[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24532-24533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-11378]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Request for Public Comment on 
Review of Employment Impact of United States--Southern African Customs 
Union Free Trade Agreement

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative, Department of 
Labor.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) gives notice that the 
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the 
Department of Labor (Labor) are initiating a review of the impact of 
the proposed U.S.-Southern African Customs Union Free Trade Agreement 
(FTA) on United States employment, including labor markets. This notice 
seeks written public comment on potentially significant sectoral or 
regional employment impacts (both positive and negative) in the United 
States as well as other likely labor market impacts of the FTA.

DATES: Public comments should be received no later than June 6, 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. Substantive questions concerning the employment impact review 
should be addressed to Jorge Perez-Lopez, Director, Office of 
International Economic Affairs, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 
20210, telephone (202) 693-4883; or William Clatanoff, Assistant U.S. 
Trade Representative for Labor, telephone (202) 395-6120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background Information

    On November 4, 2002, in accordance with section 2104(a)(1) of the 
Trade Act of 2002, the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador 
Robert B. Zoellick, notified Congress of the President's intent to 
enter into trade negotiations with the member nations of the Southern 
African Customs Union (SACU): Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, 
and Swaziland. Ambassador Zoellick outlined specific U.S. objectives 
for these negotiations in the notification letters to Congress. Copies 
of the letters are available at http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/11/2002-11-04-SACU-byrd.PDF and http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/11/2002-11-04-SACU-hastert.PDF.
    The TPSC invited the public to provide written comments and/or oral 
testimony at a public hearing that took place on December 16, 2002, to 
assist USTR in amplifying and clarifying negotiating objectives for the 
proposed FTA and to provide advice on how specific goods and services 
and other matters should be treated under the proposed agreement (67 FR 
69295).
    A free trade agreement with SACU would deepen economic and 
political ties to sub-Saharan Africa and lend momentum to development 
efforts for the region. SACU is the largest U.S. export market in sub-
Saharan Africa, accounting for approximately $3.1 billion in exports in 
2001. Total two-way trade in goods between the United States and the 
member countries of SACU totaled $7.9 billion in 2001. Leading U.S. 
exports to SACU include machinery and equipment, aircraft, vehicles, 
chemicals, plastics and agricultural products. Leading U.S. imports 
from SACU include vehicles, minerals, precious stones and metals, iron 
and steel products, and apparel.

2. Employment Impact Review

    Section 2102(c)(5) of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act 
of 2002, 19 U.S.C. 3802(c)(5), directs the President to Areview the 
impact of future trade agreements on United States employment, 
including labor markets, modeled after Executive Order 13141 to the 
extent appropriate in establishing procedures and criteria, report to 
the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Finance of the Senate on such review, and make that report 
available to the public.'' USTR and the Department of Labor will 
conduct the employment reviews through the TPSC.
    The employment impact review will be based on the following 
elements, which are modeled to the extent appropriate after those in EO 
13141. The review will be: (1) Written; (2) initiated through a Federal 
Register notice soliciting public comment and information on the 
employment impact of the FTA in the United States; (3) made available 
to the public in draft form for public comment, to the extent 
practicable; and (4) made available to the public in final form.
    Comments may be submitted on potentially significant sectoral or

[[Page 24533]]

regional employment impacts (both positive and negative) in the United 
States as well as other likely labor market impacts of the FTA. Persons 
submitting comments should provide as much detail as possible in 
support of their submissions.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    To ensure prompt and full consideration of responses, the TPSC 
strongly recommends that interested persons submit comments by 
electronic mail to the following e-mail address: [email protected]. 
Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following subject 
line: SACU Employment Review.'' Documents should be submitted in 
WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting documentation 
submitted as spreadsheets is acceptable in Quattro Pro or Excel format. 
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 ``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 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 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 in Room 3 
of the Annex of the Office of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW, Washington, 
D.C. 20508. An appointment to review the file may be made by calling 
(202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room is generally open to the public 
from 10 a.m-12 noon and 1-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments 
must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.
    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,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 03-11378 Filed 5-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P