Trade Policy Staff Committee: Request for Comments From the Public Regarding Granting Certain Trade Benefits to Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 61816-61817 [2012-25063]
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 197 / Thursday, October 11, 2012 / Notices
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Dated: October 3, 2012.
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Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2012–25028 Filed 10–10–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710–06–P
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Trade Policy Staff Committee: Request
for Comments From the Public
Regarding Granting Certain Trade
Benefits to Aruba, Curacao, Sint
¸
Maarten, the Turks and Caicos Islands,
the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada,
Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St.
Vincent and the Grenadines
Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and request for public
comment.
AGENCY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:22 Oct 10, 2012
Jkt 229001
The Trade Policy Staff
Committee (TPSC) is seeking comments
from the public on whether Curacao,
¸
Sint Maarten, and the Turks and Caicos
Islands should be designated as eligible
to receive benefits under the Caribbean
Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA)
as amended by the Caribbean Basin
Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) (19
U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) and whether Aruba,
the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada,
Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St.
Vincent and the Grenadines (‘‘St.
Vincent’’) should be designated as
eligible to receive benefits under
CBTPA. Although Congress identified
the Turks and Caicos Islands as
potentially eligible for benefits in 1983,
the Turks and Caicos Islands did not
request beneficiary status until July
2012. Similarly, although the Congress
identified the Bahamas, Grenada,
Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St.
Vincent for benefits under CBERA in
1983 and CBTPA in 2000, these
countries did not request benefits under
CBTPA until 2012. Aruba was
designated as a beneficiary country of
CBERA benefits effective as of January
1, 1986 upon becoming independent of
the Netherlands Antilles in 1986, and
requested CBTPA benefits in October
2012. As a result of the dissolution of
the Netherlands Antilles in October of
2010, Curacao and Sint Maarten became
¸
successor political entities of the
Netherlands Antilles and eligible to
receive benefits as such. Curacao and
¸
Sint Maarten requested the receipt of
CBERA and CBTPA benefits in,
respectively, July and June of 2012.
DATES: Comments are due no later than
midnight, November 9, 2012.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers
electronic submissions made at https://
www.regulations.gov, docket number
USTR–2012–0028 See ‘‘Requirements
for Submission,’’ below. If you are
unable to make a submission at
www.regulations.gov, please contact
Don Eiss, Trade Policy Staff Committee,
at (202) 395–3475 to make other
arrangements.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
procedural questions concerning written
comments, contact Don Eiss, Office of
the United States Trade Representative,
at (202) 395–3475. All other questions
should be directed to Fran Huegel,
Office of the Americas, Office of the
United States Trade Representative, 600
17th Street NW., Room 523,
Washington, DC 20508. Her telephone
number is (202) 395–6135.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested
parties are invited to submit comments
on whether Curacao, Sint Maarten, and
¸
the Turks and Caicos Islands meet or
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00081
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
fail to satisfy the eligibility criteria
described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and
213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended,
and whether the Bahamas, Grenada,
Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St.
Vincent meet or fail to satisfy the
eligibility criteria described in section
213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended.
Those criteria may be accessed at https://
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011title19/html/USCODE-2011-title19chap15.htm and are summarized below.
Eligibility Criteria for Designation as a
Beneficiary Under CBERA and CBTPA
After a country, territory or successor
political entity identified in the statute
as a potential beneficiary country
requests benefits under CBERA and
CBTPA, the President must determine
whether to designate it as a beneficiary
under the two programs. The President
shall consider only the specified
countries, territories, or successor
political entities. In determining
whether to designate a country as a
CBERA beneficiary country, the
President must take into account the
criteria contained in section 212(b) of
the CBERA, which include whether the
country, inter alia: (1) Is a Communist
country; (2) has nationalized,
expropriated or otherwise seized
ownership or control of property owned
by a United States citizen or by a
corporation, partnership, or association
which is 50 percent or more beneficially
owned by United States citizens, or
taken certain steps described in the
statute that have such an effect, without
proper compensation or arbitration of
the dispute; (3) fails to act in good faith
in enforcing arbitral awards in favor of
United States citizens or a corporation,
partnership or association which is 50
percent or more beneficially owned by
United States citizens; (4) affords
preferential treatment to the products of
a developed country, other than the
United States, which has, or is likely to
have, a significant adverse effect on
United States commerce; (5) owns an
entity that engages in the broadcast of
copyrighted material belonging to
United States copyright owners without
their express consent; (6) is a signatory
to a treaty, convention, protocol, or
other agreement regarding the
extradition of United States citizens;
and (7) has not or is not taking steps to
afford internationally recognized worker
rights (as defined in section 507(4) of
the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
2467(4)) to workers in the country.
The President must also take into
account the criteria contained in section
212 (c) of the CBERA, which include,
inter alia: (1) The economic conditions
in such country; (2) the extent to which
E:\FR\FM\11OCN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 197 / Thursday, October 11, 2012 / Notices
pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
such country has assured the United
States it will provide equitable and
reasonable access to the markets and
basic commodity resources of such
country; (3) the degree to which such
country follows the accepted rules of
international trade provided for under
the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Agreement and the multilateral trade
agreements; (4) the degree to which
such country uses export subsidies or
imposes export performance
requirements or local content
requirements which distort
international trade; (5) the degree to
which the trade policies of such country
as they relate to other beneficiary
countries are contributing to the
revitalization of the region; (6) the
degree to which such country is
undertaking self-help measures to
promote its own economic
development; (7) whether or not such
country has taken or is taking steps to
afford to workers in that country
internationally recognized worker
rights; (8) the extent to which such
country provides under its law adequate
and effective means for foreign nationals
to secure, exercise, and enforce
exclusive rights in intellectual property;
(9) the extent to which such country
prohibits its nationals from engaging in
the broadcast of copyrighted material
belonging to United States copyright
owners without their express consent;
(10) and the extent to which such
country is prepared to cooperate with
the United States in the administration
of the provisions of the CBERA.
Eligibility Criteria for CBTPA
Beneficiary Countries
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
described above, and other appropriate
criteria, including the following criteria
contained in section 213(b)(5)(B) of the
CBERA: (1) Whether the beneficiary
country has demonstrated a
commitment to undertake its obligations
under the WTO Agreement; (2)
participates in negotiations toward the
completion of the Free Trade Area of the
Americas or another free trade
agreement; (3) the extent to which the
country provides protection of
intellectual property rights consistent
with or greater than the protection
afforded under the Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights described in section 101(d)(15) of
the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19
U.S.C. 3511(d)(15)); (4) the extent to
which the country provides
internationally recognized worker
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14:03 Oct 10, 2012
Jkt 229001
rights; (5) whether the country has
implemented its commitments to
eliminate the worst forms of child labor;
(6) the extent to which the country has
met U.S. counter-narcotics certification
criteria under the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961; (7) the extent to which the
country has taken steps to become a
party to and implement the InterAmerican Convention Against
Corruption; and (8) 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 to the relevant
procedures and requirements under
chapter 5 of the North American Free
Trade Agreement.
Requirements for Submissions.
Persons submitting comments must do
so in English and must identify (on the
first page of the submission) the
‘‘CBERA and/or CBTPA Eligibility for
[insert names of countries upon which
you are commenting].’’ Written
comments must be received by
November 9, 2012.
In order to ensure the most timely and
expeditious receipt and consideration of
comments, USTR has arranged to accept
on-line submissions via
www.regulations.gov. To submit
comments via www.regulations.gov,
enter docket number USTR–2012–0028
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 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 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.
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
61817
Submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc)
or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) are preferred. If
an application other than those two is
used, please identify in your submission
the specific application used. For any
comments submitted electronically
containing business confidential
information, the file name of the
business confidential version should
begin with the characters ‘‘BC’’ and
must be submitted separately from the
public version. Any page containing
business confidential information must
be clearly marked ‘‘BUSINESS
CONFIDENTIAL’’ on the top of that
page. If you file comments containing
business confidential information you
must also submit a public version of the
comments under a separate submission.
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. If you submit
comments that contain no business
confidential information, the file name
should begin with the character ‘‘P’’,
followed by the name of the person or
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 Mr.
Eiss prior to delivery for the receipt of
such submissions. Mr. Eiss may be
contacted at (202) 395–3475. General
information concerning the Office of the
United States Trade Representative may
be obtained by accessing its Internet
Web site (https://www.ustr.gov).
John Melle,
Assistant United States Trade Representative
for the Western Hemisphere.
[FR Doc. 2012–25063 Filed 10–10–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290–F3–P
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 197 (Thursday, October 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61816-61817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25063]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Trade Policy Staff Committee: Request for Comments From the
Public Regarding Granting Certain Trade Benefits to Aruba,
Cura[ccedil]ao, Sint Maarten, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the
Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St.
Vincent and the Grenadines
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking comments
from the public on whether Cura[ccedil]ao, Sint Maarten, and the Turks
and Caicos Islands should be designated as eligible to receive benefits
under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) as amended by
the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) (19 U.S.C. 2701 et
seq.) and whether Aruba, the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat,
St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (``St.
Vincent'') should be designated as eligible to receive benefits under
CBTPA. Although Congress identified the Turks and Caicos Islands as
potentially eligible for benefits in 1983, the Turks and Caicos Islands
did not request beneficiary status until July 2012. Similarly, although
the Congress identified the Bahamas, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and
Nevis and St. Vincent for benefits under CBERA in 1983 and CBTPA in
2000, these countries did not request benefits under CBTPA until 2012.
Aruba was designated as a beneficiary country of CBERA benefits
effective as of January 1, 1986 upon becoming independent of the
Netherlands Antilles in 1986, and requested CBTPA benefits in October
2012. As a result of the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in
October of 2010, Cura[ccedil]ao and Sint Maarten became successor
political entities of the Netherlands Antilles and eligible to receive
benefits as such. Cura[ccedil]ao and Sint Maarten requested the receipt
of CBERA and CBTPA benefits in, respectively, July and June of 2012.
DATES: Comments are due no later than midnight, November 9, 2012.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made at https://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2012-0028 See ``Requirements
for Submission,'' below. If you are unable to make a submission at
www.regulations.gov, please contact Don Eiss, Trade Policy Staff
Committee, at (202) 395-3475 to make other arrangements.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
written comments, contact Don Eiss, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, at (202) 395-3475. All other questions should be
directed to Fran Huegel, Office of the Americas, Office of the United
States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street NW., Room 523, Washington,
DC 20508. Her telephone number is (202) 395-6135.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested parties are invited to submit
comments on whether Cura[ccedil]ao, Sint Maarten, and the Turks and
Caicos Islands meet or fail to satisfy the eligibility criteria
described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as
amended, and whether the Bahamas, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and
Nevis and St. Vincent meet or fail to satisfy the eligibility criteria
described in section 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended. Those
criteria may be accessed at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title19/html/USCODE-2011-title19-chap15.htm and are summarized below.
Eligibility Criteria for Designation as a Beneficiary Under CBERA and
CBTPA
After a country, territory or successor political entity identified
in the statute as a potential beneficiary country requests benefits
under CBERA and CBTPA, the President must determine whether to
designate it as a beneficiary under the two programs. The President
shall consider only the specified countries, territories, or successor
political entities. In determining whether to designate a country as a
CBERA beneficiary country, the President must take into account the
criteria contained in section 212(b) of the CBERA, which include
whether the country, inter alia: (1) Is a Communist country; (2) has
nationalized, expropriated or otherwise seized ownership or control of
property owned by a United States citizen or by a corporation,
partnership, or association which is 50 percent or more beneficially
owned by United States citizens, or taken certain steps described in
the statute that have such an effect, without proper compensation or
arbitration of the dispute; (3) fails to act in good faith in enforcing
arbitral awards in favor of United States citizens or a corporation,
partnership or association which is 50 percent or more beneficially
owned by United States citizens; (4) affords preferential treatment to
the products of a developed country, other than the United States,
which has, or is likely to have, a significant adverse effect on United
States commerce; (5) owns an entity that engages in the broadcast of
copyrighted material belonging to United States copyright owners
without their express consent; (6) is a signatory to a treaty,
convention, protocol, or other agreement regarding the extradition of
United States citizens; and (7) has not or is not taking steps to
afford internationally recognized worker rights (as defined in section
507(4) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2467(4)) to workers in the
country.
The President must also take into account the criteria contained in
section 212 (c) of the CBERA, which include, inter alia: (1) The
economic conditions in such country; (2) the extent to which
[[Page 61817]]
such country has assured the United States it will provide equitable
and reasonable access to the markets and basic commodity resources of
such country; (3) the degree to which such country follows the accepted
rules of international trade provided for under the World Trade
Organization (WTO) Agreement and the multilateral trade agreements; (4)
the degree to which such country uses export subsidies or imposes
export performance requirements or local content requirements which
distort international trade; (5) the degree to which the trade policies
of such country as they relate to other beneficiary countries are
contributing to the revitalization of the region; (6) the degree to
which such country is undertaking self-help measures to promote its own
economic development; (7) whether or not such country has taken or is
taking steps to afford to workers in that country internationally
recognized worker rights; (8) the extent to which such country provides
under its law adequate and effective means for foreign nationals to
secure, exercise, and enforce exclusive rights in intellectual
property; (9) the extent to which such country prohibits its nationals
from engaging in the broadcast of copyrighted material belonging to
United States copyright owners without their express consent; (10) and
the extent to which such country is prepared to cooperate with the
United States in the administration of the provisions of the CBERA.
Eligibility Criteria for CBTPA Beneficiary Countries
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 described above, and
other appropriate criteria, including the following criteria contained
in section 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA: (1) Whether the beneficiary
country has demonstrated a commitment to undertake its obligations
under the WTO Agreement; (2) participates in negotiations toward the
completion of the Free Trade Area of the Americas or another free trade
agreement; (3) the extent to which the country provides protection of
intellectual property rights consistent with or greater than the
protection afforded under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights described in section 101(d)(15) of the
Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(15)); (4) the extent to
which the country provides internationally recognized worker rights;
(5) whether the country has implemented its commitments to eliminate
the worst forms of child labor; (6) the extent to which the country has
met U.S. counter-narcotics certification criteria under the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961; (7) the extent to which the country has taken
steps to become a party to and implement the Inter-American Convention
Against Corruption; and (8) 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 to the relevant procedures and requirements under
chapter 5 of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Requirements for Submissions. Persons submitting comments must do
so in English and must identify (on the first page of the submission)
the ``CBERA and/or CBTPA Eligibility for [insert names of countries
upon which you are commenting].'' Written comments must be received by
November 9, 2012.
In order to ensure the most timely and expeditious receipt and
consideration of comments, USTR has arranged to accept on-line
submissions via www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via
www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2012-0028 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
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 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.
Submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) are
preferred. If an application other than those two is used, please
identify in your submission the specific application used. For any
comments submitted electronically containing business confidential
information, the file name of the business confidential version should
begin with the characters ``BC'' and must be submitted separately from
the public version. Any page containing business confidential
information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top
of that page. If you file comments containing business confidential
information you must also submit a public version of the comments under
a separate submission. 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. If you submit
comments that contain no business confidential information, the file
name should begin with the character ``P'', followed by the name of the
person or 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
Mr. Eiss prior to delivery for the receipt of such submissions. Mr.
Eiss may be contacted at (202) 395-3475. General information concerning
the Office of the United States Trade Representative may be obtained by
accessing its Internet Web site (https://www.ustr.gov).
John Melle,
Assistant United States Trade Representative for the Western
Hemisphere.
[FR Doc. 2012-25063 Filed 10-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F3-P
