Trade Representative, Office of United States January 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

A number of trade agreements to which the United States is a party call for the parties to establish rosters of persons available to serve on dispute settlement panels to hear disputes under those agreements. These agreements include the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement, the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (``CAFTA-DR''), the North American Free Trade Agreement (``NAFTA''), and the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. In some instances, an agreement will call for the establishment of more than one roster. For example, the CAFTA-DR requires the establishment of four rosters of individuals who would be available to serve as panelists in dispute settlement proceedings arising under that agreement: a general roster and rosters for disputes concerning financial services, labor, and environment matters. USTR is inviting interested persons to apply to be on one or more of these several rosters under the various agreements.

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. Acts, policies, or practices that are the basis of a country's identification as a Priority Foreign Country can be subject to the procedures set out in sections 301-305 of the Trade Act.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has received petitions in connection with the 2009 GSP Annual Review to waive the competitive need limitations (CNLs) on imports of certain products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program. USTR also has received petitions to determine that certain products were not produced in the United States as of January 1, 1995. This notice announces those petitions that have been accepted for further review. All other petitions have been rejected. This notice also sets forth the schedule for submitting comments and the public hearing on the petitions, filing requests to participate in the hearing, submitting pre-hearing and post-hearing briefs, and commenting on the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) report on probable economic effects. The list of petitions for CNL waivers and petitions for determinations that products were not produced in the United States that were submitted for review is available at: https://www.ustr.gov/ trade-topics/trade-development/preference-programs/generalize d-system- preference-gsp/current-review-1.