[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 111 (Thursday, June 8, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36501-36502]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-14514]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Solicitation of Public Comments on 
Institutional Improvements to the World Trade Organization (WTO), 
Particularly With Respect to the Transparency of its Operations and 
Outreach to Civil Society

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is soliciting public 
comments on U.S. objectives and proposals for improving the functioning 
of the WTO, particularly with respect to its outreach activities and 
the transparency of its operations, and in light of the WTO's ongoing 
work program and mandated negotiations in agriculture and services. 
Attention is drawn to the solicitation of Public Comments for the 
Mandated Multilateral Trade Negotiations on Agriculture and Services in 
the WTO and Priorities for Future Market Access Negotiations on Non-
Agricultural Goods, published on March 28, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 60). 
That notice called for public comments on general as well as specific 
negotiating objectives. The issues of outreach and transparency are on-
going matters before the WTO and the subject of continuing 
consultations conducted under the auspices of the WTO General Council. 
It is also anticipated that, like other internation institutions, the 
WTO will need to continue to consider appropriate responses to the 
challenges as well as the benefits offered by ``globalization'' as its 
future agenda is fashioned. The TPSC, therefore, also welcomes comments 
on whether and how the WTO might undertake activities to ensure that 
the social, environmental and development dimensions of continued trade 
liberalization are adqquately addressed. Comments received will be 
considered by the Executive Branch in formulating U.S. positions for 
these discussions and deliberations.

DATES: Public comments are due by July 10, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Moore, Office of WTO and 
Multilateral Affairs, at (202) 395-5097, or Karissa Kovner, Office of 
the Environment and Natural Resources, at (202) 395-6169. Procedural 
inquiries concerning the public comment process should be directed to 
Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office 
of the United States Trade Representative, (202) 395-3475.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Information about the WTO can be obtained 
via the WTO website (www.wto.org) Attention is also drawn to the 2000 
Trade Policy Agenda and 1999 Annual Report of the President of the 
United States on the Trade Agreements Program, which can be found on 
USTR's website (www.ustr.gov) via the ``What's New'' icon. Chapter 2 of 
the Report presents a report to the Congress assessing the first five 
years' operation of the WTO, the annexes to which contain substantial 
background information on the WTO, its organization and the work of its 
Councils and Committees. Also accessible via USTR's website are U.S. 
submissions made to the WTO General Council as part of the preparatory 
process for the third WTO Ministerial Conference in December 1999, 
including submissions covering agricultural, services and non-
agcultural market access as well as trade and sustainable development, 
trade and core labor standards and WTO institutional issues (e.g., 
transparency and openness). Information about U.S. contributions to and 
participation in the WTO's 1999 High Level Meeting on Trade and the 
Environment can also be obtained via the ``What's New'' icon. Finally, 
the USTR home page includes a recent communication from USTR to the 
Chairman of the WTO General Council reiterating U.S. priorities for 
improving the internal and external transparency of the WTO and its 
subsidiary bodies.

[[Page 36502]]

    The TPSC invites written comments from the public on the important 
institutional issues raised about the WTO in terms of its openness and 
accountability, including its outreach to citizens. The Administration 
has been active in seeking institutional improvements to the WTO, while 
preserving its intergovernmental nature. For example, the United States 
has consistently called for the WTO to build upon past progress by (i) 
expanding the range of WTO documents available to the public; (ii) 
strengthening the guidelines for consultations with non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs); (iii) enhancing the WTO's program of symposia and 
consultations on specific topics of mutual interest; (iv) expanding and 
improving the use of Internet facilities to reach more stakeholders in 
more creative ways; and (v) broadening the range of WTO meetings and 
events that would be open to the public. Last year, the United States 
specifically called upon the WTO membership to agree upon methods to 
permit the organizations of civil society (including businesses, labor 
organizations, agricultural producers, environmental groups, academic 
associations and others) to observe meetings, as appropriate, and share 
views as Member delegations develop policy. The United States has 
proposed updating the 1996 WTO General Council Decisions on Document 
Derestriction and Relations with NGOs as a near term opportunity for 
making progress in certain of these areas, but additional opportunities 
and progress should be pursued--including with respect to opening 
dispute settlement panel proceedings to public observation and 
clarifying procedures for acceptance of amicus curiae submissions from 
interested non-governmental parties.
    In terms of dispute settlement, the United States has proposed that 
the WTO procedures include a mechanism to permit non-governmental 
stakeholders to present their written views on disputes, and that the 
WTO allow the public to observe WTO panel and appellate proceedings. 
The United States continues to urge other WTO Members to work with the 
United States to enhance the transparency of the WTO dispute settlement 
process, through changes in the working procedures applied in 
individual disputes, and through an ongoing assessment of the operation 
of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding.
    The United States has taken many steps on its own to improve the 
transparency of the WTO dispute settlement process. USTR seeks public 
comment, through a Federal Register notice, on every dispute settlement 
proceeding where the United States is a party. USTR also makes its 
written submissions to panels and the WTO Appellate Body available to 
the public as soon as they are submitted. The United States routinely 
requests the parties to any WTO case (even cases in which it is not a 
party) to provide it with a copy of their submissions or non-
confidential summaries for release to the public.
    USTR makes WTO panel reports available to the public upon receipt, 
and the WTO makes WTO panel and Appellate Body reports available on the 
Internet for downloading the day after they are circulated in Geneva, 
and sometimes the same day. This is also true of other WTO documents 
regarding disputes. The consultation requests and panel requests in 
every dispute are circulated to all WTO Members in all three official 
languages (English, French and Spanish) as public documents, and 
immediately put on the WTO website. Any member of the public can access 
WTO documents through the Internet and follow the progress of WTO 
disputes on that website. In this way, members of the public can find 
out from these WTO documents that there will be a panel proceeding and 
what issues the panel will address, even before the panel is 
established.

Written Comments

    Comments are welcome with as much specificity as the respondent can 
provide on the range of opportunities which should be sought for 
achieving greater transparency and openness as well as on the nature of 
achievements to be sought. The Administration is particularly 
interested in determining if there are additional mechanisms that can 
be utilized to ensure broader interaction with consumer and other 
parties interested in developments in the WTO and the trading system. 
This is part of a broader dialogue initiated by the Administration 
these issues. Submissions need not duplicate submissions provided in 
response to the March 28 solicitation regarding objectives for the 
mandated negotiations in agriculture and services and potential 
industrial market access negotiation.
    Persons submitting written comments should provide twenty (20) 
copies no later than July 10, 2000 to Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, 
Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, Room 122, 600 17th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 
20508. Written comments submitted in connection with this request, 
except for information granted ``business confidential'' status 
pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.6, will be available for public inspection in 
the USTR Reading Room, Room 101, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street, Northwest, Washington, DC. An 
appointment to review the file may be made by calling Brenda Webb at 
202-395-6186. The Reading Room is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 
12 noon, and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
    Business confidential information will be subject to the 
requirements of 15 CFR 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. If the submission contains business confidential information, 
twenty copies of a public version that does not contain confidential 
information must be submitted. A justification as to why the 
information contained in the submission should be treated 
confidentially must be included in the submission. In addition, any 
submissions containing business confidential information must be 
clearly marked ``Confidetnial'' at the top and bottom of the cover page 
(or letter) and each succeeding page of the submission. The version 
that does not contain confidential information should also be clearly 
marked at the top and bottom of each page ``Public Version'' or ``Non-
Confidential.''

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 00-14514 Filed 6-7-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3901-01-M