[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 159 (Monday, August 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 49440]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21034]



[[Page 49440]]

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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS


Clarification of Procedures for Considering Requests from the 
Public for Textile and Apparel Safeguard Actions on Imports from the 
People's Republic of China

August 13, 2003.
AGENCY: The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (The 
Committee).

ACTION: Clarification of Safeguard Procedures

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SUMMARY: This notice clarifies the notice published in the Federal 
Register on May 21, 2003 (see 68 FR 27787) by the Committee for the 
Implementation of Textile Agreements (the Committee) of procedures the 
Committee will follow in considering requests from the public for 
textile and apparel safeguard actions as provided for in the Report of 
the Working Party on the Accession of China to the World Trade 
Organization (the Accession Agreement).

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 18, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Dulka, Office of Textiles and 
Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 482-4058.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

    Authority: Section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as 
amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as 
amended.

Background

    The Accession Agreement textile and apparel safeguard allows the 
United States and other World Trade Organization Member countries that 
believe imports of Chinese origin textile and apparel products are, due 
to market disruption, threatening to impede the orderly development of 
trade in these products to request consultations with China with a view 
to easing or avoiding such market disruption. On May 21, 2003, the 
Committee published procedures the Committee will follow in considering 
requests from the public for textile and apparel safeguard actions as 
provided for in the Accession Agreement in the Federal Register (see 68 
FR 27787). Upon further review, the Committee has determined that it is 
appropriate to clarify those procedures. Beyond the clarifications 
noted below, those procedures remain unchanged.
    The Committee has determined that actions taken under Accession 
Agreement textile and apparel safeguard on imports from China fall 
within the foreign affairs exception to the rulemaking provisions of 5 
U.S.C. 553(a)(1), and this notice does not waive that determination. 
This notice is not subject to the requirement to provide prior notice 
and opportunity for public comment, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1) and 
553(b)(A).

Clarifications

    As was set forth in the May 21 notice, a request that has been 
accepted for consideration, with the exception of information marked 
``business confidential'', will be posted by the Department of 
Commerce's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) on the Internet 
(http://www.otexa.ita.doc.gov), along with the Federal Register notice 
in which public comments on the request are solicited. The May 21 
notice also provided that a public record on each request will be 
maintained, including a non-confidential version of the request that is 
being considered, a non-confidential version of any public comment 
received with respect to a request, and, in the event consultations 
with China are requested, the statement of the reasons and 
justifications for such request for consultations subsequent to the 
delivery of the statement to China.
    OTEXA will maintain an official record for each request on behalf 
of the Committee. The official record will include all factual 
information, written argument, or other material developed by, 
presented to, or obtained by OTEXA regarding the request, as well as 
other material provided to the Department of Commerce by other 
government agencies for inclusion in the official record. The official 
record will include Committee memoranda pertaining to the request, 
memoranda of Committee meetings, meetings between OTEXA staff and the 
public, determinations, and notices published in the Federal Register. 
The official record will contain material which is public, business 
confidential, privileged, and classified, but will not include pre-
decisional inter-agency or intra-agency communications. If the 
Committee decides it is appropriate to consider materials submitted in 
an untimely manner, such materials will be maintained in the official 
record. Otherwise, such material will be returned to the submitter and 
will not be maintained as part of the official record.
    OTEXA will make the official record public except for business 
confidential information, privileged information, classified 
information, and other information the disclosure of which is 
prohibited by U.S. law. Information designated by the submitter as 
business confidential will normally be considered to be business 
confidential unless it is publicly available. The May 21 notice 
requires that a request or comment that contains business confidential 
information be accompanied by a non-confidential version in which 
business confidential information is summarized or, if necessary, 
deleted. The non-confidential version will be included in the public 
record. The public record will be available to the public for 
inspection and copying in a public reading room located in the 
Department of Commerce.
    As was set forth in the May 21 notice, in response to a request or 
on its own initiative, the Committee will make a determination within 
60 calendar days of the close of the comment period as to whether the 
Committee will request consultations with China. The Committee will 
make this determination in a manner consistent with longstanding 
Committee practice in considering textile safeguard actions and the 
information described in the May 21, 2003 notice.

James C. Leonard III,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
[FR Doc.03-21034 Filed 8-15-03; 8:45 am]
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