[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 139 (Monday, July 21, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43247-43248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-18467]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning 
China's Compliance With WTO Commitments

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for comments and notice of public hearing concerning 
China's compliance with its WTO commitments.

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SUMMARY: The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will 
convene a public hearing and seek public comment to assist the Office 
of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in its preparation of 
its annual report to the Congress on China's compliance with the 
commitments that it made in connection with its accession to the World 
Trade Organization (WTO).

DATES: Persons wishing to testify orally at the hearing must provide 
written notification of their intention, as well as a copy of their 
testimony, by noon, Friday, September 5, 2003. Written comments are due 
by noon, Wednesday, September 10, 2003. A hearing will be held in 
Washington, DC, on Thursday, September 18, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail:
    [email protected] (notice of intent to testify and written 
testimony); and [email protected] (written comments).
    Submissions by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade 
Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, (202) 395-6143.
    The public is strongly encouraged to submit documents 
electronically rather than by facsimile. (See requirements for 
submissions below.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
written comments or participation in the public hearing, contact Gloria 
Blue, (202) 395-3475. All other questions should be directed to 
Terrence J. McCartin, Director of Monitoring and Enforcement for China, 
(202) 395-3900, or David L. Weller, Assistant General Counsel, (202) 
395-3581.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background

    China became a member of the WTO on December 11, 2001. In 
accordance with section 421 of the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000 
(Pub. L. 106-286), USTR is required to submit, by December 11 of each 
year, a report to Congress on China's compliance with commitments made 
in connection with its accession to the WTO, including both 
multilateral commitments and any bilateral commitments made to the 
United States. In accordance with section 421, and to assist it in 
preparing this year's report, the TPSC is hereby soliciting public 
comment. Last year's report is available on USTR's Internet Web site at 
http://www.ustr.gov/regions/china-hk-mongolia-taiwan.
    The terms of China's accession to the WTO are contained in the 
Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China (including 
its annexes) (Protocol), the Report of the Working Party on the 
Accession of China (Working Party Report), and the WTO Agreement. The 
Protocol and Working Party Report can be found on the Department of 
Commerce Web page, http://www.mac.doc.gov/China/WTOAccessionPackage.htm, or on the WTO Web site, http://www.docsonline.wto.org (document symbols: WT/L/432, WT/MIN(01)/3, WT/
MIN(01)/3/Add.1, WT/MIN(01)/3/Add.2).

2. Public Comment and Hearing

    USTR invites written comments and/or oral testimony of interested 
persons on China's compliance with commitments made in connection with 
its accession to the WTO, including, but not limited to, commitments in 
the following areas: (a) Trading rights; (b) import regulation (e.g., 
tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas, import licenses); (c) export 
regulation; (d) internal policies affecting trade (e.g., subsidies, 
standards and technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary 
measures, trade-related investment measures, taxes and charges levied 
on imports and exports); (e) intellectual property rights (including 
intellectual property enforcement); (f) services; (g) rule of law 
issues (e.g., transparency, judicial review, uniform administration of 
laws and regulations) and status of legal reform; and (h) other WTO 
commitments. Persons submitting written comments should identify the 
commitments discussed therein by listing one or more of these 
categories on the first page of the comments.
    Written comments must be received no later than noon, Wednesday, 
September 10, 2003.
    A hearing will be held on Thursday, September 18, 2003, in Room 1, 
1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. If necessary, the hearing 
will continue on the next day.
    Persons wishing to testify orally at the hearing must provide 
written notification of their intention by noon, Friday, September 5, 
2003. The notification should include: (1) The name, address, and 
telephone number of the person presenting the testimony; and (2) a 
short (one or two paragraph) summary of the presentation, including the 
commitments at issue and, as applicable, the product(s) (with HTSUS 
numbers), service sector(s), or other subjects to be discussed. A copy 
of the testimony must accompany the notification. Remarks at the 
hearing should be limited to no more than five minutes to allow for 
possible questions from the TPSC.
    All documents should be submitted in accordance with the 
instructions in section 3 below.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to facilitate prompt processing 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.
    Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following 
subject line: ``China WTO'' followed by (as appropriate) ``Written 
Comments,'' ``Notice of Testimony,'' or ``Testimony.'' 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. 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.
    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

[[Page 43248]]

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.

    General information concerning USTR may be obtained by accessing 
its Internet Web site: http://www.ustr.gov.
Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 03-18467 Filed 7-18-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P