Executive Office of the President 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the initiation of a review to consider the designation of Liberia as a least developed beneficiary developing country under the GSP program and solicits public comment relating to the designation criteria. Comments are due January 13, 2006, in accordance with the requirements for submissions, explained below.

The Office of Management and Budget is issuing this notice to cancel the January 5, 2006, public meeting of the Acquisition Advisory Panel (AAP or ``Panel'') established in accordance with the Services Acquisition Reform Act of 2003.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice of additional country-by-country allocations of the in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quota for imported raw cane sugar beginning on October 1, 2005 and ending on September 30, 2006.

Executive Order 12260 requires the United States Trade Representative to set the U.S. dollar thresholds for application of Title III of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2511 et seq.), which implements U.S. trade agreement obligations, including those under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement, Chapter 15 of the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement, Chapter 9 of the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement, Chapter 10 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and Chapter 13 of the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. These obligations apply to covered procurements valued at or above specified U.S. dollar thresholds. Now, therefore, I, Rob Portman, United States Trade Representative, in conformity with the provisions of Executive Order 12260, and in order to carry out U.S. trade agreement obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement, Chapter 15 of the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement, Chapter 9 of the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement, Chapter 10 of NAFTA, and Chapter 13 of the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, do hereby determine, effective on January 1, 2006: For the calendar years 2006-2007, the thresholds are as follows:

The United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement (Chile FTA) requires the establishment of four rosters of individuals that would be available to serve as panelists in dispute settlement proceedings under the Agreement. A general roster is required to be established under Chapter Twenty-Two: Dispute Settlement. Chapter Twelve on Financial Services, Chapter Eighteen on Labor, and Chapter Nineteen on Environment require the establishment of specific rosters requiring financial services, labor, and environment expertise, respectively.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that on November 17, 2005, Ecuador requested consultations with the United States under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') concerning the final affirmative antidumping determination with respect to certain frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce. That request may be found at https://www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/DS335/1. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issue raised in this dispute.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received petitions in September 2005 to review certain practices in certain beneficiary developing countries to determine whether such countries are in compliance with the ATPA eligibility criteria. This notice publishes a list of the September 2005 petitions that were filed in response to the announcement of the annual review.

Pursuant to section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 3106) (``section 1377''), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is reviewing and requests comments on: The operation, effectiveness, and implementation of and compliance with WTO agreements affecting market opportunities for telecommunications products and services of the United States; the telecommunications provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (``NAFTA''), the Chile, Singapore, and Australia Free Trade Agreements (``FTA'') and any other FTA coming into force on or before January 1, 2006; and other telecommunications trade agreements. The USTR will conclude the review by March 31, 2006.

The Office of Management and Budget announces four meetings of the Acquisition Advisory Panel (AAP or ``Panel'') established in accordance with the Services Acquisition Reform Act of 2003.