Executive Office of the President September 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Many areas of today's research require multi-disciplinary teams in which the intellectual leadership of the project is shared among two or more individuals. To facilitate this team approach through recognition of the contributions of the team leadership members, OSTP issued a memorandum to all Federal research agencies on January 4, 2005, requiring them to formally allow more than one PI on individual research awards. The Federal agencies then sought input from the research communityscientists, research administrators, and organizations that represent components of the scientific communityon how best to implement this policy. This input was sought via a Request for Information published in the Federal Register on July 18, 2005 that posed a series of questions around core elements that will comprise each agency's implementation plan. The six core elements, to be posted on the Research Business Models (RBM) Web Site, include: (1) Statement of what constitutes a PI; (2) designation of contact PI; (3) application instructions for listing more than one PI; (4) PIs at different institutions; (5) access to award and review information; and (6) identification of all PIs in public data systems. The Supplementary Information section of this Notice provides background on the Research Business Models (RBM) Subcommittee of the Committee on Science (COS), the plan to recognize multiple PIs on Federal research projects, a summary of the responses to the Request for Information, and the government response to the comments submitted. The final policy on the recognition of multiple PIs is contained in the Policy Section.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative is seeking to update the current list of U.S. non-governmental individuals on the indicative list of potential panelists maintained by the WTO Secretariat, as provided for in Article 8.4 of the DSU. The DSU provides a mechanism for the settlement of disputes between the Members of the WTO. A three-person panel conducts each dispute settlement proceeding and issues a report for consideration by the Dispute Settlement Body (``DSB''). The indicative list assists in selecting panelists for dispute settlement proceedings; panelists often are drawn from the indicative list, although there is no requirement to do so. Article 8.4 of the DSU also provides for periodically updating the indicative list. Section 123(b) of the Uruguay Round Agreement Act (``URAA''), Public Law 103-405, provides that the Trade Representative shall seek to ensure that persons appointed to the WTO indicative list are well-qualified and that the indicative list includes persons with expertise in all of the subject matters covered by the Uruguay Round Agreements. USTR invites citizens of the United States with appropriate qualifications, discussed below, to apply for consideration as a nominee to the indicative list.

The Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act, Public Law 105-270, requires agencies to develop inventories each year of activities performed by their employees that are not inherently governmentali.e., inventories of commercial activities. The FAIR Act further requires OMB to review the inventories in consultation with the agencies and publish a notice of public availability in the Federal Register after the consultation process is completed. In accordance with the FAIR Act, OMB is publishing this notice to announce the availability of inventories from the agencies listed below. These inventories identify both commercial activities and activities that are inherently governmental. This is the third and final release of the FAIR Act inventories for FY 2006. Interested parties who disagree with the agency's initial judgment may challenge the inclusion or the omission of an activity on the list of activities that are not inherently governmental within 30 working days and, if not satisfied with this review, may appeal to a higher level within the agency. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy has made available a FAIR Act User's Guide through its Internet site: https://www.whitehouse.gov/ omb/procurement/fair-index.html. This User's Guide will help interested parties review FY 2006 FAIR Act inventories.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received petitions in connection with the 2007 GSP Annual Review 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. This notice announces the product petitions, other than those requesting competitive need limitation (CNL) waivers, and country practice petitions that are accepted for further review in the 2007 GSP Annual Review. This notice also sets forth the schedule for comment and public hearings on these petitions, for requesting participation in the hearings, and for submitting pre-hearing and post-hearing briefs. The list of accepted petitions is available at: https://www.ustr.gov/Trade Development/PreferencePrograms/GSP/SectionIndex.html [2007 Annual review]. Petitions for CNL waivers are due November 16, 2007 (see 72 FR 28,527), and a review of those petitions will be conducted thereafter.

Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2242), requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. (Section 182 is commonly referred to as the ``Special 301'' provisions of the Trade Act.) In addition, the USTR is required to determine which of these countries should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. Acts, policies or practices that are the basis of a country's identification as a Priority Foreign Country are normally the subject of an investigation under the section 301 provisions of the Trade Act. On April 27, 2007, USTR announced the results of the 2007 Special 301 Review and stated that Out-of-Cycle Reviews of Brazil, the Czech Republic, and Pakistan would be conducted this year. Pursuant to these Out-of-Cycle Reviews, USTR requests written submissions from the public concerning acts, policies, and practices regarding the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property protection and enforcement in Brazil, the Czech Republic, and Pakistan.