Trade Representative, Office of United States October 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received petitions in connection with the 2009 GSP Annual Review to modify the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program (``2009 GSP Annual Product Review''). This Notice announces the petitions accepted for review to add or remove products from the list of products eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP and sets forth the review schedule for comment and public hearings, for requesting participation in the hearings, for submitting pre-hearing and post-hearing briefs, and for commenting on the U.S. International Trade Commission's (USITC) report on probable economic effects. The list of accepted petitions is available at: https://www.ustr.gov/trade- topics/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-syst em- preference-gsp/current-review-1 [2009 Annual Review] and at Regulations.gov, Docket Number USTR-2009-0036.

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 (IPR) or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. (The provisions of Section 182 are commonly referred to as the ``Special 301'' provisions of the Trade Act.) The USTR is required to determine which, if any, of these countries should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. In addition, USTR has created a ``Priority Watch List'' and ``Watch List'' under Special 301 provisions. Placement of a trading partner on the Priority Watch List or Watch List indicates that particular problems exist in that country with respect to IPR protection, enforcement, or market access for persons relying on intellectual property. Countries placed on the Priority Watch List are the focus of increased bilateral attention concerning the problem areas.