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

The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking the views of interested parties on the operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), as amended by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). Section 212(f) of the CBERA, as amended, requires the President to submit a report to Congress regarding the operation of the CBERA and CBTPA (together commonly referred to as the Caribbean Basin Initiative, or CBI) on or before December 31, 2001, and every two years thereafter. The TPSC invites written comments concerning the operation of the CBI, including comments on the performance of each CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary country, as the case may be, under the criteria described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended. This information will be used in the preparation of a report to the U.S. Congress on the operation of the program.

This notice is to inform the public of the availability of eight-month 2007 import statistics relating to competitive need limitations (CNLs) under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. The eight-month 2007 import statistics identify those articles for which the full-year 2007 trade levels may exceed statutory CNLs. The eight-month 2007 trade data is available at: [GSP: January-August 2007 Trade Data Relating to CNLs]: https://www.ustr.gov/Trade Development/PreferencePrograms/GSP/GSP2007AnnualReview/ SectionIndex.html. As previously announced in the Federal Register (72 FR 28527 (May 21, 2007)), the deadline for submission of petitions to waive the CNLs for individual beneficiary developing countries with respect to GSP- eligible articles is 5 p.m., November 16, 2007. Petitions must conform to the requirements as set forth in the May 21, 2007, Federal Register notice. Public comments regarding possible de minimis waivers and possible GSP redesignations will be requested in a subsequent Federal Register notice.

The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is soliciting written comments on U.S. objectives for upcoming negotiations on the renewal of the United States-Israel Agreement on Trade in Agricultural Products (ATAP). Specifically, the TPSC is seeking comments on general negotiating objectives and product-specific requests.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice that on September 14, 2007, the People's Republic of China (``China'') requested consultations with the United States under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') concerning certain U.S. preliminary antidumping and countervailing duty determinations involving coated free sheet paper imported from China (Department of Commerce Case Nos. A-570-906 and A- 570-907). That request may be found at https://www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/SD368/1. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

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.