Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning China's Compliance With WTO Commitments, 50286-50287 [2011-20483]

Download as PDF 50286 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 156 / Friday, August 12, 2011 / Notices OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning China’s Compliance With WTO Commitments Office of the United States Trade Representative. ACTION: Request for comments and notice of public hearing concerning China’s compliance with its WTO commitments. AGENCY: The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will convene a public hearing and seek public comment to assist the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the preparation of its annual report to the Congress on China’s compliance with the commitments made in connection with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). DATES: Persons wishing to testify at the hearing must provide written notification of their intention, as well as a copy of their testimony, by noon, Wednesday, September 21, 2011. Written comments are due by noon, Monday, September 26, 2011. A hearing will be held in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, October 5, 2011. ADDRESSES: Notifications of intent to testify and written comments should be submitted electronically via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov. For alternatives to on-line submissions, please contact Laura Newport, Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395– 3475. SUMMARY: For procedural questions concerning written comments or participation in the public hearing, contact Laura Newport, (202) 395–3475. All other questions should be directed to Terrence J. McCartin, Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for China Enforcement, (202) 395–3900, or Katherine C. Tai, Chief Counsel for China Enforcement, (202) 395–3150. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 1. Background China became a Member of the WTO on December 11, 2001. In accordance with section 421 of the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106–286), USTR is required to submit, by December 11 of each year, a report to Congress on China’s compliance with commitments made in connection with its accession to the WTO, including both multilateral commitments and any bilateral commitments made to the United States. In accordance with section 421, and to assist it in preparing VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:37 Aug 11, 2011 Jkt 223001 this year’s report, the TPSC is hereby soliciting public comment. Last year’s report is available on USTR’s Internet Web site (https://www.ustr.gov/ webfm_send/2596). The terms of China’s accession to the WTO are contained in the Protocol on the Accession of the People’s Republic of China (including its annexes) (Protocol), the Report of the Working Party on the Accession of China (Working Party Report), and the WTO agreements. The Protocol and Working Party Report can be found on the Department of Commerce Web page, https://www.mac.doc.gov/China/ WTOAccessionPackage.htm, or on the WTO Web site, https:// docsonline.wto.org (document symbols: WT/L/432, WT/MIN(01)/3, WT/ MIN(01)/3/Add.1, WT/MIN(01)/3/ Add.2). 2. Public Comment and Hearing USTR invites written comments and/ or oral testimony of interested persons on China’s compliance with commitments made in connection with its accession to the WTO, including, but not limited to, commitments in the following areas: (a) Trading rights; (b) import regulation (e.g., tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas, import licenses); (c) export regulation; (d) internal policies affecting trade (e.g., subsidies, standards and technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, government procurement, trade-related investment measures, taxes and charges levied on imports and exports); (e) intellectual property rights (including intellectual property rights enforcement); (f) services; (g) rule of law issues (e.g., transparency, judicial review, uniform administration of laws and regulations) and status of legal reform; and (h) other WTO commitments. In addition, given the United States’ view that China should be held accountable as a full participant in, and beneficiary of, the international trading system, USTR requests that interested persons specifically identify unresolved compliance issues that warrant review and evaluation by USTR’s China Enforcement Task Force. Written comments must be received no later than noon, Monday, September 26, 2011. A hearing will be held on Wednesday, October 5, 2011, in Room 1, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. If necessary, the hearing will continue on the next business day. Persons wishing to testify orally at the hearing must provide written notification of their intention by noon, Wednesday, September 21, 2011. The notification should include: (1) The name, address, PO 00000 Frm 00121 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 and telephone number of the person presenting the testimony; and (2) a short (one or two paragraph) summary of the presentation, including the commitments at issue and, as applicable, the product(s) (with HTSUS numbers), service sector(s), or other subjects to be discussed. A copy of the testimony must accompany the notification. Remarks at the hearing should be limited to no more than five minutes to allow for possible questions from the TPSC. All documents should be submitted in accordance with the instructions in section 3 below. 3. Requirements for Submissions Persons submitting a notification of intent to testify and/or written comments must do so in English and must identify (on the first page of the submission) ‘‘China’s WTO Compliance.’’ In order to ensure the most timely and expeditious receipt and consideration of comments, USTR has arranged to accept on-line submissions via https:// www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via https:// www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR–2011–0005 on the home page and click ‘‘go’’. The site will provide a search-results page listing all documents associated with this docket. Find a reference to this notice by selecting ‘‘Notice’’ under ‘‘Document Type’’ on the left side of the searchresults page, and click on the link entitled ‘‘Send a Comment or Submission.’’ (For further information on using the https://www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on ‘‘How to Use This Site’’ on the left side of the home page.) The https://www.regulations.gov Web site provides the option of making submissions by filling in a ‘‘General Comments’’ field, or by attaching a document. We expect that most submissions will be provided in an attached document. If a document is attached, it is sufficient to type ‘‘See attached’’ in the ‘‘General Comments’’ field. Submit any documents containing business confidential information with a file name beginning with the characters ‘‘BC’’. Submit, as a separate submission, a public version of the submission with a file name beginning with the character ‘‘P’’. The ‘‘BC’’ and ‘‘P’’ should be followed by the name of the person or entity submitting the comments. For comments that contain no business confidential information, the file name should begin with the character ‘‘P’’, followed by the name of the person or E:\FR\FM\12AUN1.SGM 12AUN1 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 156 / Friday, August 12, 2011 / Notices entity submitting the comments. Electronic submissions should not attach separate cover letters; rather, information that might appear in a cover letter should be included in the comments you submit. Similarly, to the extent possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments to a submission in the same file as the submission itself and not as separate files. We strongly urge submitters to use electronic filing. If an on-line submission is impossible, alternative arrangements must be made with Ms. Newport prior to delivery for the receipt of such submissions. Ms. Newport may be contacted at (202) 395–3475. General information concerning USTR may be obtained by accessing its Internet Web site (https://www.ustr.gov). Donald W. Eiss, Acting Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee. [FR Doc. 2011–20483 Filed 8–11–11; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3190–W1–P OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Request for Public Comments To Compile the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers and Reports on Sanitary and Phytosanitary and Standards-Related Foreign Trade Barriers Office of the United States Trade Representative. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: Pursuant to section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2241), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is required to publish annually the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE). With this notice, the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is requesting interested persons to submit comments to assist it in identifying significant barriers to U.S. exports of goods, services, and U.S. foreign direct investment for inclusion in the NTE. Once again, the TPSC is requesting that comments on standards-related measures and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures that create barriers to U.S. exports be submitted separately from other NTE comments. This will assist USTR in updating two reports issued in 2011 in conjunction with the release of the NTE highlighting SPS and standards-related measures that may be inconsistent with international trade agreements to which the United States is a party or that otherwise act as significant barriers to mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:37 Aug 11, 2011 Jkt 223001 U.S. exports. These reports were published as the 2011 Report on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (2011 SPS Report) and the 2011 Report on Technical Barriers to Trade (2011 TBT Report) respectively. The TPSC invites written comments from the public on issues that USTR should examine in preparing the NTE and the reports on SPS and standardsrelated measures. DATES: Public comments are due not later than October 4, 2011. ADDRESSES: Submissions should be made via the Internet at https:// www.regulations.gov under the following dockets (based on the subject matter of the submission): SPS Measures: USTR–2011–0006. Standards-Related Measures: USTR– 2011–0007. All Other Measures: USTR–USTR– 2011–0008. For alternatives to on-line submissions please contact Laura Newport at USTR (202–395–3475). The public is strongly encouraged to file submissions electronically rather than by facsimile or mail. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the NTE or on submitting comments in response to this notice should be directed to Laura Newport at (202) 395–3475. Questions regarding the SPS report or substantive questions concerning comments on SPS measures should be directed to Jane Doherty, Director of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Affairs, USTR (202–395– 6127). Questions regarding the report on standards-related measures or substantive questions concerning comments on those measures should be directed to Jeff Weiss, Senior Director, Technical Barriers to Trade, USTR (202– 395–4498). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NTE sets out an inventory of the most important foreign barriers affecting U.S. exports of goods and services, U.S. foreign direct investment, and protection of intellectual property rights. The inventory facilitates U.S. negotiations aimed at reducing or eliminating these barriers. The report also provides a valuable tool in enforcing U.S. trade laws and strengthening the rules-based trading system. The 2011 NTE, SPS, and TBT Reports may be found on USTR’s Internet Home Page (https:// www.ustr.gov) under the tab ‘‘Reports’’. To ensure compliance with the NTE’s statutory mandate and the Obama Administration’s commitment to focus on the most significant foreign trade barriers, USTR will be guided by the existence of active private sector interest PO 00000 Frm 00122 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 50287 in deciding which restrictions to include in the NTE and the reports on SPS and standards-related measures. Topics on which the TPSC Seeks Information: To assist USTR in preparing the NTE and the reports on SPS and standards-related measures, commenters should submit information related to one or more of the following categories of foreign trade barriers: (1) Import policies (e.g., tariffs and other import charges, quantitative restrictions, import licensing, and customs barriers); (2) SPS measures; (3) Standards-related measures (including standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures); (4) Government procurement restrictions (e.g., ’’buy national policies’’ and closed bidding); (5) Export subsidies (e.g., export financing on preferential terms and agricultural export subsidies that displace U.S. exports in third country markets); (6) Lack of intellectual property protection (e.g., inadequate patent, copyright, and trademark regimes); (7) Services barriers (e.g., limits on the range of financial services offered by foreign financial institutions, regulation of international data flows, restrictions on the use of data processing, quotas on imports of foreign films, and barriers to the provision of services by professionals); (8) Investment barriers (e.g., limitations on foreign equity participation and on access to foreign government-funded R&D consortia, local content, technology transfer and export performance requirements, and restrictions on repatriation of earnings, capital, fees, and royalties); (9) Government-tolerated anticompetitive conduct of state-owned or private firms that restricts the sale or purchase of U.S. goods or services in the foreign country’s markets; (10) Trade restrictions affecting electronic commerce (e.g., tariff and non-tariff measures, burdensome and discriminatory regulations and standards, and discriminatory taxation); and (11) Other barriers (e.g., barriers that encompass more than one category, such as bribery and corruption, or that affect a single sector). Reports on SPS and StandardsRelated Measures: On March 30, 2011, USTR published two reports in conjunction with the release of the NTE focusing on foreign trade barriers—one on SPS measures and the other on standards-related measures. These reports serve as tools to bring greater E:\FR\FM\12AUN1.SGM 12AUN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 156 (Friday, August 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50286-50287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20483]



[[Page 50286]]

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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning 
China's Compliance With WTO Commitments

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for comments and notice of public hearing concerning 
China's compliance with its WTO commitments.

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

SUMMARY: The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will 
convene a public hearing and seek public comment to assist the Office 
of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the preparation of 
its annual report to the Congress on China's compliance with the 
commitments made in connection with its accession to the World Trade 
Organization (WTO).

DATES: Persons wishing to testify at the hearing must provide written 
notification of their intention, as well as a copy of their testimony, 
by noon, Wednesday, September 21, 2011. Written comments are due by 
noon, Monday, September 26, 2011. A hearing will be held in Washington, 
DC, on Wednesday, October 5, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Notifications of intent to testify and written comments 
should be submitted electronically via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov. For alternatives to on-line submissions, please 
contact Laura Newport, Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-3475.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
written comments or participation in the public hearing, contact Laura 
Newport, (202) 395-3475. All other questions should be directed to 
Terrence J. McCartin, Deputy Assistant United States Trade 
Representative for China Enforcement, (202) 395-3900, or Katherine C. 
Tai, Chief Counsel for China Enforcement, (202) 395-3150.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

    China became a Member of the WTO on December 11, 2001. In 
accordance with section 421 of the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000 
(Pub. L. 106-286), USTR is required to submit, by December 11 of each 
year, a report to Congress on China's compliance with commitments made 
in connection with its accession to the WTO, including both 
multilateral commitments and any bilateral commitments made to the 
United States. In accordance with section 421, and to assist it in 
preparing this year's report, the TPSC is hereby soliciting public 
comment. Last year's report is available on USTR's Internet Web site 
(https://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2596).
    The terms of China's accession to the WTO are contained in the 
Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China (including 
its annexes) (Protocol), the Report of the Working Party on the 
Accession of China (Working Party Report), and the WTO agreements. The 
Protocol and Working Party Report can be found on the Department of 
Commerce Web page, https://www.mac.doc.gov/China/WTOAccessionPackage.htm, or on the WTO Web site, https://docsonline.wto.org (document symbols: WT/L/432, WT/MIN(01)/3, WT/
MIN(01)/3/Add.1, WT/MIN(01)/3/Add.2).

2. Public Comment and Hearing

    USTR invites written comments and/or oral testimony of interested 
persons on China's compliance with commitments made in connection with 
its accession to the WTO, including, but not limited to, commitments in 
the following areas: (a) Trading rights; (b) import regulation (e.g., 
tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas, import licenses); (c) export 
regulation; (d) internal policies affecting trade (e.g., subsidies, 
standards and technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary 
measures, government procurement, trade-related investment measures, 
taxes and charges levied on imports and exports); (e) intellectual 
property rights (including intellectual property rights enforcement); 
(f) services; (g) rule of law issues (e.g., transparency, judicial 
review, uniform administration of laws and regulations) and status of 
legal reform; and (h) other WTO commitments. In addition, given the 
United States' view that China should be held accountable as a full 
participant in, and beneficiary of, the international trading system, 
USTR requests that interested persons specifically identify unresolved 
compliance issues that warrant review and evaluation by USTR's China 
Enforcement Task Force.
    Written comments must be received no later than noon, Monday, 
September 26, 2011.
    A hearing will be held on Wednesday, October 5, 2011, in Room 1, 
1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. If necessary, the hearing 
will continue on the next business day. Persons wishing to testify 
orally at the hearing must provide written notification of their 
intention by noon, Wednesday, September 21, 2011. The notification 
should include: (1) The name, address, and telephone number of the 
person presenting the testimony; and (2) a short (one or two paragraph) 
summary of the presentation, including the commitments at issue and, as 
applicable, the product(s) (with HTSUS numbers), service sector(s), or 
other subjects to be discussed. A copy of the testimony must accompany 
the notification. Remarks at the hearing should be limited to no more 
than five minutes to allow for possible questions from the TPSC.
    All documents should be submitted in accordance with the 
instructions in section 3 below.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    Persons submitting a notification of intent to testify and/or 
written comments must do so in English and must identify (on the first 
page of the submission) ``China's WTO Compliance.''
    In order to ensure the most timely and expeditious receipt and 
consideration of comments, USTR has arranged to accept on-line 
submissions via https://www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via 
https://www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2011-0005 on the 
home page and click ``go''. The site will provide a search-results page 
listing all documents associated with this docket. Find a reference to 
this notice by selecting ``Notice'' under ``Document Type'' on the left 
side of the search-results page, and click on the link entitled ``Send 
a Comment or Submission.'' (For further information on using the https://www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult the resources provided on 
the Web site by clicking on ``How to Use This Site'' on the left side 
of the home page.)
    The https://www.regulations.gov Web site provides the option of 
making submissions by filling in a ``General Comments'' field, or by 
attaching a document. We expect that most submissions will be provided 
in an attached document. If a document is attached, it is sufficient to 
type ``See attached'' in the ``General Comments'' field.
    Submit any documents containing business confidential information 
with a file name beginning with the characters ``BC''. Submit, as a 
separate submission, a public version of the submission with a file 
name beginning with the character ``P''. The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be 
followed by the name of the person or entity submitting the comments. 
For comments that contain no business confidential information, the 
file name should begin with the character ``P'', followed by the name 
of the person or

[[Page 50287]]

entity submitting the comments. Electronic submissions should not 
attach separate cover letters; rather, information that might appear in 
a cover letter should be included in the comments you submit. 
Similarly, to the extent possible, please include any exhibits, 
annexes, or other attachments to a submission in the same file as the 
submission itself and not as separate files.
    We strongly urge submitters to use electronic filing. If an on-line 
submission is impossible, alternative arrangements must be made with 
Ms. Newport prior to delivery for the receipt of such submissions. Ms. 
Newport may be contacted at (202) 395-3475.
    General information concerning USTR may be obtained by accessing 
its Internet Web site (https://www.ustr.gov).

Donald W. Eiss,
Acting Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 2011-20483 Filed 8-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W1-P
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