Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Product Review, 1275-1276 [2016-88]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 6 / Monday, January 11, 2016 / Notices
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 9404]
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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:
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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
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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]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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