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

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received petitions in 2004 to modify the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program and to modify the GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary developing countries because of country practices. The list of country practice petitions accepted for review will be announced in the Federal Register at a later date. This notice announces the product petitions that are accepted for further review in the 2004 GSP Annual Review, and sets forth the schedule for comment and public hearing on these petitions, for requesting participation in the hearing, and for submitting pre-hearing and post-hearing briefs.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that on January 13, 2005, the United States received from the European Communities (``EC'') a request for the establishment of a panel under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') regarding the U.S. suspension of obligations to the EC in the WTO dispute European CommunitiesMeasures Concerning Meat and Meat Products (Hormones). The EC asserts that it has put into force new legislation that brings it into conformity with the recommendations and rulings of the Dispute Settlement Body (``DSB'') and its obligations under the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (``SPS Agreement''). The EC therefore challenges the continued U.S. suspension of obligations and imposition of import duties in excess of bound rates on imports from the EC, the alleged U.S. ``unilateral determination'' that the new EC legislation is in violation of the EC's WTO obligations, and the alleged U.S. failure to have recourse to WTO dispute settlement proceedings. In particular, the EC asserts that by failing to discontinue suspension of obligations to the EC, the United States has breached its obligations under Articles I and II of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (``GATT 1994'') and Articles 3.7, 21.5, 22.8 and 23.2(a) and (c) of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (``DSU''). USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

The Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Automotive Equipment and Capitol Goods (ITAC-2) will hold a meeting on Wednesday, March 16, 2005, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The meeting will be closed to the public from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and opened to the public from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

On September 18, 2003, the United States and the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) signed a trade agreement obligating reciprocal most-favored-nation treatment between Laos and the United States. The trade agreement entered into force as of February 4, 2005, the effective date of this notice, after which time all products of Laos entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, shall be granted most-favored-nation treatment by the United States.

The Office of Management and Budget revised Circular A-94 in 1992. The revised Circular specified certain discount rates to be updated annually when the interest rate and inflation assumptions used to prepare the budget of the United States Government were changed. These discount rates are found in Appendix C of the revised Circular. The updated discount rates are shown below. The discount rates in Appendix C are to be used for cost-effectiveness analysis, including lease-purchase analysis, as specified in the revised Circular. They do not apply to regulatory analysis.

In response to the European Union's changes to its rice import regime, the United States has notified the World Trade Organization of its intent to withdraw concessions by March 1, 2005, with respect to the goods in the attached list. Background: In Federal Register notices 04-20543, dated September 10, 2004, 04-21762 and dated September 28, 2004, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative sought comments concerning a list of goods for which tariff concessions may be withdrawn and duties may be increased in the event the United States cannot reach agreement with the European Union (EU) for adequate compensation owed under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules as a result of EU changes to its rice import regime. While the United States Government has actively sought a negotiated resolution of this issue, which would have alleviated the need to withdraw concessions, an agreement has not been reached. Therefore, in accordance with WTO rules, the United States has notified the WTO that it will withdraw substantially equivalent tariff concessions if an agreement is not reached before March 1. This notice provides the list of goods notified to the WTO on Friday, January 28, 2005. Whenever a foreign country withdraws, suspends, or modifies the application of trade agreement obligations of benefit to the United States without granting adequate compensation, the President is authorized under section 125(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2135) to proclaim such increased duties or other import restrictions as are appropriate to effect adequate compensation. In the event that the United States withdraws substantially equivalent tariff concessions on March 1, increases in the duties applied to the goods included in the list notified to the WTO would be effected pursuant to this authority.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, as amended (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that an information collection extension request was submitted to the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for processing under 5 CFR 1320.10. The first notice of this information collection extension was published in the Federal Register as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act, on October 29, 2004 [69 FR 63186] and invitee the general public and Federal agencies to comment on the extension without change of standard form, SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. This form is currently required by OMB Circular A-102, ``Grants and Cooperative Agreements with State and Local Governments,'' and Title 2 Code of Federal Regulations Part 215 (OMB Circular A-110, ``Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other Non-Profit Organizations.'' The form will continue to be used while the E-GOV Grants.gov interagency team completes their analysis of public comments received in response to an April 8, 2003, Federal Register notice [68 FR 17090] and finalizes the government-wide data standard.

This notice extends by two weeks the deadline for the submission of comments in the Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) of the People's Republic of China (China) under section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2242), commonly referred to as the ``Special 301'' provision of the Trade Act.