[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62648-62649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27875]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Amendment to Federal Register/Vol. 68, No. 88/May 7, 2003/
Notices; 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.-Central 
America Free Trade Agreement

AGENCY: 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 aims to attract additional resource partners 
that can legitimately contribute to the trade capacity building efforts 
in support of the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The 
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 self-funded 
assistance to conduct trade capacity building efforts in support of the 
CAFTA subject to (1) the priorities set by Central American countries 
in their national trade capacity building strategies; (2) the 
coordination efforts of the U.S. interagency trade capacity working 
group to, among other reasons, 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 of the United States Government (USG). Any future requests for 
proposals/applications will be advertised on FedBizOpps or FedGrants, 
as appropriate. If any assistance opportunities or procurement needs 
are identified as part of the CAFTA process, such needs will be met by 
the appropriate USG agency in accordance with its internal procedures.

DATES: Expressions of interest are welcome throughout the CAFTA 
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 of the USTR, 1724 F 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202) 395-3475. 
Substantive questions should be addressed to Tracy Quilter, Director 
for Trade Capacity Building, Office of the USTR, telephone (202) 395-
2839.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States has entered into free 
trade negotiations with five Central American countries: Costa Rica, El 
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The agreement seeks to 
eliminate tariffs and other barriers to trade in goods, agriculture, 
services, and investment between the United States and the five Central 
American countries. The participants will seek to complete the 
negotiations by December 2003.
    Nine rounds of negotiations are planned in 2003. To date, six 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 aims to address, to 
the extent possible, the needs of the Central American countries for 
preparing for negotiations, implementation of the agreement and 
transition to free trade. The USG, in concert with regional 
institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the World 
Bank, the Organization of American States, the U.N. Economic Commission 
for Latin America and the Central American Bank for Economic 
Integration, has assisted countries in completing national trade 
capacity building strategies to guide the work of the TCB Working 
Group. These strategies are intended to identify, define and prioritize 
each country's needs. The strategies can be found on USTR's Internet 
server (http://www.ustr.gov).
    The United States and the Central American countries aim to attract 
additional resource partners that can legitimately contribute to the 
trade capacity building efforts in support of the CAFTA. The TPSC gives 
notice that USTR and USAID, on behalf of the USG, seek to expand the 
circle of resource

[[Page 62649]]

partners to NGOs, corporate sponsors and private foundations that can 
volunteer to conduct self-funded trade capacity building efforts in 
support of the CAFTA subject to (1) the priorities set by Central 
American countries in their national trade capacity building 
strategies; (2) the coordination efforts of the U.S. interagency trade 
capacity working group; and (3) consistency with USG policy. The 
countries seek resource partners that are prepared to provide 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 CAFTA countries. The second part involves government 
officials and representatives from resource partners outside the 
governments such as international financial institutions, non-
governmental organizations, foundations and the private sector. 
Resource partners that volunteer to participate based on their ability 
to self-fund technical assistance or other trade capacity building 
services in response to the needs identified by the Central Americans 
in the CAFTA 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: ``CAFTA TCB Assistance.'' Documents should be 
submitted as either WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. 
Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets is 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 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 p.m. 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 CAFTA 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. 03-27875 Filed 11-4-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W3-U