Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning Russia's Implementation of Its WTO Commitments, 36521-36522 [2017-16389]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 149 / Friday, August 4, 2017 / Notices
By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell,
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Rena Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017–16433 Filed 8–3–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–00–P
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR–2017–0012]
Request for Comments and Notice of
Public Hearing Concerning Russia’s
Implementation of Its WTO
Commitments
Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
The interagency Trade Policy
Staff Committee (TPSC) will convene a
public hearing and seeks comments to
assist the Office of the United States
Trade Representative (USTR) in the
preparation of its annual report to
Congress on Russia’s implementation of
its obligations as a member of the World
Trade Organization (WTO).
DATES:
September 22, 2017: Deadline for
filing a summary of testimony and
requests to appear at the September 28,
2017 public hearing, and for submitting
public comments.
September 28, 2017: The TPSC will
convene a public hearing on Russia’s
implementation of its obligations as a
member of the WTO at 9:30 a.m. in
Rooms 1 & 2, 1724 F Street NW.,
Washington, DC 20508.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers
electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments in
section 3 below. The docket number is
USTR–2017–0012. For alternatives to
on-line submissions, please contact
Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy Staff
Committee, at (202) 395–3475.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
procedural questions concerning written
comments or participating in the public
hearing, contact Yvonne Jamison at
(202) 395–3475. Direct all other
questions regarding this notice to Betsy
Hafner, Deputy Assistant United States
Trade Representative for Russia and
Eurasia, at (202) 395–9124.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
1. Background
Russia became a member of the WTO
on August 22, 2012, and on December
21, 2012, following the termination of
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:13 Aug 03, 2017
Jkt 241001
the application of the Jackson-Vanik
amendment to Russia and the extension
of permanent normal trade relations to
the products of Russia, the United States
and Russia both filed letters with the
WTO withdrawing their notices of nonapplication and consenting to have the
WTO Agreement apply between them.
In accordance with section 201(a) of the
Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik
Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of
Law Accountability Act of 2012 (Pub. L.
112–208), USTR is required to submit,
by December 21st of each year, a report
to Congress on the extent to which
Russia is implementing the WTO
Agreement, including the Agreement on
the Application of Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures and the
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights. The report
also must assess Russia’s progress on
acceding to the Government
Procurement Agreement (GPA) and the
Information Technology Agreement, the
latter of which Russia implemented
fully in 2016. In addition, to the extent
that USTR finds that Russia is not
implementing fully the WTO Agreement
or is not making adequate progress in
acceding to the GPA, USTR must
describe in the report the actions it
plans to take to encourage Russia to
improve its implementation and/or
increase its accession efforts. In
accordance with section 201(a), and to
assist it in preparing this year’s report,
the TPSC is soliciting comments on
these issues.
The terms of Russia’s accession to the
WTO are contained in the Marrakesh
Agreement Establishing the World
Trade Organization and the Protocol on
the Accession of the Russian Federation
to the WTO (including its annexes)
(Protocol). The Report of the Working
Party on the Accession of the Russian
Federation (Working Party Report)
provides detail and context to the
commitments listed in the Protocol. You
can find the Protocol and Working Party
Report on USTR’s Web site at https://
ustr.gov/node/5887 or on the WTO Web
site at https://docsonline.wto.org
(document symbols: WT/ACC/RUS/70,
WT/MIN(11)/2, WT/MIN(11)/24, WT/L/
839, and WT/ACC/RUS/70/Add.1, WT/
ACC/RUS/70/Add.2.
2. Public Comments and Hearing
USTR must receive written comments
no later than 11:59 p.m. on Friday,
September 22, 2017. USTR invites
written comments and/or oral testimony
on Russia’s implementation of the
commitments made in connection with
its accession to the WTO, including, but
not limited to, commitments in the
following areas:
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
36521
a. Import regulation (e.g., tariffs, tariffrate quotas, quotas, import licenses).
b. Export regulation.
c. Subsidies.
d. Standards and technical
regulations.
e. Sanitary and phytosanitary
measures.
f. Trade-related investment measures.
g. Taxes and charges levied on
imports and exports.
h. Other internal policies affecting
trade.
i. Intellectual property rights
(including intellectual property rights
enforcement).
j. Services.
k. Rule of law issues (e.g.,
transparency, judicial review, uniform
administration of laws and regulations).
l. Trade-related investment measures.
m. Other WTO commitments.
The TPSC will convene a public
hearing on Thursday, September 28,
2017, in Rooms 1 & 2, 1724 F Street
NW., Washington, DC 20508. We must
receive your written requests to present
oral testimony at the hearing and a
summary of that testimony by noon on
by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, September 22,
2017. You must make the intent to
testify notification in the ‘‘Type
Comment’’ field under docket number
USTR–2017–0012 on the
www.regulations.gov Web site and you
should include the name, address,
telephone number and email address, if
available, of the person presenting the
testimony. You should attach a
summary of the testimony by using the
‘‘Upload File’’ field. The name of the
file also should include who will be
presenting the testimony. Remarks at
the hearing should be limited to no
more than five minutes to allow for
possible questions from the TPSC.
You should submit all documents in
accordance with the instructions in
section 3 below.
3. Requirements for Submissions
In order to be assured of
consideration, we must receive your
written comments in English by 11:59
p.m. on Friday, September 22, 2017.
USTR strongly encourages commenters
to make on-line submissions, using the
www.regulations.gov Web site. On the
first page of the submission, please
identify it as ‘‘Russia’s Implementation
of its WTO Commitments.’’
To submit comments via
www.regulations.gov, enter docket
number USTR–2017–0012 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 and click
on the link entitled ‘‘Comment Now!’’
E:\FR\FM\04AUN1.SGM
04AUN1
36522
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 149 / Friday, August 4, 2017 / Notices
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
Regulations.gov’’ on the bottom of the
home page. We will not accept handdelivered submissions.
The www.regulations.gov Web site
allows users to submit comments by
filling in a ‘‘Type Comment’’ field or by
attaching a document using an ‘‘Upload
File’’ field. USTR prefers that you
submit comments in an attached
document. If you attach a document, it
is sufficient to type ‘‘See attached’’ in
the ‘‘Type Comment’’ field. USTR
prefers submissions in Microsoft Word
(.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If you
use an application other than those two,
please indicate the name of the
application in the ‘‘Type Comment’’
field.
For any comments submitted
electronically containing business
confidential information, the file name
of the business confidential version
should begin with the characters ‘‘BC’’.
Any page containing business
confidential information must be clearly
marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’
on the top of that page. Filers of
submissions containing business
confidential information also must
submit a public version of their
comments that we will place in the
docket for public inspection. 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. Filers submitting comments
containing no business confidential
information should name their file using
the name of the person or entity
submitting the comments.
Please do not attach separate cover
letters to electronic submissions; rather,
include any information that might
appear in a cover letter in the comments
themselves. Similarly, to the extent
possible, please include any exhibits,
annexes, or other attachments in the
same file as the submission itself, not as
separate files.
As noted, USTR strongly urges
submitters to file comments through
www.regulations.gov. You must make
any alternative arrangements with
Yvonne Jamison in advance of
transmitting a comment. You can
contact Ms. Jamison at (202) 395–3475.
General information concerning USTR
is available at www.ustr.gov.
We will post comments in the docket
for public inspection, except business
confidential information. You can view
comments on the www.regulations.gov
Web site by entering the relevant docket
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:13 Aug 03, 2017
Jkt 241001
number in the search field on the home
page.
Edward Gresser,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office
of the United States Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2017–16389 Filed 8–3–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290–F7–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket Number FRA–2010–0059]
Kansas City Southern Railway
Company’s Request for Positive Train
Control Safety Plan Approval and
System Certification
Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA), U.S. Department
of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of availability and
request for comments.
AGENCY:
This document provides the
public with notice that the Kansas City
Southern Railway Company (KCS)
submitted to FRA its Positive Train
Control Safety Plan (PTCSP) Version
1.0, dated June 30, 2017, on FRA’s
Secure Information Repository site on
June 30, 2017. KCS asked FRA to
approve its PTCSP and issue a Positive
Train Control (PTC) System
Certification for KCS’ Interoperable
Electronic Train Management System
(I–ETMS).
DATES: FRA will consider
communications received by September
5, 2017 before taking final action on the
PTCSP. FRA may consider comments
received after that date if practicable.
ADDRESSES: All communications
concerning this proceeding should
identify Docket Number 2010–0059 and
may be submitted by any of the
following methods:
• Web site: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
• Fax: 202–493–2251.
• Mail: Docket Operations Facility,
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE., W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590.
• Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Room W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.
Mark Hartong, Senior Scientific
Technical Advisor, at (202) 493–1332,
or Mark.Hartong@dot.gov; or Mr. David
Blackmore, Staff Director, Positive Train
Control Division, at (312) 835–3903, or
David.Blackmore@dot.gov.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00167
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
In its
PTCSP, KCS asserts that the I–ETMS
system it is implementing is designed as
a vital overlay PTC system as defined in
49 CFR 236.1015(e)(2). The PTCSP
describes KCS’ I–ETMS implementation
and the associated I–ETMS safety
processes, safety analyses, and test,
validation, and verification processes
used during the development of I–
ETMS. The PTCSP also contains KCS’
operational and support requirements
and procedures.
KCS’ PTCSP and the accompanying
request for approval and system
certification are available for review
online at www.regulations.gov (Docket
Number FRA–2010–0059) and in person
at DOT’s Docket Operations Facility,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590. The Docket
Operations Facility is open from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
Interested parties are invited to
comment on the PTCSP by submitting
written comments or data. During its
review of the PTCSP, FRA will consider
any comments or data submitted.
However, FRA may elect not to respond
to any particular comment and, under
49 CFR 236.1009(d)(3), FRA maintains
the authority to approve or disapprove
the PTCSP at its sole discretion. FRA
does not anticipate scheduling a public
hearing regarding KCS’ PTCSP because
the circumstances do not appear to
warrant a hearing. If any interested
party desires an opportunity for oral
comment, the party should notify FRA
in writing before the end of the
comment period and specify the basis
for his or her request.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Privacy Act Notice
Anyone can search the electronic
form of any written communications
and comments received into any of our
dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the
document, if submitted on behalf of an
association, business, labor union, etc.).
Under 49 CFR 211.3, FRA solicits
comments from the public to better
inform its decisions. DOT posts these
comments, without edit, including any
personal information the commenter
provides, to www.regulations.gov, as
described in the system of records
notice (DOT/ALL–14 FDMS), which you
can review at https://
www.transportation.gov/privacy. See
https://www.regulations.gov/
privacyNotice for the privacy notice of
regulations.gov.
E:\FR\FM\04AUN1.SGM
04AUN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 149 (Friday, August 4, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36521-36522]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16389]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR-2017-0012]
Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning
Russia's Implementation of Its WTO Commitments
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will
convene a public hearing and seeks comments to assist the Office of the
United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the preparation of its
annual report to Congress on Russia's implementation of its obligations
as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
DATES:
September 22, 2017: Deadline for filing a summary of testimony and
requests to appear at the September 28, 2017 public hearing, and for
submitting public comments.
September 28, 2017: The TPSC will convene a public hearing on
Russia's implementation of its obligations as a member of the WTO at
9:30 a.m. in Rooms 1 & 2, 1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20508.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments in section 3 below. The docket
number is USTR-2017-0012. For alternatives to on-line submissions,
please contact Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202)
395-3475.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
written comments or participating in the public hearing, contact Yvonne
Jamison at (202) 395-3475. Direct all other questions regarding this
notice to Betsy Hafner, Deputy Assistant United States Trade
Representative for Russia and Eurasia, at (202) 395-9124.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
Russia became a member of the WTO on August 22, 2012, and on
December 21, 2012, following the termination of the application of the
Jackson-Vanik amendment to Russia and the extension of permanent normal
trade relations to the products of Russia, the United States and Russia
both filed letters with the WTO withdrawing their notices of non-
application and consenting to have the WTO Agreement apply between
them. In accordance with section 201(a) of the Russia and Moldova
Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability
Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-208), USTR is required to submit, by December
21st of each year, a report to Congress on the extent to which Russia
is implementing the WTO Agreement, including the Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the Agreement on
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. The report also
must assess Russia's progress on acceding to the Government Procurement
Agreement (GPA) and the Information Technology Agreement, the latter of
which Russia implemented fully in 2016. In addition, to the extent that
USTR finds that Russia is not implementing fully the WTO Agreement or
is not making adequate progress in acceding to the GPA, USTR must
describe in the report the actions it plans to take to encourage Russia
to improve its implementation and/or increase its accession efforts. In
accordance with section 201(a), and to assist it in preparing this
year's report, the TPSC is soliciting comments on these issues.
The terms of Russia's accession to the WTO are contained in the
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization and the
Protocol on the Accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO
(including its annexes) (Protocol). The Report of the Working Party on
the Accession of the Russian Federation (Working Party Report) provides
detail and context to the commitments listed in the Protocol. You can
find the Protocol and Working Party Report on USTR's Web site at
https://ustr.gov/node/5887 or on the WTO Web site at https://docsonline.wto.org (document symbols: WT/ACC/RUS/70, WT/MIN(11)/2, WT/
MIN(11)/24, WT/L/839, and WT/ACC/RUS/70/Add.1, WT/ACC/RUS/70/Add.2.
2. Public Comments and Hearing
USTR must receive written comments no later than 11:59 p.m. on
Friday, September 22, 2017. USTR invites written comments and/or oral
testimony on Russia's implementation of the commitments made in
connection with its accession to the WTO, including, but not limited
to, commitments in the following areas:
a. Import regulation (e.g., tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas,
import licenses).
b. Export regulation.
c. Subsidies.
d. Standards and technical regulations.
e. Sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
f. Trade-related investment measures.
g. Taxes and charges levied on imports and exports.
h. Other internal policies affecting trade.
i. Intellectual property rights (including intellectual property
rights enforcement).
j. Services.
k. Rule of law issues (e.g., transparency, judicial review, uniform
administration of laws and regulations).
l. Trade-related investment measures.
m. Other WTO commitments.
The TPSC will convene a public hearing on Thursday, September 28,
2017, in Rooms 1 & 2, 1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20508. We must
receive your written requests to present oral testimony at the hearing
and a summary of that testimony by noon on by 11:59 p.m. on Friday,
September 22, 2017. You must make the intent to testify notification in
the ``Type Comment'' field under docket number USTR-2017-0012 on the
www.regulations.gov Web site and you should include the name, address,
telephone number and email address, if available, of the person
presenting the testimony. You should attach a summary of the testimony
by using the ``Upload File'' field. The name of the file also should
include who will be presenting the testimony. Remarks at the hearing
should be limited to no more than five minutes to allow for possible
questions from the TPSC.
You should submit all documents in accordance with the instructions
in section 3 below.
3. Requirements for Submissions
In order to be assured of consideration, we must receive your
written comments in English by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, September 22,
2017. USTR strongly encourages commenters to make on-line submissions,
using the www.regulations.gov Web site. On the first page of the
submission, please identify it as ``Russia's Implementation of its WTO
Commitments.''
To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number
USTR-2017-0012 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 and click on the link
entitled ``Comment Now!''
[[Page 36522]]
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 Regulations.gov'' on the bottom of the home page. We will
not accept hand-delivered submissions.
The www.regulations.gov Web site allows users to submit comments by
filling in a ``Type Comment'' field or by attaching a document using an
``Upload File'' field. USTR prefers that you submit comments in an
attached document. If you attach a document, it is sufficient to type
``See attached'' in the ``Type Comment'' field. USTR prefers
submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If you
use an application other than those two, please indicate the name of
the application in the ``Type Comment'' field.
For any comments submitted electronically containing business
confidential information, the file name of the business confidential
version should begin with the characters ``BC''. Any page containing
business confidential information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS
CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page. Filers of submissions
containing business confidential information also must submit a public
version of their comments that we will place in the docket for public
inspection. 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. Filers submitting
comments containing no business confidential information should name
their file using the name of the person or entity submitting the
comments.
Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic
submissions; rather, include any information that might appear in a
cover letter in the comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent
possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in
the same file as the submission itself, not as separate files.
As noted, USTR strongly urges submitters to file comments through
www.regulations.gov. You must make any alternative arrangements with
Yvonne Jamison in advance of transmitting a comment. You can contact
Ms. Jamison at (202) 395-3475. General information concerning USTR is
available at www.ustr.gov.
We will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except
business confidential information. You can view comments on the
www.regulations.gov Web site by entering the relevant docket number in
the search field on the home page.
Edward Gresser,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade
Representative.
[FR Doc. 2017-16389 Filed 8-3-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F7-P