Annual Review of Country Eligibility for Benefits Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, 31629-31631 [2018-14098]

Download as PDF daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 130 / Friday, July 6, 2018 / Notices increasing the capacity and independence of the judiciary and the Office of the Attorney General; • Implement a policy to ensure that local communities, civil society organizations (including indigenous and other marginalized groups), private sector, faith-based organizations, and local governments are consulted in the design and participate in the implementation and evaluation of activities of the Plan that affect such communities, organizations, and governments; • Counter the activities of criminal gangs, drug traffickers, and organized crime; • Investigate and prosecute in the civilian justice system government personnel, including military and police personnel, who are credibly alleged to have violated human rights and to ensure that such personnel are cooperating in such cases; • Cooperate with commissions against corruption and impunity and with regional human rights entities; • Support programs to reduce poverty, expand education and vocational training for at-risk youth, create jobs, and promote equitable economic growth particularly in areas contributing to large numbers of migrants; • Implement a plan that includes goals, benchmarks, and timelines to create a professional, accountable civilian police force and end the role of the military in internal policing, and to make such plan available to the Department of State; • Protect the rights of all citizens, including protection of freedom of the press; • Increase government efficiencies, including implementing tax reforms and strengthening customs agencies to promote a more stable economy and job creation; • Resolve commercial disputes, including the confiscation of real property, between U.S. entities and such government. This certification shall be published in the Federal Register and, along with the accompanying Memorandum of Justification, shall be reported to Congress. Dated: June 28, 2018. Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State. [FR Doc. 2018–14614 Filed 7–5–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4710–29–P VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:25 Jul 05, 2018 Jkt 244001 SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD [Docket No. FD 36204] Cairo Public Utility Company— Acquisition and Operation Exemption—Rail Line of Alabama Railroad Co., Inc., d/b/a Shawnee Terminal Railroad Co. Cairo Public Utility Company (CPUC), a non-carrier, has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to acquire and operate 2.5 miles of rail lines owned by Alabama Railroad Co., Inc. d/b/a Shawnee Terminal Railway Co. (STR), between milepost 256.9 and milepost 259.4 in or near Cairo, in Alexander County, Ill. (the Line). CPUC states that it has reached an agreement with STR for CPUC to acquire the Line. CPUC further states that the acquisition is part of a longterm goal of creating a transload facility along the Mississippi River. According to CPUC, the proposed acquisition and operation of the Line does not involve a provision or agreement that would limit future interchange with a thirdparty connecting carrier. CPUC certifies that the proposed transaction will not result in CPUC becoming a Class II or Class I rail carrier and that the projected annual revenue of CPUC will not exceed $5 million. CPUC states that the transaction is scheduled to be consummated on or before September 15, 2018. The earliest this transaction may be consummated is July 20, 2018, the effective date of the exemption (30 days after the verified notice was filed). If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to revoke will not automatically stay the effectiveness of the exemption. Petitions for stay must be filed no later than July 13, 2018 (at least seven days before the exemption becomes effective). An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket No. 36204, must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423–0001. In addition, one copy of each pleading must be served on Richard H. Streeter, Law Office of Richard H. Streeter, 5255 Partridge Lane NW, Washington, DC 20016. According to CPUC, this action is categorically excluded from environmental review under 49 CFR 1105.6(c) and from historic reporting requirements under 49 CFR 1105.8(b). PO 00000 Frm 00104 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 31629 Board decisions and notices are available on our website at WWW.STB.GOV. Decided: June 29, 2018. By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of Proceedings. Brendetta Jones, Clearance Clerk. [FR Doc. 2018–14470 Filed 7–5–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4915–01–P OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE [Docket Number USTR–2018–0022] Annual Review of Country Eligibility for Benefits Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act Office of the United States Trade Representative. ACTION: Notice of initiation of review, public hearing, and request for comments. AGENCY: This notice announces the initiation of the annual review of the eligibility of the sub-Saharan African countries to receive the benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The AGOA Implementation Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (Subcommittee) is developing recommendations for the President on AGOA country eligibility for calendar year 2019. The Subcommittee is requesting written public comments for this review and will conduct a public hearing on this matter. The Subcommittee will consider the written comments, written testimony, and oral testimony in developing recommendations for the President. Comments received related to the child labor criteria also may be considered by the Secretary of Labor in the preparation of the U.S. Department of Labor’s report on child labor as required under the Trade Act of 1974. This notice identifies the eligibility criteria that must be considered under AGOA, and lists those sub-Saharan African countries that are currently eligible for the benefits of AGOA and those that were ineligible for such benefits in 2018. DATES: August 1, 2018: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the August 16, 2018 public hearing, and for filing prehearing briefs, statements, or comments on sub-Saharan African countries’ AGOA eligibility. August 16, 2018: The Subcommittee will convene a public hearing on AGOA country eligibility. SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\06JYN1.SGM 06JYN1 31630 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 130 / Friday, July 6, 2018 / Notices August 23, 2018: Deadline for filing post-hearing briefs, statements, or comments on this matter. ADDRESSES: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) strongly prefers electronic submissions made through the Federal eRulemaking portal: https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the submission instructions in sections II and III below. The docket number is USTR–2018–0022. For alternatives to on-line submissions, please contact Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395–3475. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions, please contact Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395–3475. Direct all other questions to Alan Treat, Director for African Affairs, at (202) 395–9514. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES I. Background AGOA (Title I of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, Public Law 106–200) (19 U.S.C. 2466a et seq.), as amended, authorizes the President to designate sub-Saharan African countries as beneficiaries eligible for duty-free treatment for certain additional products not included for duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) (1974 Act)), as well as for the preferential treatment for certain textile and apparel articles. The President may designate a country as a beneficiary subSaharan African country eligible for AGOA benefits if he determines that the country meets the eligibility criteria set forth in section 104 of AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3703) and section 502 of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462). Section 104 of AGOA includes requirements that the country has established or is making continual progress toward establishing, among other things: a market-based economy; the rule of law, political pluralism, and the right to due process; the elimination of barriers to U.S. trade and investment; economic policies to reduce poverty; a system to combat corruption and bribery; and the protection of internationally recognized worker rights. In addition, the country may not engage in activities that undermine U.S. national security or foreign policy interests or engage in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. Section 502 of the 1974 Act provides for country eligibility criteria under GSP. For a complete list of the AGOA eligibility criteria and more information on the GSP criteria, see section 104 of the AGOA and section 502 of the 1974 Act. VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:25 Jul 05, 2018 Jkt 244001 Section 506A of the 1974 Act requires the President to monitor and review annually the progress of each subSaharan African country in meeting the foregoing eligibility criteria in order to determine if each beneficiary subSaharan African country should continue to be eligible, and if each subSaharan African country that currently is not a beneficiary, should be designated as a beneficiary. If the President determines that a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country is not making continual progress in meeting the eligibility requirements, he must terminate the designation of the country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country. The President also may withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment with respect to specific articles from a country if he determines that it would be more effective in promoting compliance with AGOA eligibility requirements than terminating the designation of the country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country. For 2018, 40 countries were designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. These countries, as well as the countries currently designated as ineligible, are listed below. The Subcommittee is seeking public comments in connection with the annual review of sub-Saharan African countries’ eligibility for AGOA’s benefits. The Subcommittee will consider any comments in developing recommendations to the President related to this review. Comments related to the child labor criteria may also be considered by the Secretary of Labor in making the findings required under section 504 of the 1974 Act. The following sub-Saharan African countries were designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries in 2018: Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Cabo Verde Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Comoros Republic of Congo Cote d’Ivoire Djibouti Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya PO 00000 Frm 00105 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Sao Tome & Principe Senegal Sierra Leone South Africa Tanzania Togo Uganda Zambia The following sub-Saharan African countries were not designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries for 2018: Burundi Democratic Republic of Congo Equatorial Guinea (graduated from GSP) Eritrea Seychelles (graduated from GSP) Somalia South Sudan Sudan Zimbabwe II. Notice of Public Hearing In addition to written comments from the public on the matters listed above, the Subcommittee will convene a public hearing at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 16, 2018, to receive testimony related to sub-Saharan African countries’ eligibility for AGOA’s benefits. USTR must receive requests to present oral testimony at the hearing and pre-hearing briefs, statements, or comments must be received by noon August 1, 2018. The hearing will be held at 1724 F Street NW Washington DC 20508, and will be open to the public and to the press. USTR will make a transcript of the hearing available on www.regulations.gov within approximately two weeks of the hearing. USTR must receive your written requests to present oral testimony at the hearing and pre-hearing briefs, statements, or comments by noon on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. You must make the intent to testify notification in the ‘‘type comment’’ field under docket number USTR–2018–0022 on the www.regulations.gov website 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 E:\FR\FM\06JYN1.SGM 06JYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 130 / Friday, July 6, 2018 / Notices daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES ‘‘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 Subcommittee. You should submit all documents in accordance with the instructions in section III below. III. Requirements for Submissions In order to be assured of consideration, persons submitting a notification of intent to testify and/or written comments must do so in English by noon on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. USTR strongly encourages commenters to make on-line submissions, using the www.regulations.gov website. To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR–2018–0022 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!’’ For further information on using the www.regulations.gov website, please consult the resources provided on the website by clicking on ‘‘How to Use Regulations.gov’’ on the bottom of the home page. We will not accept handdelivered submissions. 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 or reply 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 VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:25 Jul 05, 2018 Jkt 244001 any alternative arrangements with Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395–3475 in advance of transmitting a comment. 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 website by entering the relevant docket number in the search field on the home page. IV. Petitions 15 CFR part 2017 permits any interested party to submit a petition to USTR, at any time, with respect to whether a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country is meeting the AGOA eligibility requirements. An interested party may file a petition through www.regulations.gov, under docket number USTR–2018–0022. Edward Gresser, Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative. [FR Doc. 2018–14098 Filed 7–5–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3290–F8–P DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration [Docket No. FMCSA—2017–0196] 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Pilot Program To Allow 18to 21-Year-Old Persons With Military Driving Experience To Operate Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) in Interstate Commerce Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notice and request for comments. AGENCY: FMCSA is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, FMCSA is requesting comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment. Pursuant to Section 5404 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, 2015 (FAST Act), FMCSA proposes a 3year period of information collection to determine whether the safety outcomes (to include crashes, moving violations, inspection violations, and safety critical events as available) of drivers under the SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00106 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 31631 age of 21 with military experience in the operation of heavy vehicles (i.e., ‘‘covered drivers’’) participating in interstate commerce are similar to the safety outcomes of commercial motor vehicle drivers (CMV) drivers between the ages of 21 and 24 operating freightcarrying CMVs, and how training and experience impact the safety of the 18to 20-year-old driving population. FMCSA proposed this pilot program and solicited public comment on August 22, 2016. The prior 60-day notice sought comment on program operations, including whether any additional safeguards are needed to ensure that the pilot program provides a level of safety equivalent to current safety levels. Additional details on the broader pilot program are available through a separate notice published in today’s Federal Register. DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 4, 2018. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA– 2017–0196 using any of the following methods: • Federal eRulemaking Portal: https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. • Fax: 1–202–493–2251. • Mail: Docket Operations, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 20590–0001. • Hand Delivery or Courier: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 20590 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and the docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments, see the Public Participation heading below. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to https:// www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading below. Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to https:// www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for accessing the dockets, or go to the street address listed above. Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as E:\FR\FM\06JYN1.SGM 06JYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 130 (Friday, July 6, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31629-31631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14098]


=======================================================================
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2018-0022]


Annual Review of Country Eligibility for Benefits Under the 
African Growth and Opportunity Act

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of initiation of review, public hearing, and request for 
comments.

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

SUMMARY: This notice announces the initiation of the annual review of 
the eligibility of the sub-Saharan African countries to receive the 
benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The AGOA 
Implementation Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee 
(Subcommittee) is developing recommendations for the President on AGOA 
country eligibility for calendar year 2019. The Subcommittee is 
requesting written public comments for this review and will conduct a 
public hearing on this matter. The Subcommittee will consider the 
written comments, written testimony, and oral testimony in developing 
recommendations for the President. Comments received related to the 
child labor criteria also may be considered by the Secretary of Labor 
in the preparation of the U.S. Department of Labor's report on child 
labor as required under the Trade Act of 1974. This notice identifies 
the eligibility criteria that must be considered under AGOA, and lists 
those sub-Saharan African countries that are currently eligible for the 
benefits of AGOA and those that were ineligible for such benefits in 
2018.

DATES: 
    August 1, 2018: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the 
August 16, 2018 public hearing, and for filing pre-hearing briefs, 
statements, or comments on sub-Saharan African countries' AGOA 
eligibility.
    August 16, 2018: The Subcommittee will convene a public hearing on 
AGOA country eligibility.

[[Page 31630]]

    August 23, 2018: Deadline for filing post-hearing briefs, 
statements, or comments on this matter.

ADDRESSES: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) strongly 
prefers electronic submissions made through the Federal eRulemaking 
portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the submission instructions 
in sections II and III below. The docket number is USTR-2018-0022. For 
alternatives to on-line submissions, please contact Yvonne Jamison at 
(202) 395-3475.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions, please 
contact Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395-3475. Direct all other questions to 
Alan Treat, Director for African Affairs, at (202) 395-9514.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    AGOA (Title I of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, Public Law 
106-200) (19 U.S.C. 2466a et seq.), as amended, authorizes the 
President to designate sub-Saharan African countries as beneficiaries 
eligible for duty-free treatment for certain additional products not 
included for duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of 
Preferences (GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et 
seq.) (1974 Act)), as well as for the preferential treatment for 
certain textile and apparel articles. The President may designate a 
country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country eligible for AGOA 
benefits if he determines that the country meets the eligibility 
criteria set forth in section 104 of AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3703) and section 
502 of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462).
    Section 104 of AGOA includes requirements that the country has 
established or is making continual progress toward establishing, among 
other things: a market-based economy; the rule of law, political 
pluralism, and the right to due process; the elimination of barriers to 
U.S. trade and investment; economic policies to reduce poverty; a 
system to combat corruption and bribery; and the protection of 
internationally recognized worker rights. In addition, the country may 
not engage in activities that undermine U.S. national security or 
foreign policy interests or engage in gross violations of 
internationally recognized human rights. Section 502 of the 1974 Act 
provides for country eligibility criteria under GSP. For a complete 
list of the AGOA eligibility criteria and more information on the GSP 
criteria, see section 104 of the AGOA and section 502 of the 1974 Act.
    Section 506A of the 1974 Act requires the President to monitor and 
review annually the progress of each sub-Saharan African country in 
meeting the foregoing eligibility criteria in order to determine if 
each beneficiary sub-Saharan African country should continue to be 
eligible, and if each sub-Saharan African country that currently is not 
a beneficiary, should be designated as a beneficiary. If the President 
determines that a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country is not making 
continual progress in meeting the eligibility requirements, he must 
terminate the designation of the country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African country. The President also may withdraw, suspend, or limit the 
application of duty-free treatment with respect to specific articles 
from a country if he determines that it would be more effective in 
promoting compliance with AGOA eligibility requirements than 
terminating the designation of the country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African country.
    For 2018, 40 countries were designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African countries. These countries, as well as the countries currently 
designated as ineligible, are listed below. The Subcommittee is seeking 
public comments in connection with the annual review of sub-Saharan 
African countries' eligibility for AGOA's benefits. The Subcommittee 
will consider any comments in developing recommendations to the 
President related to this review. Comments related to the child labor 
criteria may also be considered by the Secretary of Labor in making the 
findings required under section 504 of the 1974 Act.
    The following sub-Saharan African countries were designated as 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries in 2018:

Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Cabo Verde
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Republic of Congo
Cote d'Ivoire
Djibouti
Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
Ethiopia
Gabon
The Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sao Tome & Principe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
South Africa
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Zambia

    The following sub-Saharan African countries were not designated as 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries for 2018:

Burundi
Democratic Republic of Congo
Equatorial Guinea (graduated from GSP)
Eritrea
Seychelles (graduated from GSP)
Somalia
South Sudan
Sudan
Zimbabwe

II. Notice of Public Hearing

    In addition to written comments from the public on the matters 
listed above, the Subcommittee will convene a public hearing at 10:00 
a.m. on Thursday, August 16, 2018, to receive testimony related to sub-
Saharan African countries' eligibility for AGOA's benefits. USTR must 
receive requests to present oral testimony at the hearing and pre-
hearing briefs, statements, or comments must be received by noon August 
1, 2018.
    The hearing will be held at 1724 F Street NW Washington DC 20508, 
and will be open to the public and to the press. USTR will make a 
transcript of the hearing available on www.regulations.gov within 
approximately two weeks of the hearing.
    USTR must receive your written requests to present oral testimony 
at the hearing and pre-hearing briefs, statements, or comments by noon 
on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. You must make the intent to testify 
notification in the ``type comment'' field under docket number USTR-
2018-0022 on the www.regulations.gov website 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

[[Page 31631]]

``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 Subcommittee. You should submit all documents in accordance 
with the instructions in section III below.

III. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to be assured of consideration, persons submitting a 
notification of intent to testify and/or written comments must do so in 
English by noon on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. USTR strongly encourages 
commenters to make on-line submissions, using the www.regulations.gov 
website. To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket 
number USTR-2018-0022 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!'' For further information on using the 
www.regulations.gov website, please consult the resources provided on 
the website by clicking on ``How to Use Regulations.gov'' on the bottom 
of the home page. We will not accept hand-delivered submissions.
    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 or reply 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 at (202) 395-3475 in advance of transmitting a comment. 
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 website by entering the relevant docket number in 
the search field on the home page.

IV. Petitions

    15 CFR part 2017 permits any interested party to submit a petition 
to USTR, at any time, with respect to whether a beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African country is meeting the AGOA eligibility requirements. An 
interested party may file a petition through www.regulations.gov, under 
docket number USTR-2018-0022.

Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States 
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2018-14098 Filed 7-5-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3290-F8-P
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