[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 55 (Thursday, March 21, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13205-13206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-6865]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Public Comments on Twenty-Three 
Accessions to the World Trade Organization and on U.S. Participation in 
Negotiations for the Terms of These Accessions: Algeria, Andorra, 
Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Cambodia, Cape Verde, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia, Nepal, Samoa, the Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, 
Tonga, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, and Yugoslavia

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As a Member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United 
States participates in negotiations for the terms of accession for new 
Members to the WTO. The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is 
requesting written comments from the public concerning U.S. commercial 
interests and other issues related to the accessions of 23 countries 
seeking to join the WTO, and to assist the United States Trade 
Representative (USTR) in participation in negotiations for the terms of 
those accessions. These countries are the Azerbaijan Republic 
(Azerbaijan), Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Commonwealth of The Bahamas 
(The Bahamas) the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria (Algeria), 
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia), Former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia, the Independent State of Samoa (Samoa), the 
Republic of the Sudan (Sudan), the Kingdom of Bhutan (Bhutan), the 
Kingdom of Cambodia (Cambodia), the Kingdom of Nepal (Nepal), the 
Kingdom of Tonga (Tonga), the Lao Democratic People's Republic (Laos), 
the Lebanese Republic (Lebanon), Principality of Andorra (Andorra), the 
Republic of Belarus (Belarus), the Republic of Cape Verde (Cape Verde), 
the Republic of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan), the Republic of Seychelles 
(the Seychelles), the Republic of Tajikistan (Tajikistan), the Republic 
of Uzbekistan (Uzbekistan), the Republic of Yemen (Yemen), and the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam). With respect to Vietnam, 
comments may take into consideration submissions made in response to 
previous requests for written comments in the context of Vietnam's WTO 
accession and the negotiation of a Bilateral Trade Agreement.
    Public comments should include, but not be limited to, information 
concerning those countries' current trade policies and practices which 
affect market access for U.S. exports, e.g., tariffs, non-tariff 
measures; trade and investment in services; other aspects of the trade 
regime affecting U.S. trade interests subject to WTO provisions; and 
other conditions or practices that impair the ability of these 
countries to grant the benefit of WTO provisions to their trading 
partners. Comments received will be considered in developing U.S. 
positions and objectives for the multilateral and bilateral 
negotiations that will determine the terms of WTO accession for 
Algeria, Andorra, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Former 
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Nepal, Samoa, the Seychelles, the 
Sudan, Tajikistan, Tonga, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, and Yugoslavia.

DATES: Public comments should be received by noon on Wednesday, May 15, 
2002.

ADDRESSES: Public comment should be submitted to: Gloria Blue, 
Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20508. Attention: Office of WTO and Multilateral Affairs

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cecilia Leahy Klein, USTR Director for 
WTO Accessions (202-395-3063) concerning the WTO accession process and 
issues related to WTO rules; Paul Moore ([email protected]), USTR 
Director for Market Access and Sarah Sipkins ([email protected]), USTR 
Director for Tariffs (202-395-5097) concerning issues related to goods 
market access negotiations; Sharon Sheffield ([email protected]), 
Director for Agricultural Trade Policy (202-395-6127) concerning issues 
related to trade in agricultural products or agricultural support; or 
Christina Lund ([email protected]), USTR Senior Advisor for Services and 
Intellectual Property Rights and Paul Burkhead ([email protected]), 
USTR Director for Services Trade Affairs (202-395-4510) concerning 
issues related to services market access. 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 Representatives, (202) 395-3475.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The countries of Algeria, Andorra, 
Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Cambodia, Cape Verde, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia, Nepal, Samoa, the Seychelles, the Sudan, 
Tajikistan, Tonga, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, and Yugoslavia have 
applied for accession to the WTO. Article XII of the Marrakesh 
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization states that the 
terms of WTO Membership for these countries will be negotiated with 
current WTO Members bilaterally and in meetings of the Working Parties 
established by the Members of the WTO to conduct the negotiations. The 
results of these negotiations will include a Working Party report and 
Protocol of Accession, specifying how the applicants for accession will 
implement WTO Agreements, and Schedules of specific commitments and 
concessions on market access for imported goods and services, which 
will be annexed to the Protocol.
    The Chairman of the Trade Policy Staff Committee invites written 
comments from the public on trade and other measures currently applied 
by Algeria, Andorra, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, 
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Nepal, Samoa, the Seychelles, 
the Sudan, Tajikistan, Tonga, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, and 
Yugoslavia that could be subject to the provisions of the WTO, 
particularly tariffs applied to imports, and other market access issues 
for goods and services, or practices or measures that could affect the 
competitiveness of U.S. goods and services in those markets. All 
comments received will be considered in developing U.S. positions and 
objectives for participation in these negotiations.
    Market access issues for goods of interest to the TPSC include, but 
are not limited to: (a) Comments on possible tariff reductions and the 
removal of restrictive border measures such as quotas or import 
licensing requirements; (b) uniform application of the trading system; 
(c) the provision of national

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treatment and nondiscriminatory treatment for imported goods, 
especially in the area of domestic taxation and requirements for and 
restrictions on the right to import and export goods; (d) transparency 
in application of trade laws and regulations; (e) right of appeal in 
cases involving application of trade laws and other laws relating to 
WTO provisions, such as protection and enforcement of intellectual 
property rights (IPR) and services; (f) customs processing issues, such 
as document certification prior to export, fees, customs valuation, and 
certification requirements for imports; (g) industrial export and 
domestic subsidies; (h) agricultural export subsidies and domestic 
supports and incentives; (i) safeguard and unfair trade practice 
procedures applied to imports; (j) plant, animal, and human health and 
safety requirements, including sanitary and phytosanitary requirements; 
(k) technical barriers to trade; (l) utilization of preshipment 
inspection services; (m) application of rules of origin; (n) activities 
of state trading enterprises, including restrictions and other trade-
distorting practices made effective through state trading; (o) price 
controls and policies; (p) foreign exchange controls that act as 
barriers to trade and investment; (q) preferential trade arrangements, 
including membership in free trade arrangements or customs unions; (r) 
government procurement practices; (s) policies concerning trade in 
civil aircraft; (t) the trade-related aspects of investment policies; 
and (u) the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
    Market access issues for services of interest to the TPSC include, 
but are not limited to, (a) transparency in application of trade laws 
and regulations and the right of appeal in cases involving foreign 
service suppliers; (b) the right to establish a commercial presence in 
a foreign market to supply services; (c) the right to travel across 
national borders to make use of a service; (d) the ability to supply 
services when neither the supplier nor consumer travel, for example, 
via electronic means; and (e) the right to enter a foreign market 
temporarily to provide services.
    Information on products or practices subject to these negotiations 
should include, whenever appropriate or possible, the import or export 
tariff classification number used for the product concerned, the CPC 
number used for classification of the services sector concerned, or the 
official citation of the law or regulation being discussed.
    Persons submitting written comments should provide a statement, in 
twenty (20) copies, by noon, Wednesday, May 15, 2002, to Gloria Blue, 
Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, 
1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. Where possible, please 
supplement written comments with a computer disk of the submission 
containing as much of the technical details as possible. The disk 
should have a label identifying the software used and the name of the 
respondent. Written comments submitted, 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) at 
the address noted above. An appointment to review the file may be made 
by calling the Reading Room at (202) 395-6186. The Reading Room is open 
to the public from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday 
through Friday.
    Business confidential information, including any information 
submitted on disks, 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 ``Confidential'' 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,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 02-6865 Filed 3-20-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P