[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6149 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6149

  To require the United States Trade Representative to take action to 
     obtain the full compliance of the Russian Federation with its 
    commitments under the protocol on the accession of the Russian 
Federation to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 2012

  Mr. Michaud (for himself and Ms. DeLauro) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the United States Trade Representative to take action to 
     obtain the full compliance of the Russian Federation with its 
    commitments under the protocol on the accession of the Russian 
Federation to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Russian World Trade Organization 
Commitments Verification Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) World trade organization; wto.--The terms ``World Trade 
        Organization'' and ``WTO'' mean the organization established 
        pursuant to the WTO Agreement.
            (2) WTO agreement.--The term ``WTO Agreement'' means the 
        Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization entered 
        into on April 15, 1994.

SEC. 3. REPORTS ON COMMITMENTS UNDER THE PROTOCOL ON THE ACCESSION OF 
              THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO THE WTO AGREEMENT.

    (a) Initial Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date on which 
an Act of Congress authorizing the extension of permanent normal trade 
relations treatment to products of the Russian Federation takes effect, 
the United States Trade Representative shall submit to the Committee on 
Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 
of Representatives and publish in the Federal Register a report that--
            (1) describes the commitments of the Russian Federation 
        under the protocol on the accession of the Russian Federation 
        to the WTO Agreement; and
            (2) sets forth the date by which that protocol requires 
        each such commitment to be implemented.
    (b) Annual Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than December 31 of each 
        calendar year that begins after the date on which an Act of 
        Congress referred to in subsection (a) takes effect, the United 
        States Trade Representative shall submit to the Committee on 
        Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of 
        the House of Representatives and publish in the Federal 
        Register a report covering the period described in paragraph 
        (2) that--
                    (A) describes the actions taken by the Russian 
                Federation to comply with each commitment of the 
                Russian Federation under the protocol on the accession 
                of the Russian Federation to the WTO Agreement that the 
                Trade Representative determines has a significant 
                effect on United States commerce;
                    (B) identifies any commitment described in 
                subparagraph (A) that the Trade Representative 
                determines the Russian Federation is not implementing 
                or is not making progress toward implementing in a 
                timely or effective manner;
                    (C)(i) describes any actions taken by the Trade 
                Representative under section 4(a) to obtain the full 
                compliance of the Russian Federation with each 
                commitment identified under subparagraph (B); or
                    (ii) if the Trade Representative has determined 
                under section 4(b) that it is not in the national 
                interests of the United States to obtain the full 
                compliance of the Russian Federation with any such 
                commitment, describes the reasons for that 
                determination; and
                    (D) describes any actions the Trade Representative 
                has taken pursuant to a request made by the Committee 
                on Finance of the Senate or the Committee on Ways and 
                Means of the House of Representatives under section 
                4(c).
            (2) Period described.--The period described in this 
        paragraph is--
                    (A) in the case of the first report submitted under 
                paragraph (1), the period beginning on the date on 
                which the report required by subsection (a) was 
                submitted and ending on the date on which the report 
                required by paragraph (1) is submitted; and
                    (B) in the case of any subsequent report submitted 
                under paragraph (1), the one-year period preceding the 
                submission of the report.

SEC. 4. ACTION BY THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the United 
States Trade Representative shall, in consultation with appropriate 
Federal agencies, take appropriate action to obtain the full compliance 
of the Russian Federation with each commitment identified under section 
3(b)(1)(B).
    (b) Determination Not To Take Action.--The United States Trade 
Representative may determine not to take action under subsection (a) to 
obtain the full compliance of the Russian Federation with a commitment 
identified under section 3(b)(1)(B) if the Trade Representative--
            (1) determines that it is not in the national interests of 
        the United States to obtain the full compliance of the Russian 
        Federation with that commitment; and
            (2) submits to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and 
        the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 
        a report that describes in detail the reasons for that 
        determination.
    (c) Requests From Congress.--
            (1) In general.--The Committee on Finance of the Senate or 
        the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 
        may request the United States Trade Representative to take 
        action to obtain the full compliance of the Russian Federation 
        with--
                    (A) a commitment identified by the Trade 
                Representative under section 3(b)(1)(B) and with 
                respect to which the Trade Representative has made a 
                determination under subsection (b) not to take action 
                if the Committee determines that it is in the national 
                interests of the United States to obtain the full 
                compliance of the Russian Federation with that 
                commitment; or
                    (B) a commitment of the Russian Federation under 
                the protocol on the accession of the Russian Federation 
                to the WTO Agreement not identified by the Trade 
                Representative under section 3(b)(1)(B) if the 
                Committee determines that the Russian Federation is not 
                implementing the commitment or is not making progress 
                toward implementing the commitment in a timely or 
                effective manner.
            (2) Report required.--Not later than 15 days after 
        receiving a request under paragraph (1) from the Committee on 
        Finance of the Senate or the Committee on Ways and Means of the 
        House of Representatives to take appropriate action to obtain 
        the full compliance of the Russian Federation with a commitment 
        described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of that paragraph, the 
        Trade Representative shall submit to those committees and 
        publish in the Federal Register a report that--
                    (A) describes the action the Trade Representative 
                has taken or will take to obtain the full compliance of 
                the Russian Federation with that commitment; or
                    (B) if the Trade Representative determines not to 
                take action to obtain the full compliance of the 
                Russian Federation with that commitment--
                            (i) describes in detail the reasons for 
                        that determination; and
                            (ii) identifies the economic interests in 
                        the United States that would be adversely 
                        affected if the Trade Representative took 
                        action to obtain the full compliance of the 
                        Russian Federation with that commitment.

SEC. 5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.

    The United States Trade Representative shall seek public 
participation in developing the reports required by section 3 and 
determining under section 4(a) what action, if any, it is appropriate 
to take with respect to a commitment identified under section 
3(b)(1)(B), by, before submitting such a report or making a 
determination to take such action--
            (1) publishing a notice in the Federal Register with 
        respect to the content of the report or the action the Trade 
        Representative is considering taking, as the case may be; and
            (2) holding a public hearing with respect to the report or 
        the action, as the case may be.
                                 <all>