfect, MSWord, Adobe PDF, or text (.TXT) files. Spreadsheets submitted as supporting documentation VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:26 Oct 24, 2007 Jkt 214001 are acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel files. Persons who make submissions by e-mail should not provide separate cover letters; information that might appear in a cover letter should be included in the submission itself. 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. Written comments, notice of testimony, and testimony will be placed in a file open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, except business confidential information exempt from public inspection in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. Business confidential information submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6 must be clearly marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’ at the top of each page, including any cover letter or cover page, and must be accompanied by a non-confidential version indicating where confidential information was redacted by inserting asterisks where material was deleted, as well as a nonconfidential summary of the confidential information. If any document submitted electronically contains business confidential information, 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 submitter. All public documents and non-confidential summaries shall be available for public inspection in the USTR Reading Room. The USTR Reading Room is open to the public, by appointment only, from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. An appointment to review the file must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance and may be made by calling (202) 395– 6186. Carmen Suro-Bredie, Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee. [FR Doc. E7–21064 Filed 10–24–07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3190–W8–P PO 00000 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–56680; File No. SR–CBOE– 2007–59] Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Minimum Quote Size Requirements for Hybrid Opening System Rotations October 19, 2007. Pursuant to section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2 notice is hereby given that on September 17, 2007, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (‘‘CBOE’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been substantially prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons. I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change The Exchange proposes to amend its minimum quote size requirements that are applicable to trading rotations conducted via the Hybrid Opening System (‘‘HOSS’’). The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange, on the Exchange’s Web site (https://www.cboe.org/Legal), and at the Commission’s Public Reference Room. II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements concerning the purpose of, and basis for the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such statements. 1 15 2 17 Frm 00081 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 60697 E:\FR\FM\25OCN1.SGM U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). CFR 240.19b–4. 25OCN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 206 (Thursday, October 25, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60696-60697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-21064]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Public Comments on the Caribbean 
Basin Economic Recovery Act and the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership 
Act: Report to Congress

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.

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

SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking the views 
of interested parties on the operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic 
Recovery Act (CBERA), as amended by the Caribbean Basin Trade 
Partnership Act (CBTPA) (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). Section 212(f) of the 
CBERA, as amended, requires the President to submit a report to 
Congress regarding the operation of the CBERA and CBTPA (together 
commonly referred to as the Caribbean Basin Initiative, or CBI) on or 
before December 31, 2001, and every two years thereafter. The TPSC 
invites written comments concerning the operation of the CBI, including 
comments on the performance of each CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary 
country, as the case may be, under the criteria described in sections 
212(b), 212(c), and 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended. This 
information will be used in the preparation of a report to the U.S. 
Congress on the operation of the program.

DATES: Public comments are due at USTR no later than 5 p.m., November 
16, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: FR0803@ustr.eop.gov. 
Submissions by facsimile: Kent Shigetomi, Office of the Americas, at 
(202) 395-9675. The public is strongly encouraged to submit documents 
electronically rather than by facsimile. See requirements for 
submissions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Shigetomi, Office of the 
Americas, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th 
Street, NW., Room 523, Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is 
(202) 395-3412.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested parties are invited to submit 
comments on any aspect of the program's operation, including the 
performance of CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary countries, as the case may 
be, under the criteria described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and 
213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended, and provided below. Other issues 
to be examined in this report include: the CBI's effect on the volume 
and composition of trade and investment between the United States and 
the Caribbean Basin beneficiary countries; and its effect in advancing 
U.S. trade policy goals as set forth in the CBTPA. The following 
countries are both CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary countries: Barbados, 
Belize, Costa Rica, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, and 
Trinidad and Tobago. Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, British 
Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, 
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines currently 
receive benefits only under CBERA. The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, 
Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua ceased to be designated as 
beneficiary countries when the Dominican Republic--Central America--
United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) entered into force for 
each country. The CAFTA-DR entered info for El Salvador on March 1, 
2006; for Honduras on April 1, 2006; for Nicaragua on April 1, 2006; 
for Guatemala on July 1, 2006; and for the Dominican Republic on March 
1, 2007. Comments on these five former beneficiary countries should 
pertain to the time period when each country was still a beneficiary 
country. When the CAFTA-DR enters into force for Costa Rica, that 
country will cease to be designated as a CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary 
country.

Eligibility Criteria for CBTPA Beneficiary Countries (Section 
213(b)(5)(B) of CBERA)

    In determining whether to designate a country as a CBTPA 
beneficiary country, the President must take into account the criteria 
contained in sections 212(b) and (c) of CBERA, and other appropriate 
criteria, including the following:
    (1) Whether the beneficiary country has demonstrated a commitment 
to undertake its obligations under the WTO under or ahead of schedule 
and participate in negotiations toward the completion of the FTAA or 
another free trade agreement.
    (2) The extent to which the country provides protection of 
intellectual

[[Page 60697]]

property rights consistent with or greater than the protection afforded 
under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property 
Rights.
    (3) The extent to which the country provides internationally 
recognized worker rights including--
    (I) The right of association;
    (II) The right to organize and bargain collectively;
    (III) A prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory 
labor;
    (IV) A minimum age for the employment of children; and
    (V) Acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, 
hours of work, and occupational safety and health.
    (4) Whether the country has implemented its commitments to 
eliminate the worst forms of child labor.
    (5) The extent to which the country has met U.S. counter-narcotics 
certification criteria under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
    (6) The extent to which the country has taken steps to become a 
party to and implement the Inter-American Convention Against 
Corruption.
    (7) The extent to which the country applies transparent, 
nondiscriminatory and competitive procedures in government procurement, 
and contributes to efforts in international fora to develop and 
implement rules on transparency in government procurement.
    Additionally, before a country can receive benefits under the 
CBTPA, the President must also determine that the country has satisfied 
the requirements of section 213(b)(4)(A)(ii) of CBERA (19 U.S.C. 
2703(b)(4)(A)(ii)) relating to the implementation of procedures and 
requirements similar in all material aspects to the relevant procedures 
and requirements contained in chapter 5 of the North American Free 
Trade Agreement.

Requirements for Submissions

    Comments must be submitted in English by the deadline indicated 
above. In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, the 
Office of the United States Trade Representative strongly urges and 
prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in response to this notice. In 
the event that an e-mail submission is impossible, submissions should 
be made by facsimile. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted.
    Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following 
subject line: ``CBI Report to Congress.'' Documents should be submitted 
as either WordPerfect, MSWord, Adobe PDF, or text (.TXT) files. 
Spreadsheets submitted as supporting documentation are acceptable as 
Quattro Pro or Excel files. Persons who make submissions by e-mail 
should not provide separate cover letters; information that might 
appear in a cover letter should be included in the submission itself. 
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.
    Written comments, notice of testimony, and testimony will be placed 
in a file open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, except 
business confidential information exempt from public inspection in 
accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. Business confidential information 
submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6 must be clearly marked 
``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of each page, including any cover 
letter or cover page, and must be accompanied by a non-confidential 
version indicating where confidential information was redacted by 
inserting asterisks where material was deleted, as well as a non-
confidential summary of the confidential information. If any document 
submitted electronically contains business confidential information, 
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 submitter. All public documents and non-
confidential summaries shall be available for public inspection in the 
USTR Reading Room. The USTR Reading Room is open to the public, by 
appointment only, from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday. An appointment to review the file must be scheduled at 
least 48 hours in advance and may be made by calling (202) 395-6186.

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. E7-21064 Filed 10-24-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W8-P
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