[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8514-8518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-3868]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the 
2003 Product and Country Practice Review and On Certain Product 
Petitions From Previous Reviews on Which Decisions Were Deferred

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 
received petitions in 2003 to modify the list of products that are 
eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program and to modify 
the GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary developing countries because 
of country practices. This notice announces the product and country 
practice petitions that are accepted for further review in the 2003 GSP 
Annual Review and sets forth the schedule for comment and public 
hearing on these petitions and on certain product petitions from 
previous reviews on which there was a deferral of decisions, for 
requesting participation in the hearing, and for submitting pre-hearing 
and post-hearing briefs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact the GSP Subcommittee of the 
Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., Room F-220, Washington, DC 20508. 
The telephone number is (202) 395-6971.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP provides for the duty-free 
importation of designated articles when imported from designated 
beneficiary developing countries. The GSP is authorized by title V of 
the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461, et seq.), as amended (the ``1974 
Act''), and is implemented in accordance with Executive Order 11888 of 
November 24, 1975, as modified by subsequent Executive Orders and 
Presidential Proclamations.
    In a Federal Register notice dated July 16, 2003, USTR extended the 
due date for the filing of product and country practice petitions for 
the 2003 GSP Annual Review to September 2, 2003 (68 FR 42156). The 
product petitions received requested changes in the list of eligible 
products by adding or removing products, or by waiving the 
``competitive need limitations'' (CNLs) for a country for eligible 
articles. Authorization for granting CNL waivers is set forth in 
section 503(d) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(d)). The country 
practice petitions received requested the review of certain practices 
in certain beneficiary developing countries to determine whether such 
countries are in compliance with the eligibility criteria set forth in 
sections 502(b) and 502(c) of the 1974 Act.
    The interagency GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff 
Committee (TPSC) has reviewed both the product and country practice 
petitions, and the TPSC has decided to initiate a full review of the 
product petitions listed in Annex II and not to initiate a full review 
of the country practice petitions submitted. Annex II to this notice 
sets forth, for each type of change requested: the case number, the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) subheading 
number, a brief description of the product (see the HTS for an 
authoritative description available on the U.S. International Trade 
Commission (USITC) Web site http://www.usitc.gov/taffairs.htm), and the 
petitioner for each petition included in this review. Acceptance of a 
petition for review does not indicate any opinion with respect to the 
disposition on the merits of the petition. Acceptance indicates only 
that the listed petitions have been found eligible for review by the 
TPSC and that such review will take place.
    Modifications to the list of articles eligible for duty-free 
treatment under the GSP resulting from the 2003 Annual Review will be 
announced on or about June 30, 2004, in the Federal Register, and any 
changes will take effect on the effective date to be announced.
    In a Federal Register notice dated July 3, 2003, USTR announced 
decisions in the 2001 Special Three Country Review for Argentina, 
Philippines, and Turkey, the 2001 GSP-AGOA (African Growth and 
Opportunity Act) Review, and the 2002 Annual Product Review (68 FR 
40012), including the deferral of decisions on certain product 
petitions requesting the addition or removal of certain products from 
the Generalized System of Preferences. These petitions are described in 
Annex III.

Opportunities for Public Comment and Inspection of Comments

    The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC invites comments in support of or 
in opposition to any petition which is included in this Annual Review 
(Annex II) or any petition on which there was a deferral of decision 
(Annex III). Submissions should comply with 15 CFR part 2007, except as 
modified below. All submissions should identify the subject article(s) 
in terms of the case number and HTS subheading number as shown in 
Annexes II and III. The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the 
schedule of dates for conducting an annual review unless otherwise

[[Page 8515]]

specified in a Federal Register notice. This notice specifies the 
revised schedule for public comment and hearings, set out in Annex I.

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. Hand delivered submissions will not be accepted. These 
submissions should be single copy transmissions in English with the 
total submission not to exceed 50 single-spaced standard letter-size 
pages. E-mail submissions should use the following subject line: ``2003 
GSP Annual Review'' followed by the Case Number and HTS subheading 
number found in the Annex II or Annex III (for example, 2003-07 
4107.11.80) and, as appropriate ``Written Comments'', ``Notice of 
Intent To Testify'', ``Pre-hearing brief'', ``Post-hearing brief'' or 
``Comments on USITC Advice''. (For example, an e-mail subject line 
might read ``2003-07 4107.11.80 Written Comments''.) Documents, in 
English, must be submitted in either of the following formats: 
WordPerfect (.WPD), MSWord (.DOC) , or text (.TXT) files. Documents 
cannot be submitted as electronic image files or contain imbedded 
images (for example, ``.JPG'', ``.PDF'', ``.BMP'', or ``.GIF'') as 
these graphic type files are generally excessively large. E-mail 
submissions containing such files will not be accepted. Supporting 
documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro 
or Excel files, formatted for printing only 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.
    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'' at the top 
and bottom of each and every page of the document. The public version, 
which does not contain business confidential information, must also be 
clearly marked at the top and bottom of each and every page (either 
``PUBLIC VERSION'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL''). Documents that are 
submitted without any marking might not be accepted or will be 
considered public documents.
    For any document containing business confidential information 
submitted as an electronic attached file to an e-mail transmission, 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 party (government, company, union, 
association, etc.) which is making the submission.
    E-mail submissions 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 attached 
file containing the submission itself, including identifying 
information on the sender, including sender's e-mail address. The e-
mail address for these submissions is [email protected]. Documents not 
submitted in accordance with these instructions might not be considered 
in this review. If unable to provide submissions by e-mail, please 
contact the GSP Subcommittee to arrange for an alternative method of 
transmission.
    Information submitted will be subject to public inspection shortly 
after the relevant due dates by appointment with the staff of the USTR 
public reading room, except for information submitted and properly 
marked that is granted ``business confidential'' status pursuant to 15 
CFR 2003.6 and other qualifying information submitted in confidence 
pursuant to 15 CFR 2007.7. Public versions of all documents relating to 
this review will be available for review after the relevant due date by 
appointment in the USTR public reading room, 1724 F Street, NW., 
Washington, DC. 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.

Notice of Public Hearings

    Hearings will be held by the GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC on April 
1, 2004, beginning at 10 a.m. at the U.S. International Trade 
Commission, Main Hearing Room, 500 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20436. 
The hearings will be open to the public and a transcript of the 
hearings will be made available for public inspection or can be 
purchased from the reporting company. No electronic media coverage will 
be allowed.
    All interested parties wishing to make an oral presentation at the 
hearings must submit, following the above ``Requirements for 
Submissions'', the name, address, telephone number, and facsimile 
number and email address, if available, of the witness(es) representing 
their organization to the Chairman of the GSP Subcommittee by 5 p.m., 
March 15, 2004. Requests to present oral testimony in connection with 
the public hearings must be accompanied by a written brief or 
statement, in English, and also must be received by 5 p.m., March 15, 
2004. Oral testimony before the GSP Subcommittee will be limited to 
five-minute presentations that summarize or supplement information 
contained in briefs or statements submitted for the record. Post-
hearing briefs or statements will be accepted if they conform with the 
regulations cited above and are submitted, in English, by 5 p.m., April 
15, 2004. Parties not wishing to appear at the public hearings may 
submit post-hearing written briefs or statements, in English, by 5 
p.m., April 15, 2004.
    In accordance with sections 503(a)(1)(A) and 503(e) of the 1974 Act 
and the authority delegated by the President, pursuant to section 
332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930, the U.S. Trade Representative has 
requested that the USITC provide its advice, with respect to the 
probable economic effect on United States industries producing like or 
directly competitive articles and on consumers of the following 
actions: (1) The elimination of U.S. import duties for all beneficiary 
developing countries and, with respect to certain articles, the effect 
of the elimination of United States import duties for least-developed 
beneficiary developing countries, (2) the removal from eligibility for 
duty-free treatment under the GSP for such article, and (3) whether any 
industry in the United States is likely to be adversely affected by a 
waiver of the competitive need limits specified in section 503(d)(1) of 
the 1974 Act for the country specified. Comments by interested persons 
on the USITC Report prepared as part of the product review should be 
submitted by 5 p.m., 10 days after the date of USITC publication of its 
report.

Steven Falken,
Executive Director for GSP, Chairman, GSP Subcommittee of the Trade 
Policy Staff Committee.
BILLING CODE 3190-W3-P

[[Page 8516]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN24FE04.000


[[Page 8517]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN24FE04.001


[[Page 8518]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN24FE04.002

[FR Doc. 04-3868 Filed 2-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W3-C