[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62649-62650]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27874]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Invitation for Non-Governmental 
Organizations, Corporate Sponsors and Private Foundations To Volunteer 
Trade Capacity Building Assistance in Support of the U.S.-Southern 
African Customs Union Free Trade Agreement

AGENCIES: Office of the United States Trade Representative, United 
States Agency for International Development.

ACTION: Request for Submissions to volunteer trade capacity building 
assistance.

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SUMMARY: The United States seeks to attract additional resource 
partners that can legitimately contribute to the trade capacity 
building efforts in support of the US-Southern African Customs Union 
(SACU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The Trade Policy Staff Committee 
(TPSC) gives notice that, on behalf of the U.S. Government, the Office 
of the United States Trade Representative and the United States Agency 
for International Development seek to expand the circle of resource 
partners to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), corporate sponsors 
and private foundations that are prepared to provide wholly self-funded 
assistance to conduct trade capacity building efforts in support of the 
SACU FTA, subject to: (1) The priorities set by the SACU countries in 
their trade capacity building strategies; (2) the coordination efforts 
of the U.S. interagency trade capacity working group to, among other 
things, promote transparency; and (3) consistency with U.S. Government 
policy. Interested parties should present a brief description of their 
potential contribution. This Request for Submission does not constitute 
a request for proposals/applications for funding from the United States 
Trade Representative, the United States Agency for International 
Development, or any other agency or department of the U.S. Government 
(USG). Any requests in the future for proposals or applications will be 
advertised on FedBizOpps or FedGrants, as appropriate. If any 
assistance opportunities or procurement needs are identified as part of 
the SACU process, such needs will be met by the appropriate USG agency 
in accordance with its internal acquisition and assistance procedures.

DATES: Initial expressions of interest should be forwarded by December 
8, 2003. However, expressions of interest are welcome throughout the 
period of the SACU FTA negotiations.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected] (written 
comments). Submissions by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, 
Trade Policy Staff Committee, at 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, contact 
Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office

[[Page 62650]]

of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202) 
395-3475. Substantive questions should be addressed to Faraaz Siddiqi, 
Director for Trade Capacity Building, Office of the USTR, telephone 
(202) 395-2839.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States has entered into 
negotiations for a free trade agreement with the five SACU countries: 
Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa. The 
participants seek to reach an agreement that eliminates tariffs and 
other barriers to trade in goods, agriculture, services, and investment 
between the United States and the five SACU countries. The participants 
seek to complete the negotiations by the end of 2004.
    Four rounds of negotiations are planned in 2003. To date, two have 
occurred. Negotiating groups cover the following topics: Market access; 
investment and services; government procurement and intellectual 
property; labor and environment; and institutional issues such as 
dispute settlement. A non-negotiating cooperative group on trade 
capacity building (``TCB Working Group'') has been meeting in parallel 
with the negotiating groups. The TCB Working Group seeks to address, to 
the extent possible, the needs of the SACU countries in preparing for 
negotiations, implementation of the agreement and transition to free 
trade. The USG is currently assisting countries in completing trade 
capacity building strategies to guide the work of the TCB Working 
Group. Once completed, these strategies are intended to identify, 
define and prioritize each country's needs.
    The United States and the SACU countries seek to attract additional 
resource partners that can legitimately contribute to the trade 
capacity building efforts in support of the SACU FTA. The United States 
and SACU countries seek resource partners that are prepared to provide 
wholly self-funded (cash or in-kind) assistance for the trade capacity 
building support that they propose to deliver in the context of these 
trade initiatives. Interested parties should present a brief 
description of their potential contribution.
    There are two parts to TCB Working Group meetings. The first 
involves a meeting of exclusively government officials from the United 
States and SACU countries. The second part involves government 
officials from the United States and the SACU countries and 
representatives from resource partners outside the governments, such as 
international financial institutions, NGOs, corporate sponsors and 
private foundations. Resource partners that volunteer to participate 
based on their ability to self-fund technical assistance or self-fund 
other trade capacity building services in response to the needs 
identified by the SACU countries in the FTA process may be invited to 
join the TCB Working Group. Resource partners that are selected to join 
the TCB Working Group will be welcome to attend the TCB Working Group 
meetings that are not restricted to government officials and are open 
to other resource partners. Requests for contract or grant funding from 
the USG will not be permitted during TCB Working Group meetings.
    Submitting Comments: To ensure prompt and full consideration of 
responses, the TPSC strongly recommends that interested persons make 
submissions by electronic mail to the following e-mail address: 
[email protected]. Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the 
following subject line: ``SACU TCB Assistance.'' Documents should be 
submitted as either WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. 
Supporting documentation submitted in spreadsheet form is acceptable in 
either the 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. 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 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, 
DC 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 p.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday. 
Appointments must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.
    Additional information may be reported in websites or other public 
announcements related to SACU trade capacity building activities. 
General information concerning USTR may be obtained by accessing its 
Internet server (http://www.ustr.gov). General information concerning 
USAID may be obtained by accessing its Internet server (http://www.usaid.gov).

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 03-27874 Filed 11-4-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W3-U