Annual Review of Country Eligibility for Benefits Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, 28695-28697 [2020-10218]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 93 / Wednesday, May 13, 2020 / Notices
sequence, with the material in the new
heading inserted in the columns of the
HTSUS labeled ‘‘Heading/Subheading’’,
28695
‘‘Article Description’’, and ‘‘Rates of
Duty 1—General’’, respectively:
Rates of duty
Heading/subheading
Article description
1
2
General
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
‘‘9903.88.47 ......
Articles the product of China, as provided for in U.S. note
20(zz) to this subchapter, each covered by an exclusion
granted by the U.S. Trade Representative.
2. by inserting the following new U.S.
note 20(zz) to subchapter III of chapter
99 in numerical sequence:
‘‘(zz) The U.S. Trade Representative
determined to establish a process by
which particular products classified in
heading 9903.88.15 and provided for in
U.S. notes 20(r) and (s) to this
subchapter could be excluded from the
additional duties imposed by heading
9903.88.15. See 84 FR 43304 (August
20, 2019), 84 FR 45821 (August 30,
2019), 84 FR 57144 (October 24, 2019)
and 85 FR 3741 (January 22, 2020).
Pursuant to the product exclusion
process, the U.S. Trade Representative
has determined that the additional
duties provided for in heading
9903.88.15 shall not apply to the
following particular products, which are
provided for in the following
enumerated statistical reporting
numbers:
(1) 3306.20.0000
(2) 6506.10.6030
(3) 8512.10.4000
(4) Tumblers or disposable graduated
liners for pitchers, of plastics, of a
kind used in healthcare facilities
(described in statistical reporting
number 3924.10.4000)
(5) Disposable identification wristbands
of plastics, designed to be worn by
patients during medical procedures,
each consisting of a plastics strip with
an integrated window for inserting
paper with relevant patient
identification information, such
bracelets measuring 0.95 cm or more
but not more than 3.2 cm in width
and having a secure closure
(described in statistical reporting
number 3926.90.9990)
(6) Manually operated pill or tablet
crushers of plastics, presented with
attachable pouches of plastics for
capturing and storing the resulting
powders (described in statistical
reporting number 8479.82.0080)
(7) Tracking devices, each device
measuring not more than 86 mm on
a side (if rectangular) or 28 mm in
diameter (if circular) and not more
than 7.5 mm in thickness, not
weighing more than 15 g, designed to
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19:53 May 12, 2020
Jkt 250001
The duty provided in the applicable subheading’’.
be attached to another article and to
establish a Bluetooth connection with
another device for the purposes of
providing relative location
information (described in statistical
reporting number 8517.62.0090)
(8) Wireless communication apparatus
capable of receiving audio data to be
distributed to wireless speakers
(described in statistical reporting
number 8517.62.0090)’’
3. by amending the last sentence of
the first paragraph of U.S. note 20(r):
a. By deleting ‘‘or (3)’’ and by
inserting ‘‘(3)’’ in lieu thereof; and
b. by inserting ‘‘; or (4) heading
9903.88.47 and U.S. note 20(zz) to
subchapter III of chapter 99’’ after ‘‘U.S.
note 20(ww) to subchapter III of chapter
99’’.
4. by amending the article description
of heading 9903.88.15:
a. By deleting ‘‘9903.88.42 or’’ and by
inserting ‘‘9903.88.42,’’ in lieu thereof;
and
b. by inserting ‘‘or 9903.88.47’’ after
‘‘9903.88.44’’.
B. Effective with respect to goods
entered for consumption, or withdrawn
from warehouse for consumption, on or
after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on
September 1, 2019:
1. U.S. note 20(uu)(9) to subchapter III
of chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff
schedule of the United States is
modified by deleting ‘‘, single use’’ and
inserting ‘‘and particulate facepiece
respirators’’ in lieu thereof.
[FR Doc. 2020–10235 Filed 5–12–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290–F0–P
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR–2020–0020]
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
and request for comments.
AGENCY:
PO 00000
Frm 00097
Fmt 4703
Special
Sfmt 4703
The Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative (USTR) is announcing
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 (AGOA Subcommittee) is
developing recommendations for the
President on AGOA country eligibility
for calendar year 2021. The AGOA
Subcommittee requests comments for
this review. Due to COVID–19, the
AGOA Subcommittee will foster public
participation via written submissions
rather than an in-person hearing. This
notice includes the schedule for
submission of comments and responses
to questions from the AGOA
Subcommittee related to this review.
DATES:
June 24, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT:
Deadline for submission of written
comments on the eligibility of subSaharan African countries to receive the
benefits of AGOA.
July 7, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT:
Deadline for the AGOA Subcommittee
to pose any questions on written
comments.
July 16, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT:
Deadline for submission of commenters’
responses to questions from the AGOA
Subcommittee.
July 25, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT:
Deadline for replies from other
interested parties to the written
comments and responses to questions.
August 4, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT:
Deadline for the AGOA Subcommittee
to pose any additional questions on
written comments.
August 13, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT:
Deadline for submission of responses to
any additional questions from the
AGOA Subcommittee.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers
electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov (Regulations.gov),
using Docket Number USTR–2020–
0020. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments in ‘‘Requirements
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\13MYN1.SGM
13MYN1
28696
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 93 / Wednesday, May 13, 2020 / Notices
for Submissions’’ below. For
alternatives to on-line submissions,
please contact Bennett Harman, Deputy
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for
Africa, in advance of the relevant
deadline at bharman@ustr.eop.gov or
(202) 395–9612.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Please contact Bennett Harman, Deputy
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for
Africa, at bharman@ustr.eop.gov or
(202) 395–9612.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
I. Background
AGOA (Title I of the Trade and
Development Act of 2000, Pub. L. 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
• 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
• 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 annually
review the progress of each sub-Saharan
African country in meeting the
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19:53 May 12, 2020
Jkt 250001
foregoing eligibility criteria in order to
determine if a beneficiary sub-Saharan
African country should continue to be
eligible, and if a 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, the President 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 2020, the President designated the
following 38 countries as beneficiary
sub-Saharan African countries:
1. Angola
2. Benin
3. Botswana
4. Burkina Faso
5. Cabo Verde
6. Central African Republic
7. Chad
8. Comoros
9. Republic of Congo
10. Cote d’Ivoire
11. Djibouti
12. Eswatini
13. Ethiopia
14. Gabon
15. The Gambia
16. Ghana
17. Guinea
18. Guinea-Bissau
19. Kenya
20. Lesotho
21. Liberia
22. Madagascar
23. Malawi
24. Mali
25. Mauritius
26. Mozambique
27. Namibia
28. Niger
29. Nigeria
30. Rwanda (AGOA apparel benefits
suspended effective July 31, 2018)
31. Sao Tome & Principe
32. Senegal
33. Sierra Leone
34. South Africa
35. Tanzania
36. Togo
37. Uganda
38. Zambia
The President did not designate the
following sub-Saharan African countries
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
as beneficiary sub-Saharan African
countries for 2020:
1. Burundi
2. Cameroon
3. Democratic Republic of Congo
4. Equatorial Guinea (graduated from
GSP)
5. Eritrea
6. Mauritania
7. Seychelles (graduated from GSP)
8. Somalia
9. South Sudan
10. Sudan
11. Zimbabwe
The AGOA Subcommittee is seeking
public comments to develop
recommendations to the President in
connection with the annual review of
sub-Saharan African countries’
eligibility for AGOA benefits. The
Secretary of Labor may consider
comments related to the child labor
criteria to prepare the U.S. Department
of Labor’s report on child labor as
required under section 504 of the 1974
Act.
II. Public Participation
Due to COVID–19, the AGOA
Subcommittee will foster public
participation via written submissions
rather than an in-person hearing for the
2020 AGOA Eligibility Review. USTR
invites public comment according to the
schedule set out in the Dates section
above. The AGOA Subcommittee will
review comments and replies to
comments, if any, and may ask
clarifying questions to commenters
according to the schedule set out above.
The AGOA Subcommittee will post the
questions it asks on the public docket,
other than questions that include
properly designated business
confidential information (BCI). Any
questions that include properly
designated BCI will not be posted on the
docket for public viewing, but rather
will be sent via email to the relevant
commenters. Replies to these questions
that also contain BCI must follow
procedures laid out in section IV.
III. Requirements for Submissions
You must submit comments and
answers to questions from the AGOA
Subcommittee by the applicable
deadlines set forth in this notice. You
must make all submissions in English
via Regulations.gov, using Docket
Number USTR–2012–0020. USTR will
not accept hand-delivered submissions.
To make a submission using
Regulations.gov, enter Docket Number
USTR–2012–0020 in the ‘search for’
field on the home page and click
‘search.’ The site will provide a searchresults page listing all documents
E:\FR\FM\13MYN1.SGM
13MYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 93 / Wednesday, May 13, 2020 / Notices
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
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
Regulations.gov website 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 AGOA Subcommittee prefers
that you provide submissions in an
attached document and 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) include the
following text (in bold and underlined):
(1) ‘‘2020 AGOA Eligibility Review’’; (2)
the relevant country or countries; and
(3) whether the document is a comment,
a reply to a comment, or an answer to
an AGOA Subcommittee question.
Submissions should not exceed 30
single-spaced, standard letter-size pages
in 12-point type, including attachments.
Include any data attachments to the
submission in the same file as the
submission itself, and not as separate
files.
You will receive a tracking number
upon completion of the submission
procedure at Regulations.gov. The
tracking number is confirmation that
Regulations.gov received the
submission. Keep the confirmation for
your records. USTR is not able to
provide technical assistance for
Regulations.gov. USTR may not
consider documents you do not submit
in accordance with these instructions. If
you are unable to provide submissions
as requested, please contact Bennett
Harman, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade
Representative for Africa, at bharman@
ustr.eop.gov or (202) 395–9612, in
advance of the relevant deadline to
arrange for an alternative method of
transmission. General information
concerning USTR is available at
www.ustr.gov.
IV. Business Confidential Submissions
If you ask USTR to treat information
you submitted as BCI, you must certify
that the information is business
confidential and you would not
customarily release it to the public. You
must clearly designate BCI by marking
the submission ‘‘BUSINESS
CONFIDENTIAL’’ at the top and bottom
of the cover page and each succeeding
page, and indicating, via brackets, the
specific information that is BCI.
Additionally, you must include
‘Business Confidential’ in the ‘type
comment’ field. For any submission
containing BCI, you must separately
submit a non-confidential version, i.e.,
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19:53 May 12, 2020
Jkt 250001
not as part of the same submission with
the confidential version, indicating
where BCI has been redacted. USTR will
post the non-confidential version in the
docket and it will be open to public
inspection.
V. Public Viewing of Review
Submissions
USTR will make public versions of all
documents relating to these reviews
available for public viewing pursuant to
15 CFR 2017.4, in Docket Number
USTR–2020–0020 on Regulations.gov,
upon completion of processing, usually
within two weeks of the relevant due
date or date of the submission.
VI. Petitions
At any time, any interested party may
submit a petition to USTR 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–2020–0020.
Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee,
Office of the United States Trade
Representative.
[FR Doc. 2020–10218 Filed 5–12–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290–F0–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request for Form 8281
Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
The Internal Revenue Service
(IRS), as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, invites the general public and
other Federal agencies to take this
opportunity to comment on information
collections, as required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The
IRS is soliciting comments concerning
Information Return for Publicly Offered
Original Issue Discount Instructions.
DATES: Written comments should be
received on or before July 13, 2020 to be
assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
to Kinna Brewington, Internal Revenue
Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20224.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the form and instructions
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00099
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
28697
should be directed to Martha R. Brinson,
at (202) 317–5753, or at Internal
Revenue Service, Room 6526, 1111
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20224, or through the internet at
Martha.R.Brinson@irs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Information Return for Publicly
Offered Original Issue Discount
Instructions.
OMB Number: 1545–0887.
Form Number: 8281.
Abstract: Internal Code section
1275(c)(2) requires the furnishing of
certain information to the IRS by issuers
of publicity offered debt instruments
having original issue discount.
Regulations section 1.1275–3 prescribes
that Form 8281 shall be used for this
purpose. The information on Form 8281
is used to update Publication 1212, List
of Original Issue Discount Instruments.
Current Actions: There are no changes
being made to the form at this time.
Type of Review: Extension of a
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Businesses or other
for-profit organizations.
Estimated Number of Responses: 500.
Estimated Time per Response: 6
hours, 7 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 3,060 hours.
The following paragraph applies to all
of the collections of information covered
by this notice:
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information
unless the collection of information
displays a valid OMB control number.
Books or records relating to a collection
of information must be retained as long
as their contents may become material
in the administration of any internal
revenue law. Generally, tax returns and
tax return information are confidential,
as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103.
Request for Comments: Comments
submitted in response to this notice will
be summarized and/or included in the
request for OMB approval. All
comments will become a matter of
public record. Comments are invited on:
(a) Whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information shall have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden of the collection of
information; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including
through the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information
E:\FR\FM\13MYN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 93 (Wednesday, May 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28695-28697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10218]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR-2020-0020]
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 and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is
announcing 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 (AGOA Subcommittee) is
developing recommendations for the President on AGOA country
eligibility for calendar year 2021. The AGOA Subcommittee requests
comments for this review. Due to COVID-19, the AGOA Subcommittee will
foster public participation via written submissions rather than an in-
person hearing. This notice includes the schedule for submission of
comments and responses to questions from the AGOA Subcommittee related
to this review.
DATES:
June 24, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of written
comments on the eligibility of sub-Saharan African countries to receive
the benefits of AGOA.
July 7, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for the AGOA Subcommittee
to pose any questions on written comments.
July 16, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of
commenters' responses to questions from the AGOA Subcommittee.
July 25, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for replies from other
interested parties to the written comments and responses to questions.
August 4, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for the AGOA
Subcommittee to pose any additional questions on written comments.
August 13, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of
responses to any additional questions from the AGOA Subcommittee.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov
(Regulations.gov), using Docket Number USTR-2020-0020. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments in ``Requirements
[[Page 28696]]
for Submissions'' below. For alternatives to on-line submissions,
please contact Bennett Harman, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade
Representative for Africa, in advance of the relevant deadline at
[email protected] or (202) 395-9612.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Bennett Harman, Deputy
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, at [email protected]
or (202) 395-9612.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
AGOA (Title I of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, Pub. L.
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
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
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
annually review the progress of each sub-Saharan African country in
meeting the foregoing eligibility criteria in order to determine if a
beneficiary sub-Saharan African country should continue to be eligible,
and if a 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, the
President 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 2020, the President designated the following 38 countries as
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries:
1. Angola
2. Benin
3. Botswana
4. Burkina Faso
5. Cabo Verde
6. Central African Republic
7. Chad
8. Comoros
9. Republic of Congo
10. Cote d'Ivoire
11. Djibouti
12. Eswatini
13. Ethiopia
14. Gabon
15. The Gambia
16. Ghana
17. Guinea
18. Guinea-Bissau
19. Kenya
20. Lesotho
21. Liberia
22. Madagascar
23. Malawi
24. Mali
25. Mauritius
26. Mozambique
27. Namibia
28. Niger
29. Nigeria
30. Rwanda (AGOA apparel benefits suspended effective July 31, 2018)
31. Sao Tome & Principe
32. Senegal
33. Sierra Leone
34. South Africa
35. Tanzania
36. Togo
37. Uganda
38. Zambia
The President did not designate the following sub-Saharan African
countries as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries for 2020:
1. Burundi
2. Cameroon
3. Democratic Republic of Congo
4. Equatorial Guinea (graduated from GSP)
5. Eritrea
6. Mauritania
7. Seychelles (graduated from GSP)
8. Somalia
9. South Sudan
10. Sudan
11. Zimbabwe
The AGOA Subcommittee is seeking public comments to develop
recommendations to the President in connection with the annual review
of sub-Saharan African countries' eligibility for AGOA benefits. The
Secretary of Labor may consider comments related to the child labor
criteria to prepare the U.S. Department of Labor's report on child
labor as required under section 504 of the 1974 Act.
II. Public Participation
Due to COVID-19, the AGOA Subcommittee will foster public
participation via written submissions rather than an in-person hearing
for the 2020 AGOA Eligibility Review. USTR invites public comment
according to the schedule set out in the Dates section above. The AGOA
Subcommittee will review comments and replies to comments, if any, and
may ask clarifying questions to commenters according to the schedule
set out above. The AGOA Subcommittee will post the questions it asks on
the public docket, other than questions that include properly
designated business confidential information (BCI). Any questions that
include properly designated BCI will not be posted on the docket for
public viewing, but rather will be sent via email to the relevant
commenters. Replies to these questions that also contain BCI must
follow procedures laid out in section IV.
III. Requirements for Submissions
You must submit comments and answers to questions from the AGOA
Subcommittee by the applicable deadlines set forth in this notice. You
must make all submissions in English via Regulations.gov, using Docket
Number USTR-2012-0020. USTR will not accept hand-delivered submissions.
To make a submission using Regulations.gov, enter Docket Number USTR-
2012-0020 in the `search for' field on the home page and click
`search.' The site will provide a search-results page listing all
documents
[[Page 28697]]
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 Regulations.gov website 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 AGOA Subcommittee
prefers that you provide submissions in an attached document and 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) include the following text (in bold and underlined): (1)
``2020 AGOA Eligibility Review''; (2) the relevant country or
countries; and (3) whether the document is a comment, a reply to a
comment, or an answer to an AGOA Subcommittee question. Submissions
should not exceed 30 single-spaced, standard letter-size pages in 12-
point type, including attachments. Include any data attachments to the
submission in the same file as the submission itself, and not as
separate files.
You will receive a tracking number upon completion of the
submission procedure at Regulations.gov. The tracking number is
confirmation that Regulations.gov received the submission. Keep the
confirmation for your records. USTR is not able to provide technical
assistance for Regulations.gov. USTR may not consider documents you do
not submit in accordance with these instructions. If you are unable to
provide submissions as requested, please contact Bennett Harman, Deputy
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, at [email protected]
or (202) 395-9612, in advance of the relevant deadline to arrange for
an alternative method of transmission. General information concerning
USTR is available at www.ustr.gov.
IV. Business Confidential Submissions
If you ask USTR to treat information you submitted as BCI, you must
certify that the information is business confidential and you would not
customarily release it to the public. You must clearly designate BCI by
marking the submission ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top and bottom
of the cover page and each succeeding page, and indicating, via
brackets, the specific information that is BCI. Additionally, you must
include `Business Confidential' in the `type comment' field. For any
submission containing BCI, you must separately submit a non-
confidential version, i.e., not as part of the same submission with the
confidential version, indicating where BCI has been redacted. USTR will
post the non-confidential version in the docket and it will be open to
public inspection.
V. Public Viewing of Review Submissions
USTR will make public versions of all documents relating to these
reviews available for public viewing pursuant to 15 CFR 2017.4, in
Docket Number USTR-2020-0020 on Regulations.gov, upon completion of
processing, usually within two weeks of the relevant due date or date
of the submission.
VI. Petitions
At any time, any interested party may submit a petition to USTR
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-2020-
0020.
Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2020-10218 Filed 5-12-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F0-P
