Trade Representative, Office of United States November 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 the following agreements regarding telecommunications products and services of the United States: the World Trade Organization (``WTO'') Agreement; the North American Free Trade Agreement (``NAFTA''); U.S. free trade agreements (``FTAs'') with Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Morocco, and Singapore; the Dominican RepublicCentral AmericaUnited States Free Trade Agreement (``CAFTA-DR''); and any other FTA or telecommunications trade agreement coming into force on or before January 1, 2008. The USTR will conclude the review by March 31, 2008.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice that the United States has requested, in accordance with the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO Agreement), that the WTO Dispute Settlement Body establish a dispute settlement panel to review the U.S. claims concerning: (1) Certain measures that restrict trading rights with respect to imported films for theatrical release, audiovisual home entertainment products (e.g., video cassettes and DVDs), sound recordings, and publications (e.g., books, magazines, newspapers, and electronic publications); (2) certain measures that restrict market access for, or discriminate against, foreign suppliers of distribution services for publications, foreign suppliers of audiovisual services (including distribution services) for audiovisual home entertainment products, and foreign suppliers of sound recording distribution services; (3) certain measures that provide less favorable distribution opportunities for imported films for theatrical release than for like domestic films; and (4) certain measures that provide less favorable opportunities for foreign suppliers of sound recording distribution services and for the distribution of imported sound recordings than are provided to like service suppliers and like products. The panel request may be found at https://www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/DS363/5. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.