[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8791-8792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4391]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Notice of Request for Public Comment Regarding Andean Trade 
Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) Beneficiary Countries

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with section 203(f) of the Andean Trade 
Preference Act (ATPA) (19 U.S.C. 3201), as amended by the Andean Trade 
Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), the Office of the United 
States Trade Representative (USTR) is requesting the views of 
interested parties on whether the countries designated as ATPDEA 
beneficiary countries in Presidential Proclamation 7616 of October 31, 
2002, are meeting the eligibility criteria provided for in section 
204(b)(6)(B) of the ATPA, as amended by the ATPDEA.

DATES: Public comments are due at USTR no later than 5 p.m., March 27, 
2002.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by mail or express delivery: Public Reading 
Room, ATTN: ATPDEA Beneficiary Countries, Office of the United States 
Trade Representative, 1724 F Street, Room F12P1, NW., Washington, DC 
20508. Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected]. See 
requirements for submissions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bennett Harman, Office of the 
Americas, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th 
Street, NW., Room 523, Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is 
(202) 395-5190.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Signed into law on August 6, 2002, the Trade 
Act of 2002 contains, in title XXXI, provisions for enhanced trade 
benefits for eligible Andean countries. Titled the ``Andean Trade 
Promotion and Drug Eradication Act'' (ATPDEA), the ATPDEA renews the 
Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), and amends the ATPA to provide 
preferential treatment for certain products previously excluded from 
such treatment. In Presidential Proclamation 7616 of October 31, 2002, 
the President designated Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as ATPDEA 
beneficiary countries. Section 203(f) of the ATPA, as amended by the 
ATPDEA, requires the USTR, not later than April 30, 2003, to submit to 
Congress a report on the operation of the ATPA. Section 203(f)(2) 
requires USTR, before submitting such report, to request comments on 
whether beneficiary countries are meeting the criteria listed in 
section 204(6)(B). USTR refers interested parties to the Federal 
Register notice published on August 15, 2002 (67 FR 53379), for a full 
list of section 204(6)(B)'s eligibility criteria.
    Submitting Comments: Comments, in English, 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. Persons making submissions by 
e-mail should use the following subject line: ``ATPDEA Beneficiary 
Countries''. Documents should be submitted as either WordPerfect, 
MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting documentation

[[Page 8792]]

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.

Regina Vargo,
Assistant United States Trade Representative for the Americas.
[FR Doc. 03-4391 Filed 2-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M