[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 216 (Friday, November 7, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60299-60310]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-29502]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket No. 301-116]


Initiation of Section 302 Investigation, Proposed Determinations 
and Action, and Request for Public Comment: Honduran Protection of 
Intellectual Property Rights

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of initiation of investigation; proposed determination 
and action; request for public comment; and public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) has determined that 
the Government of Honduras has failed to provide adequate and effective 
means under its laws for foreign nationals to secure, exercise and 
enforce exclusive rights in intellectual property and has recommended 
that the duty-free treatment accorded Honduras under the Generalized 
System of Preferences (GSP) and the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) 
programs be partially withdrawn. In light of the foregoing, the United 
States Trade Representative (USTR) is initiating an investigation under 
section 302(b) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the ``Trade Act'') 
with regard to acts, policies, and practices of the Government of 
Honduras with respect to the protection of intellectual property 
rights, and proposes to determine that these acts, policies and 
practices are actionable under section 301(b) and that the appropriate 
response is a partial suspension of tariff preference benefits

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accorded to Honduras under the GSP and CBI programs. The annex to this 
notice sets forth a list of articles of Honduras which could be subject 
to the suspension of tariff preference benefits. The USTR invites 
interested persons to submit written comments and to participate in a 
public hearing concerning the proposed determinations and action.

DATES: This investigation was initiated on October 31,1997. Requests to 
appear at the public hearing are due November 14, 1997; written 
testimony is due November 24, 1997; a public hearing will be held on 
December 4, 1997; and written comments and rebuttal comments are due 
December 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written submissions should be sent to Sybia Harrison, Staff 
Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, ATTN: Docket 301-116, Room 223, 
Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20508. The public hearing will be held in the main 
hearing room of the United States International Trade Commission, 500 E 
Street, SW, Washington, DC 20436.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Morrissy, Office of Trade and 
Development, Office of the United States Trade Representative, (202) 
395-6971, or William Busis, Office of the General Counsel, Office of 
the United States Trade Representative, (202) 395-3150.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In June 1992 the Motion Picture Export 
Association of America (subsequently renamed the Motion Picture 
Association) filed a petition under the GSP program alleging that 
Honduras had failed to provide adequate and effective copyright 
protection and enforcement of rights of copyright owners. The petition 
alleged wide-spread unauthorized broadcasting of pirated videos and the 
rebroadcasting of U.S. satellite-carried programming. In addition to 
these problems, the Government of Honduras has not provided adequate 
copyright protection for books and sound recordings.
    Since the receipt of the GSP petition, the United States has held 
extensive consultations with the Government of Honduras regarding its 
failure to provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual 
property rights. As a result of these consultations, the Honduran 
government has, in the past, provided assurances that enforcement of 
intellectual property rights protection laws would improve.
    However, the United States has seen a continuing lack of 
enforcement of copyright in Honduras. In May of 1997 the TPSC 
determined that the Government of Honduras had failed to provide 
adequate and effective means under its laws for foreign nationals to 
secure, exercise and enforce exclusive rights in intellectual property, 
and recommended that the duty-free treatment accorded Honduras under 
the GSP and CBI programs be partially withdrawn in four months if these 
problems were not remedied. (See 62 FR 28915 of May 28, 1997.) In the 
intervening period, the United States Government has consulted with the 
Government of Honduras regarding this matter. Despite being notified of 
continuing and serious U.S. concerns and possible action by the U.S. 
Government in response, the Government of Honduras has still failed to 
take sufficient action against continuing and blatant copyright piracy. 
For example, recent reports indicate that three major television 
stations in Honduras continue to violate the rights of U.S. copyright 
owners.

Initiation of Section 302 Investigation

    Section 302(b)(1) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2412(b)(1)) 
authorizes the USTR to initiate an investigation under Chapter 1 of 
Title III of the Trade Act (commonly referred to as ``section 301'') 
with respect to any matter to determine whether the matter is 
actionable under this provision. Under section 301(b)(1) of the Trade 
Act, matters actionable under section 301 include acts, policies, or 
practices of a foreign country that are unreasonable and burden or 
restrict U.S. commerce. Under section 301(d)(3)(B)(II) of the Trade 
Act, unreasonable acts, policies or practices include any act, policy 
or practice which denies fair and equitable provision of adequate and 
effective protection of intellectual property rights.
    Accordingly, the United States Trade Representative, having 
consulted with the appropriate private sector advisory committees, has 
determined to initiate an investigation under section 302(b)(1) of the 
Trade Act to determine whether certain acts, policies, and practices of 
Honduras with regard to the protection of intellectual property rights 
are actionable under section 301(b)(1) of the Trade Act.

Proposed Determinations and Action

    Based on the failure of the Government of Honduras to provide 
adequate protection of intellectual property rights, the USTR proposes 
to determine under sections 304(a)(1)(A) and 301(b) of the Trade Act 
that the acts, policies, and practices of Honduras with respect to the 
protection of intellectual property rights are unreasonable and burden 
or restrict United States commerce, and that action by the United 
States is appropriate.
    Section 301(b)(2) of the Trade Act authorizes the USTR to take all 
appropriate and feasible action authorized under section 301(c) to 
obtain the elimination of the actionable acts, policies, or practices. 
Section 301(c)(1)(C) provides that in a case in which the act, policy, 
or practice also fails to meet the eligibility requirements for duty-
free treatment under the GSP program or CBI program, the USTR may 
withdraw, limit or suspend such treatment under the GSP or CBI 
programs.
    The GSP program includes an eligibility requirement concerning the 
extent to which the foreign country provides adequate and effective 
protection of intellectual property rights (section 502(c)(5) of the 
Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(c)(5))). The CBI program also includes 
eligibility requirements concerning the extent to which the foreign 
country provides under its laws adequate and effective means for 
foreign nationals to secure, exercise, and enforce exclusive rights in 
intellectual property, and the extent to which the foreign country 
prohibits its nationals from engaging in the broadcast of copyrighted 
material belonging to United States copyright owners without their 
express consent (section 212(c)(9) and (10) of the Caribbean Basin 
Economic Recovery Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2712(c)(9) and (10)). 
Based on the failure of the Government of Honduras to provide adequate 
protection of intellectual property rights, the USTR proposes to 
determine that Honduras fails to meet these eligibility requirements of 
the CBI and GSP programs.
    Accordingly, under section 304(a)(1)(B) and 301(c)(1)(C) of the 
Trade Act, the USTR proposes to suspend duty-free treatment accorded 
certain products from Honduras under the GSP and CBI programs. In 
particular, the USTR is proposing to suspend GSP and CBI duty-free 
benefits for certain articles of Honduras, to be chosen from among the 
articles listed in the annex to this notice. After considering comments 
received and the testimony presented, the USTR will decide which of the 
articles listed in the annex will be subject to suspension of duty-free 
treatment under the GSP and CBI programs.

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Written Comments and Public Hearing Regarding Proposed Determinations 
and Action

    In accordance with section 304(b) of the Trade Act, the USTR 
invites interested persons to provide written comments on the matters 
under investigation and the proposed determinations. With respect to 
the proposed action under section 301, comments may address: (1) the 
appropriateness of a suspension of GSP and CBI benefits with respect to 
articles of Honduras listed in the annex to this notice; (2) the 
specific articles from the list in the annex which should be subject to 
suspension of GSP and CBI duty-free treatment; and (3) the degree to 
which such suspension of duty-free treatment on particular articles of 
Honduras might have an adverse effect on U.S. consumers. Written 
comments are due by December 10, 1997.
    A public hearing addressed to these same issues will be held on 
December 4, 1997, in the main hearing room of the United States 
International Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW, Washington, DC 20436.
    Interested persons wishing to testify orally at the hearings must 
provide a written request by November 14, 1997, to Sybia Harrison, 
Staff Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, Office of the U.S. Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20508. Requests to 
testify must include the following information: (1) name, address, 
telephone number, fax number, and firm or affiliation of the person 
wishing to testify; and (2) a brief summary of the comments to be 
presented. Requests to testify must conform to the requirements of 15 
CFR 2006.8(a). After the Chairman of the Section 301 Committee 
considers the request to present oral testimony, Ms. Harrison will 
notify the applicant of the time of his or her testimony. In addition, 
persons presenting oral testimony must submit their complete written 
testimony by November 24, 1997.
    In order to allow each interested party an opportunity to contest 
the information provided by other parties at the hearing, USTR will 
accept written rebuttal comments, which must be filed by December 10, 
1997. In accordance with 15 CFR 2006.8(c), rebuttal comments should be 
limited to demonstrating errors of fact or analysis not pointed out in 
the briefs or hearing and should be as concise as possible.
    Written comments, written testimony, and rebuttal comments must be 
filed in accordance with the requirements set forth in 15 CFR 
2006.8(b). Comments must state clearly the position taken, describe 
with particularity the supporting rationale, be in English, and be 
provided in twenty copies to: Sybia Harrison, Staff Assistant to the 
Section 301 Committee, ATTN: Docket 301-116, Room 223, Office of the 
United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 
20508.
    All written submissions will be placed in a file (Docket 301-116) 
open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2006.13, except for 
confidential business information exempt from public inspection in 
accordance with 15 CFR 2006.15. Persons wishing to submit confidential 
business information must certify in writing that such information is 
confidential in accordance with 15 CFR 2006.15(b), and such information 
must be clearly marked ``Business Confidential'' in a contrasting color 
ink at the top of each page on each of the twenty copies and must be 
accompanied by a nonconfidential summary of the confidential 
information. The nonconfidential summary will be placed in the Docket 
open to public inspection. An appointment to review the docket may be 
made by calling Brenda Webb at (202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room is 
open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 
p.m., Monday through Friday, and is located in Room 101, Office of the 
United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 
20508.
Irving A. Williamson,
Chairman, Section 301 Committee.

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[FR Doc. 97-29502 Filed 11-4-97; 3:25 pm]
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