[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 226 (Friday, November 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70476-70477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-29692]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Initiation of Environmental Review 
of the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Negotiations; Public Comments on Scope 
of Environmental Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This publication gives notice that, pursuant to the Trade Act 
of 2002, and consistent with Executive Order 13141 (64 FR 63169) (Nov. 
18, 1999) and its implementing guidelines (65 FR 79442), the Office of 
the United States Trade Representative (USTR), through the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee (TPSC), is initiating an environmental review of the 
proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States and 
Morocco. The TPSC is requesting written comments from the public on 
what should be included in the scope of the environmental review, 
including the potential environmental effects (both positive and 
negative) that might flow from the free trade agreement, including the 
potential implications for our environmental laws and regulations, and 
identification of complementarities between trade and environmental 
objectives such as the promotion of sustainable development. The TPSC 
also welcomes public views on appropriate methodologies and sources of 
data for conducting the review. Persons submitting written comments 
should provide as much detail as possible on the degree to which the 
subject matter they propose for inclusion in the review may raise 
significant environmental issues in the context of the negotiation.

DATES: Public comments should be received no later than January 15, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected].
    Submissions by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade 
Policy Staff
    Committee, at (202) 395-6143.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
public comments, contact Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office 
of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202) 
395-3475. Questions concerning the environmental review should be 
addressed to Jennifer Prescott, Office of Environment and Natural 
Resources, USTR, telephone (202) 395-7320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background Information

    On October 1, 2002, in accordance with section 2104(a)(1) of the 
Trade Act of 2002, the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador 
Robert B. Zoellick, notified the Congress of the President's intent to 
enter into trade negotiations with Morocco. Ambassador Zoellick 
outlined the specific U.S. objectives for the Morocco FTA in the 
notification to the Congress. The letters to House Speaker Dennis 
Hastert and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd can be found on 
the USTR Web site at http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/2002-10-01-morocco-house.PDF and http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/2002-10-01-morocco-senate.PDF, respectively. The TPSC has invited the public to 
provide written comments and/or oral testimony at a public hearing 
scheduled for November 21, 2002, to assist USTR in formulating 
positions and proposals with respect to all aspects of the negotiations 
(67 FR 63187) (Oct. 10, 2002).
    The U.S.-Morocco FTA will build on the bilateral work that began in 
1995 under the U.S.-Morocco Trade and Investment Framework Agreement 
(TIFA). The U.S.-Morocco FTA will seek to eliminate duties and 
unjustified barriers to trade in both U.S.- and Moroccan-origin goods 
and also address trade in services, trade in agricultural products, 
trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, government 
procurement, trade-related environmental and labor matters, and other 
issues. The FTA is expected to contribute to stronger economies, the 
rule of law, sustainable development, and more accountable institutions 
of governance. The FTA will also help to

[[Page 70477]]

support and accelerate economic and political reforms already underway 
in Morocco.
    Over the past six years, U.S. exports to Morocco averaged $475 
million annually, led by exports in the aircraft, cereals, and 
machinery sectors. Morocco's average applied tariff is more than 20 
percent. By comparison, U.S. tariffs on Moroccan exports to the United 
States are already low or zero in many cases. Transistors, 
semiconductors, phosphates, and other minerals, which make up a large 
share of Moroccan exports to the United States, are already granted 
duty-free entry.

2. Environmental Review

    USTR, through the TPSC, will perform an environmental review of the 
agreement pursuant to the Trade Act of 2002 and consistent with 
Executive Order 13141 (64 FR 63169) and its implementing guidelines (65 
FR 79442).
    Environmental reviews are used to identify potentially significant, 
reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts (both positive and 
negative), and information from the review can help facilitate 
consideration of appropriate responses where impacts are identified. 
Reviews address potential environmental impacts of the proposed 
agreement and potential implications for environmental laws and 
regulations. Determining the review's scope includes consideration of 
the environmental dimensions of the regulatory and trade policies at 
issue, including ways in which the trade agreement can complement U.S. 
environmental objectives. The focus of the review is on impacts in the 
United States, although global and transboundary impacts may be 
considered, where appropriate and prudent.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR 
strongly urges and prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in response 
to this notice.
    Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following 
subject line: ``United States-Morocco Environmental Review'' followed 
by ``Written Comments.'' 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. 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.
    Written comments submitted in response to this request will be 
placed in a file open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, 
except business confidential information exempt from public inspection 
in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. Business confidential 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 must be scheduled at 
least 48 hours in advance and may be made by calling (202) 395-6186.
    USTR also welcomes and will take into account the public comments 
on environmental issues submitted in response to a previous notice--the 
Federal Register Notice dated October 10, 2002 (67 FR 63187)--
requesting comments from the public to assist USTR in formulating 
positions and proposals with respect to all aspects of the 
negotiations, including environmental issues. These comments will also 
be made available for public inspection.
    General information concerning the Office of the United States 
Trade Representative may be obtained by accessing its Internet Web site 
(http://www.ustr.gov).

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 02-29692 Filed 11-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P