[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7229-7230]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-2977]



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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC); Request for Comments 
Concerning Foreign Government Discrimination in Procurement

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice requests written submissions from the public 
concerning discrimination against U.S. products and services by foreign 
governments in their procurement practices. This information will be 
used in compiling the annual report on government procurement specified 
by Section 305 of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (Trade Agreements 
Act), as amended by Title VII of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness 
Act of 1988 and Title III, Section 341 of the Uruguay Round Agreements 
Act of 1994 (19 U.S.C. 2515).
    Section 305 of the Trade Agreements Act requires the President to 
submit an annual report on the extent to which foreign countries 
discriminate against U.S. products or services in making government 
procurement. Section 341 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act specifies 
that the report also contain information about countries which employ 
nontransparent procurement procedures or fail to maintain effective 
prohibitions on bribery and other corrupt practices. Specifically, the 
President is required to identify any countries that:
    (a) Are signatories to the GATT Agreement on Government Procurement 
(Agreement) and are not in compliance with the requirements of the 
Agreement;
    (b) Are signatories to the Agreement; are in compliance with the 
Agreement, but maintain a significant and persistent pattern or 
practice of discrimination in the government procurement of products or 
services from the United States not covered by the Agreement, which 
results in identifiable harm to U.S. business; and whose products or 
services are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government; or
    (c) Are not Signatories to the Agreement and maintain a significant 
and persistent pattern or practice of discrimination in government 
procurement of products or services from the United States, which 
results in identifiable harm to U.S. business, and whose products or 
services are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government; or
    (d) Are not Signatories to the Agreement and fail to apply 
transparent and competitive procedures to its government procurement 
equivalent to those in the Agreement and whose products and services 
are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government; or
    (e) Are not Signatories to the Agreement and fail to maintain and 
enforce effective prohibitions on bribery and other corrupt practices 
in connection with government procurement and whose products and 
services are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government.
    The functions vested in the President under Section 305 of the 
Trade Agreements Act were delegated to the United States Trade 
Representative (USTR) pursuant to Section 4-101 of Executive Order 
12661 (54 FR 779).

DATES: Submissions containing the information described below must be 
received on or before March 1, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted to the Executive Secretary, Trade 
Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506, and must 
include not less than twenty (20) copies. Submissions will be available 
for public inspection by appointment with the staff of the USTR Public 
Reading Room, except for information granted ``business confidential'' 
status pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.6. Any business confidential material 
must be clearly marked as such at the top of the cover page or letter 
and each succeeding page and must be accompanied by a nonconfidential 
summary.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elena Bryan (202-395-5097) or Mark 
Linscott (202-395-3063), Office of GATT Affairs, or Laura B. Sherman 
(202-395-3150), Office of the General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20506.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 305 of the Trade Agreements Act 
requires an annual report to be submitted no later than April 30, 1995 
to the appropriate Committees of the House of Representatives and the 
Senate. The USTR is required to request consultations with any 
countries identified in the report to remedy the procurement practices 
cited in the report.
    USTR invites submissions from interested parties concerning foreign 
government procurement practices that should be considered in 
developing the annual report. Pursuant to Section 305(d)(5) of the 
Trade Agreements Act, submissions are sought from any interested 
parties in the United States and in countries that are signatories to 
the Agreement, as well as in other foreign countries whose products or 
services are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government.
    Each submission should provide, in order, the following general 
information: (1) The party submitting the information; (2) the foreign 
country or countries that are the subject of the submission and the 
entities of each subject country's government whose practices are being 
cited, and (3) the U.S. products or services that are affected by the 
non-compliance or discrimination.
    Each submission should also provide specific information on the 
particular [[Page 7230]] problem: (1) Non-compliance with the GATT 
Agreement on Government Procurement; (2) the type of discrimination 
encountered, including information regarding the date and nature of 
affected procurement(s); (3) policies or practices which are 
discriminatory, not transparent or anti-competitive (where possible, 
include copies of discriminatory laws, policies or regulations), and 
(4) the extent to which the problem has impeded the ability of U.S. 
suppliers to participate in procurements on terms comparable to those 
available to suppliers of the country in question when they are seeking 
to sell goods or services to the U.S. Government; (5) examples of 
failure to maintain and enforce effective prohibitions on bribery and 
other corrupt practices in connection with government procurement.
    Finally, each submission should: (1) If applicable, identify 
provisions of the GATT Government Procurement Agreement which are not 
being observed by the country identified or describe how the country 
identified has maintained a significant and persistent pattern or 
practice of discrimination in government procurement of non-Code-
Covered goods or services; (2) identify the specific impact of the 
discriminatory policy or practice on U.S. businesses (including an 
estimate of the value of market opportunities lost and, if any, the 
cost of preparing bids which are rejected during the course of a 
procurement evaluation for discriminatory reasons), and (3) describe 
the extent to which the products or services of the country identified 
are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government.
Frederick L. Montgomery,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 95-2977 Filed 2-6-95; 8:45 am]
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