[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71229-71230]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-30311]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Request for Comments Concerning Compliance With 
Telecommunications Trade Agreements

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of request for public comment and reply comment.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and 
Competitiveness Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 3106) (``section 1377''), the 
Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is 
reviewing, and requests comments on: The operation and effectiveness of 
and the implementation of and compliance with the World Trade 
Organization (``WTO'') Basic Telecommunications Agreement; other WTO 
agreements affecting market opportunities for telecommunications 
products and services of the United States; the telecommunications 
provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (``NAFTA''); and, 
other telecommunications trade agreements with the Asia Pacific 
Economic Cooperation (``APEC'') members, the European Union (``EU''), 
the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (``CITEL''), Japan, 
Korea, Mexico and Taiwan. The USTR will conclude the review on March 
31, 2003.

DATES: Comments are due by noon on January 3, 2003, and Reply Comments 
are due by noon on January 24, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to Rhonda Schnare, Office of 
General Counsel, Attn: Section 1377 Comments, Office of the United 
States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 
20508. As explained below, in order to ensure the most timely and 
expeditious receipt and consideration of comments and reply comments, 
USTR has arranged to accept submissions in electronic format (e-mail). 
Comments should be submitted electronically to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth Schagrin, Office of Industry 
and Telecommunications (202) 395-5663; or Rhonda Schnare, Office of the 
General Counsel (202) 395-3582.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 1377 requires the USTR to review 
annually the operation and effectiveness of all U.S. trade agreements 
regarding telecommunications products and services of the United States 
that are in force with respect to the United States. The purpose of the 
review is to determine whether any act, policy, or practice of a 
country that has entered into a telecommunications trade agreement with 
the United States is inconsistent with the terms of such agreement, or 
otherwise denies to U.S. firms, within the context of the terms of such 
agreements, mutually advantageous market opportunities. For the current 
review, the USTR seeks comments on:
    (1) Whether any WTO member is acting in a manner that is 
inconsistent with its commitments under the WTO Basic 
Telecommunications Agreement or with other WTO obligations, e.g., the 
WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (``GATS''), including the 
Annex on Telecommunications and the Reference Paper on Pro-Competitive 
Regulatory Principles, that affect market opportunities for U.S. 
telecommunications products and services;
    (2) Whether Canada or Mexico has failed to comply with their 
telecommunications commitments under NAFTA;
    (3) Whether APEC or CITEL members, the EU, Japan, Korea, Mexico or 
Taiwan have failed to comply with their commitments under additional 
telecommunications agreements with the United States.\1\
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    \1\ Japan: The 1999 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) 
agreement; the 1994 U.S.-Japan Public Sector Procurement Agreement 
on Telecommunications Products and Services; and, additional 
telecommunications trade agreements with Japan, including a series 
of agreements on: International value-added network services (IVANS) 
(1990-91); open government procurement of all satellites, except for 
government research and development satellites (1990); network 
channel terminating equipment (NCTE) (1990); and cellular and third-
party radio systems (1989) and cellular radio systems (1994).
    Korea: Agreements regarding protection of intellectual property 
rights (``IPR'') (1996), type approval of telecommunications 
equipment (1992/1996), transparent standard-setting processes, 
(1992/1997) and non-discriminatory access to Korea 
Telecommunications' procurement of telecommunications products 
(1992/1996).
    Mexico: The 1997 understanding regarding test data acceptance 
agreements between product safety testing laboratories.
    Mutual Recognition Agreements For Conformity Assessment of 
Telecommunications Equipment: Mutual Recognition Agreements 
(``MRAs'') regarding telecommunications equipment trade with the 
European Union (1997), APEC countries (1998), and CITEL countries 
(1999).
    Taiwan: The February 1998 agreement on interconnection pricing 
for provision of wireless services in Taiwan; and, the July 1996 
agreement on the licensing and provision of wireless services 
through the establishment of a competitive, transparent and fair 
wireless market in Taiwan. USTR also seeks comments on 
telecommunications commitments made by Taiwan to the United States 
in October 1999 and February 1998 as part of its accession to the 
WTO.
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    (4) Whether there remains outstanding issues from previous Section 
1377 reviews on those countries or issues previously cited. Last year's 
review concluded that it would focus attention on the following 
practices as a matter of priority: (1) Mobile wireless termination 
rates in the European Union (EU) Member States and Japan, (2) 
provisioning and pricing of leased telecom lines in EU Member States 
and Switzerland, and (3) interconnection and other competitive concerns 
in Mexico. USTR continues to closely monitor other telecommunications 
trade practices identified in the following countries: Australia, 
Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Japan, Peru, and South Africa.
    See 63 FR 1140 (January 8, 1998) for further information concerning 
the agreements listed below and USTR Press Release 02-XX available at 
http://www.ustr.gov, for the results of the 2001-2002 section 1377 
review concerning these agreements.

Public Comment and Reply Comment: Requirements for Submissions

    USTR requests comments on: The operation and effectiveness of--
including implementation of and compliance with--the WTO Basic 
Telecommunications Agreement; other WTO agreements affecting market 
opportunities for telecommunications products and services of the 
United States; the NAFTA; and other telecommunications trade agreements 
with APEC members, CITEL members,

[[Page 71230]]

the EU, Japan, Korea, Mexico and Taiwan. All comments must be in 
English, identify on the first page of the comments the 
telecommunications trade agreement(s) discussed therein, be addressed 
to Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, TPSC, Attn: Section 1377 Comments, 
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and be submitted in 15 copies 
by noon on January 3, 2003. Reply Comments will also require 15 copies 
by noon on January 24, 2003.
    In order to ensure the most timely and expeditious receipt and 
consideration of comments and reply comments, USTR has arranged to 
accept submissions in electronic format (e-mail). Comments should be 
submitted electronically to [email protected]. An automatic reply 
confirming receipt of e-mail submission will be sent. E-mail 
submissions in Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect are preferred. If a 
word processing application other than those two is used, please 
include in your submission the specific application used. 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 character ``P''. The ``BC'' and 
``P'' should be followed by the name of the person or entity submitting 
the comments or reply comments. Interested persons who make submissions 
electronically should not provide separate cover letters; rather, 
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.
    We strongly urge people to avail themselves of the electronic 
filing, if at all possible. If an e-mail submission is impossible, 15 
copies may be submitted in accordance with the procedures listed below, 
and if not filed electronically must be delivered via private 
commercial courier, and arrangements must be made with Ms. Blue prior 
to delivery for their receipt. Ms. Blue should be contacted at (202) 
395-3475.
    All non-confidential comments and reply comments will be placed on 
the USTR website, http://www.ustr.gov and in the USTR Reading Room for 
inspection shortly after the filing deadline, except business 
confidential information exempt from public inspection in accordance 
with 15 CFR 2003.6. Confidential information submitted in accordance 
with 15 CFR 2003.6, must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' in 
a contrasting color ink at the top of each page on each of 15 copies, 
and must be accompanied by 15 copies of a nonconfidential summary of 
the confidential information. The nonconfidential summary will be 
placed in the USTR Public Reading Room. Since comments and reply 
comments will be posted on USTR's website, those persons not availing 
themselves of electronic filing must submit their 15 copies with a 
diskette. USTR will post the non-confidential version of the filing, 
therefore the non-confidential version must be clearly marked on the 
diskette.
    An appointment to review the comments may be made by calling the 
USTR Reading Room at (202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room is open to 
the public from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, and is located in Room 3 of 1724 F Street, NW.

    Dated: November 25, 2002.
Peter B. Davidson,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 02-30311 Filed 11-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P