60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Reporting Requirements for Responsible Investment in Burma, 46786-46788 [2012-19283]
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46786
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 151 / Monday, August 6, 2012 / Notices
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Exchange
Act. Comments may be submitted by
any of the following methods:
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.19
Kevin M. O’Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012–19144 Filed 8–3–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
Electronic Comments
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
• Use the Commission’s Internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File
Number SR–CBOE–2012–049 on the
subject line.
[Public Notice 7971]
Paper Comments
Notice of request for public
comments.
ACTION:
The Department of State is
seeking Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) approval for the
information collection described below.
The purpose of this notice is to allow 60
days for public comment in the Federal
Register preceding submission to OMB.
We are conducting this process in
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: The Department will accept
comments from the public up to October
5, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• Web: Persons with access to the
Internet may view and comment on this
notice by going to the Federal
regulations Web site at
www.regulations.gov. You can search for
the document by: selecting ‘‘Notice’’
under Document Type, entering the
Public Notice number as the ‘‘Keyword
or ID’’, checking the ‘‘Open for
Comment’’ box, and then click
‘‘Search’’. If necessary, use the ‘‘Narrow
by Agency’’ option on the Results page.
• Email: BurmaPRA@state.gov.
• Mail (paper, or CD submissions):
U.S. Department of State, DRL/EAP
Suite 7817, Burma Human Rights
Officer, 2201 C St. NW., Washington,
DC 20520.
• Fax: None.
• Hand Delivery or Courier: None.
You must include the DS form
number (if applicable), information
collection title, and OMB control
number in any correspondence.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Direct requests for additional
information regarding the collection
listed in this notice, including requests
for copies of the proposed information
collection and supporting documents, to
Stacey May, U.S. Department of State,
SUMMARY:
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary,
Securities and Exchange Commission,
100 F Street NE., Washington, DC
20549–1090.
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
60–Day Notice of Proposed
Information Collection: Reporting
Requirements for Responsible
Investment in Burma
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–CBOE–2012–049. This file
number should be included on the
subject line if email is used. To help the
Commission process and review your
comments more efficiently, please use
only one method. The Commission will
post all comments on the Commission’s
Internet Web site (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
submission, all subsequent
amendments, all written statements
with respect to the proposed rule
change that are filed with the
Commission, and all written
communications relating to the
proposed rule change between the
Commission and any person, other than
those that may be withheld from the
public in accordance with the
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
available for Web site viewing and
printing in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20549, on official
business days between the hours of 10
a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also
will be available for inspection and
copying at the principal office of the
Exchange. All comments received will
be posted without change; the
Commission does not edit personal
identifying information from
submissions. You should submit only
information that you wish to make
available publicly. All submissions
should refer to File Number SR–CBOE–
2012–049 and should be submitted on
or before August 27, 2012.
19 17
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CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
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Sfmt 4703
DRL/EAP Suite 7817, 2201 C St. NW.,
Washington, DC 20520, who may be
reached on 202–647–8260 or at
maysa2@state.gov.
• Title of
Information Collection: Reporting
Requirements on Responsible
Investment in Burma.
• OMB Control Number: None.
• Type of Request: New Collection.
• Originating Office: U.S. Department
of State, DRL/EAP.
• Form Number: None.
• Respondents: U.S. persons and
entities engaged in new investment in
Burma in an amount over $500,000 in
aggregate, per OFAC General License 17,
which authorizes new investment in
Burma.
• Estimated Number of Respondents:
150.
• Estimated Number of Responses:
150.
• Average Hours Per Response: 21
hours.
• Total Estimated Burden: 3,150
hours.
• Frequency: Annually.
• Obligation to Respond: Mandatory.
We are soliciting public comments to
permit the Department to:
• Evaluate whether the proposed
information collection is necessary for
the proper performance of our
functions.
• Evaluate the accuracy of our
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used.
• Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected.
• Minimize the reporting burden on
those who are to respond, including the
use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of technology.
Abstract of proposed collection:
Section 203(a)(1)(B) of the
International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (IEEPA) grants the President
authority to, inter alia, prevent or
prohibit any acquisition or transaction
involving any property, in which a
foreign country or a national thereof has
any interest, by any person, or with
respect to any property, subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States, if the
President declares a national emergency
with respect to any unusual and
extraordinary threat, which has its
source in whole or substantial part
outside the United States, to the
national security, foreign policy, or
economy of the United States. See 50
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.
In Executive Order 13047 of May 20,
1997, the President determined that the
actions and policies of the Government
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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06AUN1
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 151 / Monday, August 6, 2012 / Notices
of Burma, including its large-scale
repression of the democratic opposition
in Burma, constituted an unusual and
extraordinary threat to the national
security and foreign policy of the United
States, declared a national emergency to
deal with that threat, and prohibited
new investment in Burma. In
subsequent Executive Orders, the
President modified the scope of the
national emergency to address
additional concerns with the actions
and policies of the Government of
Burma. In Executive Order 13448 of
October 18, 2007, the President
modified the emergency to address the
continued repression of the democratic
opposition in Burma, manifested in part
through the commission of human
rights abuses and pervasive public
corruption. In Executive Order 13619 of
July 11, 2012, the President further
modified the emergency to address,
inter alia, human rights abuses
particularly in ethnic areas. In response
to several political reforms by the
Government of Burma and pursuant to
authority granted by IEEPA, the
Department of the Treasury’s Office of
Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a
general license (GL 17) on July 11, 2012
authorizing new investment in Burma,
subject to certain restrictions and
conditions.
In order to support the Department of
State’s efforts to assess the extent to
which new U.S. investment authorized
by GL 17 furthers U.S. foreign policy
goals of improving human rights
protections and facilitating political
reform in Burma, GL 17 requires U.S.
persons engaging in new investment in
Burma to report to the Department of
State information related to such
investment, as laid out in the
‘‘Reporting Requirements on
Responsible Investment in Burma,’’
(hereafter referred to as the
‘‘collection’’). This collection is
authorized by section 203(a)(2) of
IEEPA, which grants the President
authority to keep a full record of, and
to furnish under oath, in the form of
reports or otherwise, complete
information relative to any act or
transaction referred to in section
203(a)(1) of IEEPA.
A copy of the ‘‘Reporting
Requirements on Responsible
Investment’’ can be reviewed at https://
www.humanrights.gov/wp-content/
uploads/2012/07/Burma-ResponsibleInvestment-Reporting-Reqs.pdf.
Methodology:
The Department of State will collect
the information requested via electronic
submission.
Additional Information:
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17:11 Aug 03, 2012
Jkt 226001
It is the overarching policy goal of the
U.S. Government to support political
reform in Burma towards the
establishment of a peaceful, prosperous,
and democratic state that respects
human rights and the rule of law. In the
past, some foreign investment in Burma
has been linked to human rights abuses,
particularly in the area of natural
resource development in ethnic
minority regions. For example, some
foreign investments have entailed
acquisition and control of land in
disputed ethnic minority territories
exacerbating or contributing to both
social unrest and armed conflict and
leading to adverse community and
environmental impacts. Increased
military/security presence in disputed
ethnic minority areas to provide
security for foreign investment projects
is reported to have led to seizures of
farm land, involuntary relocations,
forced labor, torture, summary
execution, and sexual violence. In June
2011, a 17-year ceasefire agreement with
the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)
broke down, and both the Burmese
Government and the KIA have since
publicly attributed the renewed armed
fighting at least partially to foreignfunded investment projects, which
include power generation, oil and gas,
jade, and gold mining investment
projects in the region. The Burma Army
has reportedly forced civilians to work
as porters and human mine sweepers in
northern Shan State in connection with
the Shwe Gas pipeline and there have
been numerous recent reports of forced
labor, torture, forced conscription, rape
and sexual violence in Kachin and Shan
states along the Shwe Gas pipeline
corridor.
The collection will help the
Department of State, in consultation
with other relevant government
agencies, to evaluate whether easing the
ban on investment by U.S. persons
advances U.S. foreign policy goals to
address the national emergency with
respect to Burma. In addition, the
Department of State will use the
collection as a basis to conduct
informed consultations with U.S.
businesses to encourage and assist such
businesses to develop robust policies
and procedures to address any potential
adverse human rights, worker rights,
anti-corruption, environmental, or other
impacts resulting from their investments
and operations in Burma. The
Department of State will use the
collection of information about new
investment with the Myanmar Oil and
Gas Enterprise (MOGE) to track
investment that involves MOGE and to
identify investors with whom it may be
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
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46787
beneficial to have targeted consultation
on anti-corruption and human rights
policies. The public, including civil
society actors in Burma, may use
publicly available information resulting
from the collection to engage U.S.
businesses on their responsible
investment policies and procedures and
to monitor the Burmese government’s
management of revenues from
investment.
U.S. persons to whom this
requirement applies will be required to
submit a version of the report to the U.S.
Government for public release, from
which information considered in good
faith to be exempt from disclosure
under FOIA Exemption 4—i.e. trade
secrets or commercial or financial
information that is privileged or
confidential—may be withheld. The
Department of State will make this
version of the report publically available
in order to promote transparency with
respect to new U.S. investments in
Burma. In the past, the absence of
transparency or publicly available
information with respect to foreign
investment activities in Burma has
contributed to corruption and misuse of
public funds, the erosion of public trust,
and social unrest in ethnic minority
areas and has led to further human
rights abuses and repression by the
government and military. Public
disclosure of certain aspects of the
collection therefore will promote the
policy of transparency through new U.S.
investment, a key U.S. foreign policy
objective in Burma.
Burmese civil society groups,
particularly those representing ethnic
minority communities, have requested
that the Department of State make
public certain information obtained
through the collection on investments
purportedly made for the benefit of the
Burmese people, as a means of holding
their own government accountable.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi, leader of Burma’s democratic
opposition party and recently elected to
a seat in Burma’s parliament, also
underscored the importance of
transparency in her recent remarks in
Bangkok, noting that she did not want
‘‘more investment to mean more
possibilities for corruption.’’ This was
among the most specific of the
recommendations she made to the
international community, stressing that
‘‘Transparency is very important if we
are going to avoid problems in the
future* * * So whatever investments,
governmental agreements, whatever aid
might be proposed, please make sure
that it is transparent, that the people of
Burma are in a position to understand
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06AUN1
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 151 / Monday, August 6, 2012 / Notices
what has been done, and how and for
whom the benefits are intended.’’
Therefore public release of portions of
this collection is aimed at providing
civil society this type of information to
both ensure the transparency of U.S.
investment in Burma and to encourage
civil society to partner with their
government and U.S. companies
towards building responsible
investment, which ultimately promotes
U.S. foreign policy goals.
Dated: July 31, 2012.
Daniel Baer,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Department of
State.
[FR Doc. 2012–19283 Filed 8–2–12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4710–18–P
TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Dispute No. WT/DS440/1]
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding
Regarding China—Anti-Dumping and
Countervailing Duties on Certain
Automobiles From the United States
fax only to Sandy McKinzy at (202)
395–3640.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan
Stirk, Associate General Counsel, Office
of the United States Trade
Representative, (202) 395–3150; and
Joseph Rieras, Assistant General
Counsel, Office of the United States
Trade Representative, (202) 395–3150.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USTR is
providing notice that consultations have
been requested pursuant to the WTO
Understanding on Rules and Procedures
Governing the Settlement of Disputes
(‘‘DSU’’). If such consultations should
fail to resolve the matter and a dispute
settlement panel is established pursuant
to the DSU, such a panel, which would
hold its meetings in Geneva,
Switzerland, would be expected to issue
a report on its findings and
recommendations within nine months
after it is established.
Major Issues Raised by the United
States
On July 9, 2012, the United States
requested consultations concerning
China’s antidumping and countervailing
AGENCY: Office of the United States
duty measures on certain automobiles
Trade Representative.
from the United States. In November
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
2009, China initiated antidumping and
SUMMARY: The Office of the United
countervailing duty investigations on
States Trade Representative (‘‘USTR’’) is exports of certain automobiles from the
providing notice that on July 9, 2012,
United States. In December 2011, China
the United States requested
imposed antidumping and
consultations with the Government of
countervailing duties on those products.
the People’s Republic of China
In the course of its antidumping and
(‘‘China’’) under the Marrakesh
countervailing investigations
Agreement Establishing the World Trade concerning certain automobiles from the
Organization (‘‘WTO Agreement’’)
United States, and in imposing duties
concerning China’s antidumping and
on those products, China appears to
countervailing duty measures on certain have acted inconsistently with its
automobiles from the United States.
obligations under the General
That request may be found at
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
www.wto.org, contained in a document
(‘‘GATT 1994’’), the Agreement on
designated as WT/DS440/1. USTR
Implementation of Article VI of the
invites written comments from the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
public concerning the issues raised in
1994 (‘‘AD Agreement’’), and the
this dispute.
Agreement on Subsidies and
DATES: Although USTR will accept any
Countervailing Measures (‘‘SCM
comments received during the course of Agreement’’). China’s actions which
the dispute settlement proceedings,
appear to be inconsistent with its
comments should be submitted on or
obligations include initiation of an
before August 31, 2012 to assure timely
investigation without sufficient
consideration by USTR.
evidence, failure to disclose essential
facts underlying its conclusions, failure
ADDRESSES: Public comments should be
to adequately explain its findings and
submitted electronically at
conclusions in sufficient detail, failure
www.regulations.gov, docket number
to provide non-confidential summaries
USTR–2012–0016. If you are unable to
of submissions, failure to objectively
provide submissions at
examine the evidence, failure to make
www.regulations.gov , please contact
determinations based on positive
Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395–9483 to
evidence, and failure to disclose
arrange for an alternative method of
calculations and data used to reach its
transmission.
If (as explained below) the comment
conclusions.
Specifically, the United States asserts
contains confidential information, then
in the request for consultations that
the comment should be submitted by
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17:11 Aug 03, 2012
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China’s antidumping and countervailing
duty measures on certain automobiles
from the United States appear to be
inconsistent with the following
provisions of the GATT 1994, the AD
Agreement, and the SCM Agreement:
1. Articles 5.3 and 5.4 of the AD
Agreement, and Articles 11.3 and 11.4 of the
SCM Agreement, because: (a) China failed to
examine the degree of support for, or
opposition to, the application expressed by
domestic producers of the like product prior
to initiating the antidumping and
countervailing duty investigations; (b) China
initiated the investigations when domestic
producers supporting the application
accounted for less than 25 per cent of total
production of the like product produced by
the domestic industry; and (c) China failed to
examine or review the accuracy and
adequacy of the evidence provided in the
application.
2. Article 11.3 of the SCM Agreement
because the application for a
countervailing duty investigation failed
to contain information reasonably
available to the applicant and therefore
there was insufficient evidence in the
application to justify the initiation of a
countervailing duty investigation with
respect to several programs.
3. Article 6.5.1 of the AD Agreement
and Article 12.4.1 of the SCM
Agreement because China failed to
require the applicant to provide
adequate non-confidential summaries of
allegedly confidential information.
4. Article 6.9 of the AD Agreement
because China failed to adequately
disclose the calculations and data used
to establish the antidumping duty rates
it determined.
5. Articles 12.2 and 12.2.2 of the AD
Agreement because China failed to
provide in sufficient detail the findings
and conclusions reached on all issues of
fact and law it considered material, and
the reasons for the acceptance or
rejection of relevant arguments or
claims.
6. Article 6.8, including Annex II,
paragraph 1, and Articles 6.9, 12.2, and
12.2.2 of the AD Agreement and Articles
12.7, 12.8, 22.3, and 22.5 of the SCM
Agreement because: (a) China
improperly based its determination of
the ‘‘all others’’ antidumping and
countervailing duty rates on the facts
available; (b) China failed to disclose the
essential facts underlying its ‘‘all
others’’ rate determinations; (c) China
failed to set forth in sufficient detail the
findings and conclusions reached on all
issues of fact and law it considered
material in its ‘‘all others’’ rate
determinations; and (d) with respect to
the ‘‘all others’’ rates, China failed to
make available all relevant information
on the matters of fact and law and
E:\FR\FM\06AUN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 151 (Monday, August 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46786-46788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19283]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 7971]
60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Reporting
Requirements for Responsible Investment in Burma
ACTION: Notice of request for public comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of State is seeking Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) approval for the information collection described below.
The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment in
the Federal Register preceding submission to OMB. We are conducting
this process in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: The Department will accept comments from the public up to
October 5, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Web: Persons with access to the Internet may view and
comment on this notice by going to the Federal regulations Web site at
www.regulations.gov. You can search for the document by: selecting
``Notice'' under Document Type, entering the Public Notice number as
the ``Keyword or ID'', checking the ``Open for Comment'' box, and then
click ``Search''. If necessary, use the ``Narrow by Agency'' option on
the Results page.
Email: BurmaPRA@state.gov.
Mail (paper, or CD submissions): U.S. Department of State,
DRL/EAP Suite 7817, Burma Human Rights Officer, 2201 C St. NW.,
Washington, DC 20520.
Fax: None.
Hand Delivery or Courier: None.
You must include the DS form number (if applicable), information
collection title, and OMB control number in any correspondence.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct requests for additional
information regarding the collection listed in this notice, including
requests for copies of the proposed information collection and
supporting documents, to Stacey May, U.S. Department of State, DRL/EAP
Suite 7817, 2201 C St. NW., Washington, DC 20520, who may be reached on
202-647-8260 or at maysa2@state.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title of Information Collection:
Reporting Requirements on Responsible Investment in Burma.
OMB Control Number: None.
Type of Request: New Collection.
Originating Office: U.S. Department of State, DRL/EAP.
Form Number: None.
Respondents: U.S. persons and entities engaged in new
investment in Burma in an amount over $500,000 in aggregate, per OFAC
General License 17, which authorizes new investment in Burma.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 150.
Estimated Number of Responses: 150.
Average Hours Per Response: 21 hours.
Total Estimated Burden: 3,150 hours.
Frequency: Annually.
Obligation to Respond: Mandatory.
We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department to:
Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is
necessary for the proper performance of our functions.
Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection, including the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used.
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected.
Minimize the reporting burden on those who are to respond,
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of
technology.
Abstract of proposed collection:
Section 203(a)(1)(B) of the International Emergency Economic Powers
Act (IEEPA) grants the President authority to, inter alia, prevent or
prohibit any acquisition or transaction involving any property, in
which a foreign country or a national thereof has any interest, by any
person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of
the United States, if the President declares a national emergency with
respect to any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source
in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national
security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. See 50
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.
In Executive Order 13047 of May 20, 1997, the President determined
that the actions and policies of the Government
[[Page 46787]]
of Burma, including its large-scale repression of the democratic
opposition in Burma, constituted an unusual and extraordinary threat to
the national security and foreign policy of the United States, declared
a national emergency to deal with that threat, and prohibited new
investment in Burma. In subsequent Executive Orders, the President
modified the scope of the national emergency to address additional
concerns with the actions and policies of the Government of Burma. In
Executive Order 13448 of October 18, 2007, the President modified the
emergency to address the continued repression of the democratic
opposition in Burma, manifested in part through the commission of human
rights abuses and pervasive public corruption. In Executive Order 13619
of July 11, 2012, the President further modified the emergency to
address, inter alia, human rights abuses particularly in ethnic areas.
In response to several political reforms by the Government of Burma and
pursuant to authority granted by IEEPA, the Department of the
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a general
license (GL 17) on July 11, 2012 authorizing new investment in Burma,
subject to certain restrictions and conditions.
In order to support the Department of State's efforts to assess the
extent to which new U.S. investment authorized by GL 17 furthers U.S.
foreign policy goals of improving human rights protections and
facilitating political reform in Burma, GL 17 requires U.S. persons
engaging in new investment in Burma to report to the Department of
State information related to such investment, as laid out in the
``Reporting Requirements on Responsible Investment in Burma,''
(hereafter referred to as the ``collection''). This collection is
authorized by section 203(a)(2) of IEEPA, which grants the President
authority to keep a full record of, and to furnish under oath, in the
form of reports or otherwise, complete information relative to any act
or transaction referred to in section 203(a)(1) of IEEPA.
A copy of the ``Reporting Requirements on Responsible Investment''
can be reviewed at https://www.humanrights.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Burma-Responsible-Investment-Reporting-Reqs.pdf.
Methodology:
The Department of State will collect the information requested via
electronic submission.
Additional Information:
It is the overarching policy goal of the U.S. Government to support
political reform in Burma towards the establishment of a peaceful,
prosperous, and democratic state that respects human rights and the
rule of law. In the past, some foreign investment in Burma has been
linked to human rights abuses, particularly in the area of natural
resource development in ethnic minority regions. For example, some
foreign investments have entailed acquisition and control of land in
disputed ethnic minority territories exacerbating or contributing to
both social unrest and armed conflict and leading to adverse community
and environmental impacts. Increased military/security presence in
disputed ethnic minority areas to provide security for foreign
investment projects is reported to have led to seizures of farm land,
involuntary relocations, forced labor, torture, summary execution, and
sexual violence. In June 2011, a 17-year ceasefire agreement with the
Kachin Independence Army (KIA) broke down, and both the Burmese
Government and the KIA have since publicly attributed the renewed armed
fighting at least partially to foreign-funded investment projects,
which include power generation, oil and gas, jade, and gold mining
investment projects in the region. The Burma Army has reportedly forced
civilians to work as porters and human mine sweepers in northern Shan
State in connection with the Shwe Gas pipeline and there have been
numerous recent reports of forced labor, torture, forced conscription,
rape and sexual violence in Kachin and Shan states along the Shwe Gas
pipeline corridor.
The collection will help the Department of State, in consultation
with other relevant government agencies, to evaluate whether easing the
ban on investment by U.S. persons advances U.S. foreign policy goals to
address the national emergency with respect to Burma. In addition, the
Department of State will use the collection as a basis to conduct
informed consultations with U.S. businesses to encourage and assist
such businesses to develop robust policies and procedures to address
any potential adverse human rights, worker rights, anti-corruption,
environmental, or other impacts resulting from their investments and
operations in Burma. The Department of State will use the collection of
information about new investment with the Myanmar Oil and Gas
Enterprise (MOGE) to track investment that involves MOGE and to
identify investors with whom it may be beneficial to have targeted
consultation on anti-corruption and human rights policies. The public,
including civil society actors in Burma, may use publicly available
information resulting from the collection to engage U.S. businesses on
their responsible investment policies and procedures and to monitor the
Burmese government's management of revenues from investment.
U.S. persons to whom this requirement applies will be required to
submit a version of the report to the U.S. Government for public
release, from which information considered in good faith to be exempt
from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 4--i.e. trade secrets or
commercial or financial information that is privileged or
confidential--may be withheld. The Department of State will make this
version of the report publically available in order to promote
transparency with respect to new U.S. investments in Burma. In the
past, the absence of transparency or publicly available information
with respect to foreign investment activities in Burma has contributed
to corruption and misuse of public funds, the erosion of public trust,
and social unrest in ethnic minority areas and has led to further human
rights abuses and repression by the government and military. Public
disclosure of certain aspects of the collection therefore will promote
the policy of transparency through new U.S. investment, a key U.S.
foreign policy objective in Burma.
Burmese civil society groups, particularly those representing
ethnic minority communities, have requested that the Department of
State make public certain information obtained through the collection
on investments purportedly made for the benefit of the Burmese people,
as a means of holding their own government accountable. Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma's democratic
opposition party and recently elected to a seat in Burma's parliament,
also underscored the importance of transparency in her recent remarks
in Bangkok, noting that she did not want ``more investment to mean more
possibilities for corruption.'' This was among the most specific of the
recommendations she made to the international community, stressing that
``Transparency is very important if we are going to avoid problems in
the future* * * So whatever investments, governmental agreements,
whatever aid might be proposed, please make sure that it is
transparent, that the people of Burma are in a position to understand
[[Page 46788]]
what has been done, and how and for whom the benefits are intended.''
Therefore public release of portions of this collection is aimed at
providing civil society this type of information to both ensure the
transparency of U.S. investment in Burma and to encourage civil society
to partner with their government and U.S. companies towards building
responsible investment, which ultimately promotes U.S. foreign policy
goals.
Dated: July 31, 2012.
Daniel Baer,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2012-19283 Filed 8-2-12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4710-18-P
