[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 134 (Thursday, July 11, 1996)] [Notices] [Pages 36606-36607] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 96-17661] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Trade Policy Staff Committee: Request for Comments Concerning Basic Telecommunications Services Negotiations Under World Trade Organization's General Agreement on Trade in Services ACTION: Notice and request for comments. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is soliciting a second round of public comments on the requests made to U.S. negotiating partners in the Group of Basic Telecommunications (GBT) of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The GATS is one of the Uruguay Round agreements administered by the World Trade Organization. Interested persons are invited to submit their comments on market-opening commitments that should be sought in the basic telecommunications services sector by August 1, 1996. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Corbett, Office of Services, Investment and Intellectual Property, Office of the United States Trade Representative, at (202) 395-4510 or Laura B. Sherman, Office of the General Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative, at (202) 395-3150. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Group on Basic Telecommunications (GBT) was created in April 1996 by a Decision on Commitments on Basic Telecommunications of the WTO Council on Trade in Services. It is the successor to the Negotiating Group on Basic Telecommunications (NGBT), which was created in April 1994 by a Marrakesh Ministerial Decision with a mandate to conclude talks by April 30, 1996. The New group's charge is to continue negotiations on liberalization of trade in telecommunications transport networks and services within the framework of the General Agreement on Trade in Services. The Decision set the date for entry into force of a prospective agreement as January 1, 1998 and established the period of January 15 through February 15, 1997 during which current negotiating offers could be modified or supplemented and MFN exceptions could be taken. These arrangements, sought by the United States, effectively extended the life of negotiations to obtain more and better offers and thereby the critical mass necessary for the United States to maintain its offer. The United States is in the process of refining requests for market-opening commitments from other countries participating in the GBT. These requests must be submitted by the end of September 1996. A list of countries participating in and observing the GBT is attached. The United States objective in the negotiations is to obtain levels of openness in the telecom markets of other participants equivalent to the level in the United States. Interested persons are invited to submit their comments on commitments the United States should seek in wire or wireless communications, satellite systems, regulatory schemes, interconnection issues, foreign ownership restrictions, and competition safeguards, among other things. Comments should be filed no later than August 1, 1996. Comments must be in English and provided in twenty copies to Mr. William Corbett, Office of Services, Investment and Intellectual Property, Office of the United States Trade Representative, Room 301, 600 17th Street, Washington D.C. 20508. Non-confidential information received will be available for public inspection by appointment, in the USTR Reading Room, Room 101, Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For an appointment call Brenda Webb on 202- 395-6186. Business confidential information will be subject to the requirements of 15 CFR Sec. 2003.6. Any business confidential material must be clearly marked as such on the cover letter or page and each succeeding page, and must be accompanied by a non-confidential summary thereof. Frederick L. Montgomery, Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee. WTO Group on Basic Telecommunications Participants in the NGBT Argentina Australia Barbados* Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Cote d'Ivoire Cuba* Cyprus* Czech Republic Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt* European Union Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Portugal Spain Sweden United Kingdom Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Israel Japan Korea Mauritius Mexico Morocco New Zealand Norway Pakistan Peru Philippines Poland Singapore Slovak Republic Switzerland Thailand Tunisia* Turkey United States Venezuela Observes in the NGBT Bolivia Brunei Bulgaria China Chinese Taipei Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Indonesia Ivory Coast Jamaica Latvia Madagascar Malaysia Myanmar Nicaragua Pakistan Panama Romania Russian Federation Slovenia South Africa Trinidad & Tobago United Arab Emirates Uruguay Participants making offers = 48 governments [[Page 36607]] (*) Participants not making offers = 4 governments [FR Doc. 96-17661 Filed 7-10-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3190-01-M