[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45580-45581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17186]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning 
China's Compliance With WTO Commitments

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for comments and notice of public hearing concerning 
China's compliance with its WTO commitments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 
requests comments on China's compliance with the commitments it made in 
connection with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 
addition, the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will conduct a public 
hearing concerning China's compliance with these commitments.

DATES: Written comments are due by noon, Tuesday, September 10, 2002. A 
hearing will be held in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, September 18, 
2002. Persons wishing to testify orally at the hearing must provide 
written notification of their intention, as well as a copy of their 
testimony, by noon, Thursday, September 5, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by mail or express delivery: Gloria Blue, 
Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, ATTN: China WTO, 
Office of the United States Trade Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20508.
    Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected] (written comments); 
and [email protected] (notice of testimony and testimony). See 
requirements for submissions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
public comment or the public hearing, contact Gloria Blue, (202) 395-
3475. All other questions should be directed to Terrence J. McCartin, 
Director of Monitoring and Enforcement for China, (202) 395-3900, or 
David Weller, Assistant General Counsel, (202) 395-3581.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

    China formally became a member of the WTO on December 11, 2001. In 
accordance with section 421 of the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000 
(Pub. L. 106-286), the USTR is required to submit, by December 11 of 
each year, a report to Congress on China's compliance with commitments 
made in connection with its accession to the WTO, including both 
multilateral commitments and any bilateral commitments made to the 
United States. In accordance with section 421, and to assist it in 
preparing the report, USTR is hereby soliciting public comment.
    The terms of China's accession to the WTO are contained in the 
Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China (including 
its annexes) (Protocol), the Report of the Working Party on the 
Accession of China (Working Party Report), and the WTO Agreement. The 
Protocol and Working Party Report can be found on the Department of 
Commerce webpage, http://www.mac.doc.gov/China/WTOAccessionPackage.htm, 
or on the WTO website, http://docsonline.wto.org (document symbols: WT/
L/432, WT/MIN(01)/3, WT/MIN(01)/3/Add.1, WT/MIN(01)/3/Add.2).

2. Public Comment and Hearing

    USTR invites written comments and/or oral testimony of interested 
persons on China's compliance with commitments made in connection with 
its accession to the WTO, including, but not limited to, commitments in 
the following areas: (a) Trading rights; (b) import regulation (e.g., 
tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas, import licenses); (c) export 
regulation; (d) internal policies affecting trade (e.g., subsidies, 
standards and technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary 
measures, trade-related investment measures, taxes and charges levied 
on imports and exports); (e) intellectual property rights (including 
intellectual property enforcement); (f)

[[Page 45581]]

services; (g) rule of law issues (e.g., transparency, judicial review, 
uniform administration of laws and regulations) and status of legal 
reform; and (h) other WTO commitments. Persons submitting written 
comments should list one or more of these categories on the first page 
of the comments, in order to identify the commitments discussed 
therein.
    Written comments must be received no later than noon, Tuesday, 
September 10, 2002. Comments may be submitted by mail, express delivery 
service, or e-mail (to [email protected]). It is strongly recommended 
that comments submitted by mail or express delivery service also be 
sent by e-mail.
    A hearing will be held on Wednesday, September 18, 2002, in Room 1, 
1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. If necessary, the hearing 
will continue on the next day.
    Persons wishing to testify orally at the hearing must provide 
written notification of their intention by noon, Thursday, September 5, 
2002. Requests should be made by e-mail (to [email protected]). The 
notification should include: (1) The name, address, and telephone 
number of the person presenting the testimony; and (2) a short (one or 
two paragraph) summary of the presentation, including the commitments 
at issue and, as applicable, the product(s) (with HTSUS numbers), 
service sector(s), or other subjects to be discussed. Notifications 
must be accompanied by a copy of the testimony. Remarks at the hearing 
should be limited to no more than five minutes to allow for possible 
questions from the Chairman and the interagency panel.
    All documents should be submitted in accordance with the 
instructions in section 3 below.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following 
subject line: ``China WTO'' followed by (as appropriate) ``Written 
Comments'', ``Notice of Testimony'', or ``Testimony''. Documents should 
be submitted as either WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. 
Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as 
Quattro Pro or Excel. For any document containing business confidential 
information submitted electronically, the file name of the business 
confidential version should begin with the characters ``BC-'', and the 
file name of the public version should begin with the characters ``P-
''. The ``P-'' or ``BC-'' should be followed by the name of the 
submitter. Persons who make submissions by e-mail should not provide 
separate cover letters; information that might appear in a cover letter 
should be included in the submission itself. Similarly, to the extent 
possible, any attachments to the submission should be included in the 
same file as the submission itself, and not as separate files.
    Persons submitting written comments by mail or express delivery 
service should provide 20 copies.
    Written comments, notices of testimony, and testimony will be 
placed in a file open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, 
except confidential business information exempt from public inspection 
in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. Confidential business information 
submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6 must be clearly marked 
``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of each page, including any cover 
letter or cover page, and must be accompanied by a nonconfidential 
summary of the confidential information. All public documents and 
nonconfidential summaries shall be available for public inspection in 
the USTR Reading Room. The USTR Reading Room is open to the public, by 
appointment only, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday. An appointment to review the file may be made by 
calling (202) 395-6186. Appointments must be scheduled at least 48 
hours in advance.

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 02-17186 Filed 7-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P