[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5952-5970]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-2746]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences; Import Statistics Relating to 
Competitive Need Limitations; Invitation for Public Comment

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice is to inform the public of interim 2002 import 
statistics

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relating to Competitive Need Limitations (CNL) under the Generalized 
System of Preferences (GSP) program. Public comments are invited by 5 
p.m., February 21, 2003, regarding possible de minimis CNL waivers with 
respect to particular articles, and possible redesignations under the 
GSP program of articles currently subject to CNLs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact the GSP Subcommittee, Office 
of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), 1724 F Street, NW., 
Room F-220, Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-
6971 and the facsimile number is (202) 395-9481.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Competitive Need Limitations

    The GSP program provides for the duty-free importation of 
designated articles when imported from designated beneficiary 
developing countries. The GSP program is authorized by title V of the 
Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461, et seq.), as amended (the ``1974 
Act''), and is implemented in accordance with Executive Order 11888 of 
November 24, 1975, as modified by subsequent Executive Orders and 
Presidential Proclamations. Section 503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act, as 
amended (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(A)), provides for CNLs on duty-free 
treatment under the GSP program. When the President determines that a 
beneficiary developing country exported to the United States during a 
calendar year either (1) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a 
value in excess of the applicable amount for that year ($105 million 
for 2002), or (2) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a value 
equal to or greater than 50 percent of the value of total U.S. imports 
of the article from all countries (the ``50 percent'' CNL), the 
President shall terminate GSP duty-free treatment for that article from 
that beneficiary developing country by no later than July 1 of the next 
calendar year.

II. Discretionary Decisions

A. De Minimis Waivers

    Section 503(c)(2)(F) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(F)) 
provides the President with discretion to waive the 50 percent CNL with 
respect to an eligible article imported from a beneficiary developing 
country if the value of total imports of that article from all 
countries during the calendar year did not exceed the applicable amount 
for that year ($16 million for 2002).

B. Redesignation of Eligible Articles

    Where imports of an eligible article from a beneficiary developing 
country ceased to receive duty-free treatment due to exceeding the CNL 
in a prior year, section 503(c)(2)(C) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 
2463(c)(2)(C)) provides the President with discretion to redesignate 
such an article for duty-free treatment if imports in the most recently 
completed calendar year did not exceed the CNLs.

III. Implementation of Competitive Need Limitations, Waivers, and 
Redesignations

    Exclusions from GSP duty-free treatment where CNLs have been 
exceeded will be effective July 1, 2003. Decisions on these matters, as 
well as decisions with respect to de minimis waivers and 
redesignations, will be based on full 2002 calendar year import 
statistics.

IV. Interim 2002 Import Statistics

    In order to provide advance notice of articles that may exceed the 
CNLs for 2002, and to afford an earlier opportunity for comment 
regarding possible de minimis waivers and redesignations, interim 
import statistics covering the first 10 months of 2002 are included 
with this notice.
    The following lists contain, for each article, the Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) number and beneficiary 
country of origin, the value of imports of such article for the first 
ten months of 2002, and the percentage of total imports of that product 
from all countries. The flags indicate the status of GSP eligibility. 
Articles marked with an ``*'' are those that have been excluded from 
GSP eligibility for the entire past calendar year. Articles marked with 
a ``D'' are those that, based on interim 2002 data, may be eligible for 
a de minimis waiver of the 50 percent CNL.
    List I shows GSP-eligible articles from beneficiary developing 
countries that have already exceeded the CNL of $105 million in 2002. 
Those articles without a flag are articles that were GSP-eligible 
during 2002 but stand to lose GSP duty-free treatment on July 1, 2003, 
unless a waiver is granted. Such waivers are required to have been 
requested in the 2002 GSP Annual Review.
    List II shows GSP-eligible articles from beneficiary developing 
countries that (1) have not yet exceeded, but are approaching, the $105 
million CNL for the period from January through October 2002, or (2) 
are close to or above the 50 percent CNL. Depending on final calendar 
year 2002 import data, these products also stand to lose GSP duty-free 
treatment on July 1, 2003, unless a waiver is granted. Such waivers are 
required to have been requested in the 2002 GSP Annual Review.
    List III is a subset of List II. List III identifies GSP-eligible 
articles from beneficiary developing countries that are near or above 
the 50 percent CNL, but that may be eligible for a de minimis waiver of 
the 50 percent CNL. Actual eligibility for de minimis waivers will 
depend on final calendar year 2002 import data. Each year, de minimis 
waivers are considered automatically and public comments are accepted.
    List IV shows GSP-eligible articles that are currently not 
receiving GSP duty-free treatment, but that have import levels (based 
on interim 2002 data) below the CNLs and thus may be eligible for 
redesignation pursuant to the President's discretionary authority. 
Articles with a ``D'' exceed the 50 percent CNL and would require both 
a de minimis waiver and redesignation to receive GSP duty-free 
treatment. The list may contain articles that may not be redesignated 
until certain conditions are fulfilled, as where, for example, GSP 
eligibility for an article was administratively suspended because of 
deficiencies in a country's protection of worker or intellectual 
property rights. Redesignation requests are normally made in the annual 
review, unless made in conjunction with remedying the deficiencies.
    The lists appended to this notice are provided for informational 
purposes only. The attached lists are computer-generated and based on 
interim 2002 data, and may not include all articles that may be 
affected by the GSP CNLs. Regardless of whether or not an article is 
included on the lists, all determinations and decisions regarding the 
CNLs of the GSP program will be based on full calendar year 2002 import 
data with respect to each GSP-eligible article. Each interested party 
is advised to conduct its own review of 2002 import data with regard to 
the possible application of GSP CNLs.

IV. Public Comments

Requirements for Submissions

    All submissions must conform to the GSP regulations set forth at 15 
CFR Part 2007, except as modified below. These regulations are also 
included in ``A Guide to the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences 
(GSP)'' (May 1999) (``GSP Guidebook''), available at www.ustr.gov. 
Furthermore, each party providing comments should indicate on the first 
page of the submission its name, the relevant HTS subheading(s), the

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beneficiary country or territory of interest, and the type of action 
(e.g., the use of the President's de minimis waiver authority, etc.) in 
which the party is interested.
    Comments must be submitted, in English, to the Chairman of the GSP 
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Committee (TPSC) as soon as possible 
but not later than 5 p.m on February 21, 2003. Comments submitted after 
this date may be considered at the discretion of the GSP Subcommittee 
until the time its advice is provided to the TPSC.
    Submissions in response to this notice will be subject to public 
inspection by appointment with the staff of the USTR Public Reading 
Room, except for information granted ``business confidential'' status 
pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.6.
    If the submission contains business confidential information, a 
non-confidential version of the submission must also be submitted that 
indicates where confidential information was redacted by inserting 
asterisks where material was deleted. In addition, the confidential 
submission must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top 
and bottom of each and every page of the document. The public version 
which does not contain business confidential information must also be 
clearly marked at the top and bottom of each and every page (either 
``PUBLIC VERSION'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL'').
    In order to facilitate prompt consideration of submissions, USTR 
strongly urges and prefers electronic e-mail submissions in response to 
this notice. In the event that an e-mail submission is impossible, 
submissions should be made by facsimile. These submissions should be 
single copy transmissions in English with the total submission not to 
exceed 50 single-spaced pages and 3 megabytes as a digital file 
attached to an e-mail transmission. Persons making submissions by e-
mail should use the following subject line: ``Comments on 2002 CNL 
Review'' Documents must be submitted as either WordPerfect (``.WPD''), 
MSWord (``.DOC''), or text (``.TXT'') files. Documents should not be 
submitted as electronic image files or contain imbedded images (for 
example, ``.JPG'', ``PDF'', ``.BMP'', or ``.GIF'') as such files are 
generally excessively large. E-mail submissions containing such files 
may not be accepted. Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets 
are acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel, pre-formatted for printing on 
8\1/2\ x 11 inch paper. To the extent possible, any data attachments to 
the submission should be included in the same file as the submission 
itself, and not as separate files. Facsimile submissions should 
include, among other identifying information specified in the 
regulations, the following information at the top of the first page: 
``Comments on 2002 CNL Review.''
    For any document containing business confidential information 
submitted as an electronic attached file to an e-mail transmission, 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 party (government, company, union, 
association, etc.) which is submitting the petition.
    Parties who make submissions by e-mail should not provide separate 
cover letters or messages in the message area of the e-mail; 
information that might appear in any cover letter should be included 
directly in the attached file containing the submission itself. The e-
mail address for these submissions is [email protected].
    Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be 
available for review approximately three weeks after the due date by 
appointment in the USTR Public Reading Room, 1724 F Street NW., 
Washington, DC. Availability of documents may be ascertained, and 
appointments may be made from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, by calling (202) 395-6186.

Steven Falken,
Executive Director for GSP, Chairman, GSP Subcommittee.
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P

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[FR Doc. 03-2746 Filed 2-4-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P