[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52835-52836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-25796]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Concerning Certain Japanese 
Measures Affecting Imported Consumer Photographic Film and Paper

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 127(b)(1) of the Uruguay Round Agreements 
Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3537(b)(1)), the Office of the United States 
Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice that a dispute 
settlement panel convened under the Agreement Establishing the World 
Trade Organization (WTO) at the request of the United States will 
examine Japanese government measures affecting the distribution and 
sale of imported consumer photographic film and paper. USTR also 
invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised 
in the dispute.

DATES: Although USTR will accept any comments received during the 
course of the dispute settlement proceedings, comments should be 
submitted on or before November 1, 1996 in order to be assured of 
timely consideration by USTR in preparing its first written submission 
to the panel.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to Sybia Harrison, Staff 
Assistant, Room 222, Attn: Film and Paper Dispute, Office of the U.S. 
Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joanna McIntosh, Associate General 
Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-
7203.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At the United States' request, a WTO dispute 
settlement panel will examine whether certain Japanese government 
measures affecting the distribution and sale of imported consumer 
photographic film and paper are consistent with the Government of 
Japan's obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 
1994 (GATT).
    The panel is expected to meet as necessary at the WTO headquarters 
in Geneva, Switzerland to examine the dispute. Under normal 
circumstances, the panel would be expected to issue a report detailing 
its findings and recommendations in six to nine months.

Major Issues Raised by the United States and Legal Basis of 
Complaint

    The United States has requested that a WTO panel examine whether 
the Government of Japan has implemented and maintains laws, 
regulations, requirements and measures (collectively ``measures'') 
affecting the distribution, offering for sale, and internal sale of 
imported consumer photographic film and paper, including: 
liberalization countermeasures; distribution measures, such as, but not 
limited to, the cabinet decision, administrative guidance, and other 
measures listed in the Appendix; the Law Pertaining to the Adjustment 
of Business Activities of the Retail Industry for Large Scale Retail 
Stores, No. 109 of 1973 (Daiten Ho); Special Measures for the 
Adjustment of Retail Business; No. 155 of 1959 (Shocho Ho); the Law 
Against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations, No. 134 
of 1962; measures regarding dispatched employees pursuant to the Law 
Concerning the Prohibition of Private Monopoly and Maintenance of Fair 
Trade, No. 54 of 1947; the Law Concerning Enterprise Reform for 
Specified Industries, No. 61 of 1995; the Ministry of International 
Trade and Industry Establishment Law, No. 275 of 1952; and related 
measures.
    The United States considers that such measures nullify or impair 
benefits accruing to it, within the meaning of Article XXIII: (1)(a), 
as a result of the failure of the Government of Japan to carry out its 
obligations under Articles III and X of the General Agreement on 
Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT). More specifically, Japanese government 
measures:
     Were implemented and maintained so as to afford protection 
to domestic production of consumer photographic film and paper within 
the meaning of GATT Article III:1;
     Conflict with GATT Article III:4 by affecting the 
conditions of competition for the distribution, offering for sale, and 
internal sale of consumer photographic film and paper in a manner that 
accords less favorable treatment to imported film and paper than to 
comparable products of national origin; and
     Conflict with GATT Articles X:1 and X:3 because the 
measures lack

[[Page 52836]]

transparency in that they were not promptly published and were not 
administered in a uniform, impartial and reasonable manner.
    In addition, the United States considers that the application of 
these measures by the Government of Japan nullifies or impairs, within 
the meaning of GATT Article XXIII:(1)(b), the tariff concessions that 
the Government of Japan made on black and white and color consumer 
photographic film and paper in the Kennedy Round, Tokyo Round, and 
Uruguay Round multilateral tariff negotiations.

Appendix

MITI, ``Administrative Guidance To Promote Rationalization of 
Distribution System,'' 1966.
Cabinet Decision, ``Liberalization of Foreign Investment,'' June 6, 
1967.
MITI Industrial Structure Council Distribution Subcommittee, 
``Distribution Systemization,'' 1969 (Tsusanho Koho, Aug. 13 & 14, 
1969).
MITI Preparatory Survey, ``The Actual State of Trade Practices in 
Photo Film,'' 1969.
MITI, ``Film Trade Normalization Guidelines,'' 1970.
MITI, ``Business Bureau Report on Film Prices,'' 1970.
MITI, ``Basic Plan for Distribution Systemization,'' 1971.
MITI, ``Manual for Systemization of Distribution,'' 1975.
MITI, ``Guidelines for Improving Business Practices,'' 1990.
MITI and the Small and Medium Enterprises Agency, ``Distribution 
Vision for the 21st Century,'' 1995 (and earlier versions for the 
1970s, 1980s, and 1990s).
Photo Industry Distribution Information Systemization Council 
[Kyogikai], ``Comprehensive Manual for Photo Distribution Industry 
Distribution Information Systemization,'' 1996 (and 1989, 1990, 
1991, and 1992 versions).

    Other related measures, including guidelines.

Public Comment: Requirements for Submissions

    Interested persons are invited to submit written comments 
concerning the issues raised in the dispute. Comments must be in 
English and provided in fifteen copies. A person requesting that 
information contained in a comment submitted by that person be treated 
as confidential business information must certify that such information 
is business confidential and would not customarily be released to the 
public by the commenter. Confidential business information must be 
clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' in a contrasting color ink at 
the top of each page of each copy.
    A person requesting that information or advice contained in a 
comment submitted by that person, other than business confidential 
information, be treated as confidential in accordance with section 
135(g)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155)--

(1) Must so designate that information or advice;
(2) Must clearly mark the material as ``CONFIDENTIAL'' in a contrasting 
color ink at the top of each page of each copy; and
(3) Is encouraged to provide a non-confidential summary of the 
information or advice.

    Pursuant to section 127(e) of the URAA, USTR will maintain a file 
on this dispute settlement proceeding, accessible to the public, in the 
USTR Reading Room: Room 101, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street, N.W., Washington DC 20508. The public 
file will include a listing of any comments made to USTR from the 
public with respect to the proceeding; the U.S. submissions to the 
panel in the proceeding; the submissions, or non-confidential summaries 
of submissions, to the panel received from other participants in the 
dispute, as well as the report of the dispute settlement panel and, if 
applicable, the report of the Appellate Body. An appointment to review 
the public file (Docket WTO/D-9, ``U.S.-Japan: Film and Paper''), may 
be made by calling Brenda Webb, (202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room 
is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., 
Monday through Friday.
Jennifer Hillman,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 96-25796 Filed 10-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P