Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review, 1275-1276 [2016-88]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 6 / Monday, January 11, 2016 / Notices Pursuant to law, executive order, and delegation of authority, I have made such a determination. DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 9404] mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Notice of Closed Meeting of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee There will be a closed meeting of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee on Tuesday, February 2 and Wednesday, February 3, 2016, at the Department of State, Annex 5, 2200 C Street NW., Washington, DC. The Committee will conduct interim reviews of the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Archaeological Material from Cambodia from the Bronze Age through the Khmer Era, and the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Belize Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Categories of Archaeological Material Representing the Cultural Heritage of Belize from the Pre-Ceramic (Approximately 9000 B.C.), Pre-Classic, Classic, and Post-Classic Periods of the Pre-Columbian Era Through the Early and Late Colonial Periods. Public comment, oral and written, will be invited at a time in the future should either or both of these Memoranda of Understanding be proposed for extension. The Committee’s responsibilities are carried out in accordance with provisions of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.). The text of the Act and Memoranda of Understanding, as well as related information, may be found at https:// culturalheritage.state.gov. This meeting will be closed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B) and 19 U.S.C. 2605(h), the latter of which stipulates that ‘‘The provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act . . . shall apply to the [Cultural Property Advisory] Committee except that the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of section 10 and section 11 of such Act (relating to open meetings, public notice, public participation, and public availability of documents) shall not apply to the Committee, whenever and to the extent it is determined by the President or his designee that the disclosure of matters involved in the Committee’s proceedings would compromise the Government’s negotiation objectives or bargaining positions on the negotiations of any agreement authorized by this chapter.’’ VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:17 Jan 08, 2016 Jkt 238001 Dated: January 4, 2016. Evan Ryan, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State. [FR Doc. 2016–309 Filed 1–8–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4710–05–P OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review Office of the United States Trade Representative. ACTION: Notice of hearing and receipt of public comments. AGENCY: This notice announces petitions submitted in connection with the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review that have been accepted for further review. This notice also sets forth the schedule for submitting comments and for a public hearing associated with the review of these petitions and products. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aimee Larsen, Director for GSP, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street NW., Washington DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395–2974 and the email address is Aimee_B_Larsen@ ustr.eop.gov. SUMMARY: The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the schedule of dates for conducting an annual review unless otherwise specified in a notice published in the Federal Register. The schedule for the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review is set forth below. Notification of any other changes will be published in the Federal Register. February 19, 2016—Due date for submission of comments, pre-hearing briefs and requests to appear at the GSP Subcommittee Public Hearing on the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review. March 3–4, 2016—The GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will convene a public hearing on all petitioned product additions, product removals, and competitive needs limitation (CNL) waiver petitions that were accepted for the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review. The hearing will be held in Rooms 1 and 2, 1724 F Street NW., Washington DC 20508, beginning at 9:30 a.m. each day. DATES: PO 00000 Frm 00113 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 1275 March 25, 2016—Due date for submission of post-hearing comments or briefs in connection with the GSP Subcommittee Public Hearing. April 2016—The U.S. International Trade Commission is expected to publish a public version of its report providing advice on the probable economic effect of the prospective addition and removal of products and granting of CNL waiver petitions considered as part of 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review. Comments from interested parties on the USITC report on these products should be posted on www.regulations.gov in Docket Number USTR–2015–0013 following the instructions provided below and will be due 10 calendar days after the date of the USITC’s publication of the public version of the report. July 1, 2016—Effective date for any modifications that the President proclaims to the list of articles eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP resulting from the 2015/2016 Annual Product Review and for determinations related to CNL waivers. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP program provides for the duty-free importation of designated articles when imported from designated beneficiary developing countries. The GSP program is authorized by Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461, et seq.), as amended (1974 Act), and is implemented in accordance with Executive Order 11888 of November 24, 1975, as modified by subsequent Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations. Petitions Requesting Modifications of Product Eligibility In a notice published in the Federal Register on August 19, 2015 (80 FR 50377), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the initiation of the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Review and indicated that the interagency GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC was prepared to receive petitions to modify the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program and petitions to waive CNLs on imports of certain products from specific beneficiary countries. On November 17, 2015, USTR announced that the deadline for the filing of CNL waiver petitions had been extended to December 4, 2015 (80 FR 73868 and 80 FR 71913). The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC has reviewed the product and CNL waiver petitions submitted in response to these announcements, and has decided to accept for review 23 petitions to add a product to the list of those eligible for duty-free treatment E:\FR\FM\11JAN1.SGM 11JAN1 1276 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 6 / Monday, January 11, 2016 / Notices mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES under GSP, 3 petitions to remove a product from GSP eligibility for certain GSP beneficiary countries, and 8 petitions to waive CNLs. A list of petitions and products accepted for review is posted on the USTR Web site at https://ustr.gov/issueareas/preference-programs/generalizedsystem-preferences-gsp/current-reviews/ gsp-2015-annual under the title ‘‘Petitions Accepted in the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review.’’ This list can also be found at www.regulations.gov in Docket Number USTR–2015–0013. Acceptance of a petition indicates only that the TPSC found that the subject petition warranted further consideration and that a review of the requested action will take place. The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC invites comments in support of or in opposition to any petition that has been accepted for the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review. The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC will also convene a public hearing on these products and petitions. See below for information on how to submit a request to testify at this hearing. Notice of Public Hearing The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC will hold a two-day hearing on Thursday, March 3, 2016, and Friday, March 4, 2016 beginning at 9:30 a.m. each day, for products and petitions accepted for the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review. The hearing will be held at 1724 F Street NW., Washington DC 20508 and will be open to the public. A transcript of the hearing will be made available on www.regulations.gov approximately two weeks after the hearing. All interested parties wishing to make an oral presentation at the hearing must submit, following the ‘‘Requirements for Submissions’’ set out below, the name, address, telephone number, and email address (if available), of the witness(es) representing their organization by 5 p.m., Friday, February 19, 2016. Requests to present oral testimony in connection with the public hearing must be accompanied by a written brief or summary statement, in English, and also must be received by 5 p.m., Friday, February 19, 2016. Oral testimony before the GSP Subcommittee will be limited to five-minute presentations that summarize or supplement information contained in briefs or statements submitted for the record. Post-hearing briefs or statements will be accepted if they conform with the regulations cited below and are submitted, in English, by 5 p.m., Friday, March 25, 2016. Parties not wishing to appear at the public VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:17 Jan 08, 2016 Jkt 238001 hearing may submit pre-hearing and post-hearing briefs or comments by the aforementioned deadlines. Requirements for Submissions Submissions in response to this notice (including requests to testify, written comments, and pre-hearing and posthearing briefs) must be submitted by the applicable deadlines set forth in this notice. All submissions must be made in English and submitted electronically via https://www.regulations.gov, using docket number USTR–2015–0013. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. To make a submission using https://www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR–2015–0013 in the ‘‘Search for’’ field on the home page and click ‘‘Search.’’ 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’’ in the ‘‘Filter Results by’’ section on the left side of the screen and click on the link entitled ‘‘Comment Now.’’ The https://www.regulations.gov Web site offers the option of providing comments by filling in a ‘‘Type Comment’’ field or by attaching a document using the ‘‘Upload file(s)’’ field. The Subcommittee prefers that submissions be provided in an attached document and, in such cases, that parties note ‘‘See attached’’ in the ‘‘Type Comment’’ field on the online submission form. At the beginning of the submission, or on the first page (if an attachment) should be the following text (in bold and underlined): (1) ‘‘2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review;’’ (2) the product description and related HTS tariff number; and (3) whether the document is a ‘‘Written Comment,’’ ‘‘Notice of Intent to Testify,’’ ‘‘Prehearing brief,’’ or a ‘‘Post-hearing brief.’’ Submissions should not exceed 30 single-spaced, standard letter-size pages in 12-point type, including attachments. Any data attachments to the submission should be included in the same file as the submission itself, and not as separate files. Each submitter will receive a submission tracking number upon completion of the submissions procedure at https:// www.regulations.gov. The tracking number will be the submitter’s confirmation that the submission was received into https:// www.regulations.gov. The confirmation should be kept for the submitter’s records. USTR is not able to provide technical assistance for the Web site. Documents not submitted in accordance with these instructions may not be considered in this review. If unable to PO 00000 Frm 00114 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 9990 provide submissions as requested, please contact the GSP Program at USTR to arrange for an alternative method of transmission. Business Confidential Submissions An interested party requesting that information contained in a submission be treated as business confidential information must certify that such information is business confidential and would not customarily be released to the public by the submitter. Confidential business information must be clearly designated as such. The submission must be marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’ at the top and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page, and the submission should indicate, via brackets, the specific information that is confidential. Additionally, ‘‘Business Confidential’’ must be included in the ‘‘Type Comment’’ field. For any submission containing business confidential information, a non-confidential version must be submitted separately (i.e., not as part of the same submission with the confidential version), indicating where confidential information has been redacted. The non-confidential version will be placed in the docket and open to public inspection. Public Viewing of Review Submissions Submissions in response to this notice, except for information granted ‘‘business confidential’’ status under 15 CFR 2003.6, will be available for public viewing pursuant to 15 CFR 2007.6 at https://www.regulations.gov upon completion of processing, usually within two weeks of the relevant due date or date of the submission. Public versions of all documents relating to the 2015/2016 Annual Product Review will be made available for public viewing in docket USTR–2015–0013 at www.regulations.gov upon completion of processing. William D. Jackson, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System of Preferences, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. [FR Doc. 2016–88 Filed 1–8–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3290–F6–P E:\FR\FM\11JAN1.SGM 11JAN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 6 (Monday, January 11, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1275-1276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-88]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the 
2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of hearing and receipt of public comments.

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

SUMMARY: This notice announces petitions submitted in connection with 
the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review that have been accepted for 
further review. This notice also sets forth the schedule for submitting 
comments and for a public hearing associated with the review of these 
petitions and products.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aimee Larsen, Director for GSP, Office 
of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street NW., 
Washington DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-2974 and the 
email address is Aimee_B_Larsen@ustr.eop.gov.

DATES: The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the schedule of 
dates for conducting an annual review unless otherwise specified in a 
notice published in the Federal Register. The schedule for the 2015/
2016 GSP Annual Product Review is set forth below. Notification of any 
other changes will be published in the Federal Register.
    February 19, 2016--Due date for submission of comments, pre-hearing 
briefs and requests to appear at the GSP Subcommittee Public Hearing on 
the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review.
    March 3-4, 2016--The GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff 
Committee (TPSC) will convene a public hearing on all petitioned 
product additions, product removals, and competitive needs limitation 
(CNL) waiver petitions that were accepted for the 2015/2016 GSP Annual 
Product Review. The hearing will be held in Rooms 1 and 2, 1724 F 
Street NW., Washington DC 20508, beginning at 9:30 a.m. each day.
    March 25, 2016--Due date for submission of post-hearing comments or 
briefs in connection with the GSP Subcommittee Public Hearing.
    April 2016--The U.S. International Trade Commission is expected to 
publish a public version of its report providing advice on the probable 
economic effect of the prospective addition and removal of products and 
granting of CNL waiver petitions considered as part of 2015/2016 GSP 
Annual Product Review. Comments from interested parties on the USITC 
report on these products should be posted on www.regulations.gov in 
Docket Number USTR-2015-0013 following the instructions provided below 
and will be due 10 calendar days after the date of the USITC's 
publication of the public version of the report.
    July 1, 2016--Effective date for any modifications that the 
President proclaims to the list of articles eligible for duty-free 
treatment under the GSP resulting from the 2015/2016 Annual Product 
Review and for determinations related to CNL waivers.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP program provides for the duty-free 
importation of designated articles when imported from designated 
beneficiary developing countries. The GSP program is authorized by 
Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461, et seq.), as amended 
(1974 Act), and is implemented in accordance with Executive Order 11888 
of November 24, 1975, as modified by subsequent Executive Orders and 
Presidential Proclamations.

Petitions Requesting Modifications of Product Eligibility

    In a notice published in the Federal Register on August 19, 2015 
(80 FR 50377), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) 
announced the initiation of the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Review and 
indicated that the interagency GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC was 
prepared to receive petitions to modify the list of products that are 
eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program and petitions to 
waive CNLs on imports of certain products from specific beneficiary 
countries. On November 17, 2015, USTR announced that the deadline for 
the filing of CNL waiver petitions had been extended to December 4, 
2015 (80 FR 73868 and 80 FR 71913).
    The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC has reviewed the product and CNL 
waiver petitions submitted in response to these announcements, and has 
decided to accept for review 23 petitions to add a product to the list 
of those eligible for duty-free treatment

[[Page 1276]]

under GSP, 3 petitions to remove a product from GSP eligibility for 
certain GSP beneficiary countries, and 8 petitions to waive CNLs.
    A list of petitions and products accepted for review is posted on 
the USTR Web site at https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/preference-programs/generalized-system-preferences-gsp/current-reviews/gsp-2015-annual 
under the title ``Petitions Accepted in the 2015/2016 GSP Annual 
Product Review.'' This list can also be found at www.regulations.gov in 
Docket Number USTR-2015-0013. Acceptance of a petition indicates only 
that the TPSC found that the subject petition warranted further 
consideration and that a review of the requested action will take 
place.
    The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC invites comments in support of or 
in opposition to any petition that has been accepted for the 2015/2016 
GSP Annual Product Review. The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC will also 
convene a public hearing on these products and petitions. See below for 
information on how to submit a request to testify at this hearing.

Notice of Public Hearing

    The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC will hold a two-day hearing on 
Thursday, March 3, 2016, and Friday, March 4, 2016 beginning at 9:30 
a.m. each day, for products and petitions accepted for the 2015/2016 
GSP Annual Product Review. The hearing will be held at 1724 F Street 
NW., Washington DC 20508 and will be open to the public. A transcript 
of the hearing will be made available on www.regulations.gov 
approximately two weeks after the hearing.
    All interested parties wishing to make an oral presentation at the 
hearing must submit, following the ``Requirements for Submissions'' set 
out below, the name, address, telephone number, and email address (if 
available), of the witness(es) representing their organization by 5 
p.m., Friday, February 19, 2016. Requests to present oral testimony in 
connection with the public hearing must be accompanied by a written 
brief or summary statement, in English, and also must be received by 5 
p.m., Friday, February 19, 2016. Oral testimony before the GSP 
Subcommittee will be limited to five-minute presentations that 
summarize or supplement information contained in briefs or statements 
submitted for the record. Post-hearing briefs or statements will be 
accepted if they conform with the regulations cited below and are 
submitted, in English, by 5 p.m., Friday, March 25, 2016. Parties not 
wishing to appear at the public hearing may submit pre-hearing and 
post-hearing briefs or comments by the aforementioned deadlines.

Requirements for Submissions

    Submissions in response to this notice (including requests to 
testify, written comments, and pre-hearing and post-hearing briefs) 
must be submitted by the applicable deadlines set forth in this notice. 
All submissions must be made in English and submitted electronically 
via https://www.regulations.gov, using docket number USTR-2015-0013. 
Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. To make a submission 
using https://www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2015-0013 in 
the ``Search for'' field on the home page and click ``Search.'' 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'' in the ``Filter Results 
by'' section on the left side of the screen and click on the link 
entitled ``Comment Now.'' The https://www.regulations.gov Web site 
offers the option of providing comments by filling in a ``Type 
Comment'' field or by attaching a document using the ``Upload file(s)'' 
field. The Subcommittee prefers that submissions be provided in an 
attached document and, in such cases, that parties note ``See 
attached'' in the ``Type Comment'' field on the online submission form. 
At the beginning of the submission, or on the first page (if an 
attachment) should be the following text (in bold and underlined): (1) 
``2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review;'' (2) the product description 
and related HTS tariff number; and (3) whether the document is a 
``Written Comment,'' ``Notice of Intent to Testify,'' ``Pre-hearing 
brief,'' or a ``Post-hearing brief.'' Submissions should not exceed 30 
single-spaced, standard letter-size pages in 12-point type, including 
attachments. Any data attachments to the submission should be included 
in the same file as the submission itself, and not as separate files.
    Each submitter will receive a submission tracking number upon 
completion of the submissions procedure at https://www.regulations.gov. 
The tracking number will be the submitter's confirmation that the 
submission was received into https://www.regulations.gov. The 
confirmation should be kept for the submitter's records. USTR is not 
able to provide technical assistance for the Web site. Documents not 
submitted in accordance with these instructions may not be considered 
in this review. If unable to provide submissions as requested, please 
contact the GSP Program at USTR to arrange for an alternative method of 
transmission.

Business Confidential Submissions

    An interested party requesting that information contained in a 
submission be treated as business confidential information must certify 
that such information is business confidential and would not 
customarily be released to the public by the submitter. Confidential 
business information must be clearly designated as such. The submission 
must be marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top and bottom of the 
cover page and each succeeding page, and the submission should 
indicate, via brackets, the specific information that is confidential. 
Additionally, ``Business Confidential'' must be included in the ``Type 
Comment'' field. For any submission containing business confidential 
information, a non-confidential version must be submitted separately 
(i.e., not as part of the same submission with the confidential 
version), indicating where confidential information has been redacted. 
The non-confidential version will be placed in the docket and open to 
public inspection.

Public Viewing of Review Submissions

    Submissions in response to this notice, except for information 
granted ``business confidential'' status under 15 CFR 2003.6, will be 
available for public viewing pursuant to 15 CFR 2007.6 at https://www.regulations.gov upon completion of processing, usually within two 
weeks of the relevant due date or date of the submission. Public 
versions of all documents relating to the 2015/2016 Annual Product 
Review will be made available for public viewing in docket USTR-2015-
0013 at www.regulations.gov upon completion of processing.

William D. Jackson,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System 
of Preferences, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2016-88 Filed 1-8-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3290-F6-P
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