[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 249 (Friday, December 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79232-79234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32746]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Request for Public Comments on the Second Draft Consolidated 
Texts of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Agreement

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The second draft consolidated texts of the Free Trade Area of 
the Americas Agreement (FTAA) have been publicly released and posted on 
the USTR website (http://www.ustr.gov) and on the official FTAA website 
(http://www.ftaa-alca.org). The texts are available in the four 
official languages of the FTAA: English, Spanish, French, and 
Portuguese. The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is 
requesting written comments from the public on the second draft 
consolidated texts of the FTAA Agreement.

DATES: Public comments should be received by Friday, January 31, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected].
    Submissions by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade 
Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-6143. The public is strongly 
encouraged to submit documents electronically rather than by facsimile.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
public comments, contact Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade Policy 
Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative at 
(202) 395-3475. All other questions concerning the FTAA negotiations 
should be addressed to the agency's Office of the Americas at (202) 
395-5190. The FTAA second draft consolidated texts are available on the 
USTR Website (http://www.ustr.gov) and the official FTAA website 
(http://www.ftaa-alca.org). This official FTAA website also contains 
general information regarding the FTAA process, including official 
documents.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background

    Trade Ministers from the 34 democratically-elected governments in 
the Western Hemisphere made public the second draft consolidated texts 
of the FTAA agreement on November 1, 2002, immediately following the 
close of their Ministerial meeting in Quito, Ecuador. The first draft 
consolidated texts of the FTAA agreement previously had been made 
public on July 3, 2001. The TPSC previously invited public comments on 
the first version of the draft consolidated FTAA texts [66 FR 36614 
(July 12, 2001)].
    The second draft consolidated texts of the FTAA are currently 
available on the official FTAA website in the four official FTAA 
languages (English, Spanish, French and Portuguese). The texts contain 
many brackets, indicating that the draft text enclosed by such brackets 
has not been agreed to by all FTAA countries.
    The texts include draft chapters produced by the nine FTAA 
Negotiating Groups (market access; agriculture; services; intellectual 
property rights; investment; government procurement; competition 
policy; dispute settlement; and subsidies, antidumping and 
countervailing duties). The draft texts also include a first 
preliminary draft text by the FTAA Technical Committee on Institutional 
Issues (TCI). This section contains preliminary views on the general 
provisions of the Agreement and on institutional provisions.

2. Public Comments

    The TPSC previously has requested public comments on a number of 
matters related to the FTAA including: general U.S. positions and 
objectives in the FTAA, see 63 FR 36470 (July 6, 1998), and 64 FR 72715 
(December 28, 1999); specific rules of origin in the FTAA, see 66 FR 
22627 (May 4, 2001); scope of the environmental review for the FTAA 
pursuant to Executive Order 13141, see 65 FR 75763 (December 4, 2000); 
identification of private sector experts on electronic commerce for the 
Joint Committee of Experts on Electronic Commerce, see 63 FR 42090 
(August 6, 1998), 64 FR 26811 (May 17, 1999), 65 FR 10847 (February 29, 
2000), and 65 FR 47818 (August 3, 2000); and market access and other 
issues regarding the FTAA, see 64 FR 18469 (April 14, 1999). The TPSC 
also asked for comments on the operation of the FTAA Committee of 
Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society, see 
63 FR 40579 (July 29, 1998); and the USTR provided notice in 65 FR 
38872 (June 22, 2000), 66 FR 36614 (July 12, 2001), and in 66 FR 56893 
(November 13, 2001) that the FTAA Committee of Government 
Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society had issued 
requests for public comments on trade matters related to the FTAA 
process. More recently, the TPSC issued a notice of a public hearing in 
67 FR 49732 (July 31, 2002) concerning the negotiation of the FTAA 
Agreement.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    Written comments are invited on any aspect of the second draft 
consolidated texts of the FTAA agreement. Persons submitting written 
comments should submit those documents to one of the addresses 
indicated above no later than January 31, 2003, to be assured of 
consideration by U.S. Government negotiators during this round of 
negotiations. If possible, comments should be submitted before this 
date. However, submissions will be accepted through February 28, 2003 
and those submissions will be taken into consideration to the extent 
practicable. Comments should state clearly the position taken, should 
be as specific as possible, and should describe with particularity the 
evidence supporting that position.
    In a separate notice being published today, USTR is providing 
notice of the FTAA Committee of Government Representatives on the 
Participation of Civil Society's (Civil Society Committee) Open and 
Ongoing Invitation. Members of the public may choose to submit comments 
to the TPSC, as specified above, the FTAA Civil Society Committee, or 
to both.
    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: ``Second Draft FTAA Texts: 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 for comments containing business confidential information exempt 
from public inspection in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. Comments 
containing business confidential information 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 non-confidential 
summary of the confidential information. All public documents and non-
confidential 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 from 1 p.m. to 4

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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. General information concerning the Office of the United 
States Trade Representative may be obtained by accessing its Internet 
Website (http://www.ustr.gov).

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 02-32746 Filed 12-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P