[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48657-48658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20791]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA); Notice Regarding the 2003 
Annual Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the 2003 Annual Review of the Andean 
Trade Preference Act (ATPA). The deadline for the submission of 
petitions for the 2003 Annual ATPA Review is September 15, 2003. USTR 
will publish a list of petitions filed in response to this announcement 
in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Submit petitions by electronic mail (e-mail) to 
[email protected]. If unable to submit petitions by e-mail, contact the 
Office of the Americas, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative (USTR), 600 17th St., NW., Washington, DC 20508, at 
(202) 395-5190.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bennett M. Harman, Deputy Assistant 
U.S. Trade Representative for Latin America, Office of the Americas, 
Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th St., NW., 
Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-5190 and the 
facsimile number is (202) 395-9675.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ATPA (19 U.S.C. 3201-06), as renewed and 
amended by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) 
in the Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210), provides for trade benefits 
for eligible Andean countries. Consistent with Section 3103(d) of the 
ATPDEA, USTR promulgated regulations (15 CFR part 2016) (68 FR 43922) 
regarding the review of eligibility of articles and countries for the 
benefits of the ATPA as amended. The 2003 Annual ATPA Review is the 
first such review to be conducted pursuant to the ATPA regulations.
    To qualify for the benefits of the ATPA and ATPDEA, each country 
must meet several eligibility criteria, as set forth in sections 203(c) 
and (d), and section 204(b)(6)(B) of the ATPA as amended (19 U.S.C. 
3202(c), (d); 19 U.S.C. 3203(b)(6)(B)), and as outlined in the Federal 
Register notice USTR published to request public comment regarding the 
designation of eligible countries as ATPDEA beneficiary countries (67 
FR 53379). Under section 203(e) of the ATPA as amended (19 U.S.C. 
3202(e)), the President may withdraw or suspend the designation of any 
country as a beneficiary country, and may also withdraw, suspend, or 
limit preferential treatment for any product of any beneficiary 
country, if the President determines that, as a result of changed 
circumstances, the country is not meeting the eligibility criteria.
    The ATPA regulations provide the schedule of dates for conducting 
an annual review, unless otherwise specified by Federal Register 
notice. Notice is hereby given that, in order to be considered in the 
2003 Annual ATPA Review, all petitions to withdraw or suspend the 
designation of a country as an ATPA or ATPDEA beneficiary country, or 
to withdraw, suspend, or limit application of preferential treatment to 
any article of any ATPA country under the ATPA, or to any

[[Page 48658]]

article of any ATPDEA beneficiary country under section 204(b)(1), (3), 
or (4) (19 U.S.C. 3202(b)(1), (3), (4)) of the ATPA, must be received 
by the Andean Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee no later 
than 5 p.m. EDT on September 15, 2003. Petitioners should consult 15 
CFR 2016.0 regarding the content of such petitions.
    Petitions must be submitted, in English, to the Andean 
Subcommittee, Trade Policy Staff Committee. Petitions will be available 
for 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'' in large, bold letters at the top and bottom of every 
page of the document. The public version that does not contain business 
confidential information must be clearly marked either ``PUBLIC 
VERSION'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL'' in large, bold letters at the top and 
bottom of every page.
    In order to facilitate prompt consideration of submissions, USTR 
strongly urges and prefers electronic mail (e-mail) submissions in 
response to this notice. E-mail submissions should be single copy 
transmissions in English, and with the total submission including 
attachments should not exceed 50 pages. E-mail submissions should use 
the following subject line: ``2003 Annual ATPA Review--Petition.'' 
Documents must be submitted as either WordPerfect (``.WPD''), MSWord 
(``.DOC''), or text (``.TXT'') file. Documents should not be submitted 
as electronic image files or contain imbedded images (for example, 
``.JPG'', ``PDF'', ``.BMP'', or ``.GIF''), as these type files are 
generally excessively large. 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.
    The file name of any document containing business confidential 
information attached to an e-mail transmission 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 person or party submitting the petition. 
Submissions by e-mail should not include 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 
submission. The e-mail address for submissions is [email protected].
    Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be 
available for review shortly 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.

Bennett M. Harman,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Latin America.
[FR Doc. 03-20791 Filed 8-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3901-01-M