Executive Office of the President August 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will convene a public hearing and seek public comment to assist the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the preparation of its annual report to the Congress on China's compliance with the commitments made in connection with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business (ITAC-11) will hold a meeting on Monday, September 14, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The meeting will be closed to the public from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and opened to the public from 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

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.

On May 13, 2009, the United States and the European Communities (``EC'') announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the Beef Hormones dispute. Under the first phase of the agreement, the EC is obligated to open a new beef tariff-rate quota (TRQ) in the amount of 20,000 metric tons at zero rate of duty. The United States in turn is obligated not to increase additional duties above those in effect as of March 23, 2009. The EC opened the new beef TRQ on August 1, 2009. This notice undertakes the process necessary to implement U.S. obligations under the first phase of the MOU and to pursue additional market access under subsequent phases of the MOU.