[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 76 (Tuesday, April 20, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21177-21178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-8919]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Request for Public Comment on 
Review of Employment Impact of United States-Panama Free Trade 
Negotiations

AGENCIES: Office of the United States Trade Representative, Department 
of Labor.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) gives notice that the 
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the 
Department of Labor (Labor) are initiating a review of the impact of 
the proposed U.S.-Panama free trade negotiations on United States 
employment, including labor markets. This notice seeks written public 
comment on potentially significant sectoral or regional employment 
impacts (both positive and negative) in the United States as well as 
other likely labor market impacts of the FTA.

DATES: USTR and Labor will accept any comments received during the 
course of the negotiations of the FTA. However, comments should be 
received by noon, May 24, 2004, to be assured of timely consideration 
in the preparation of the report.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected]. Submissions 
by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff 
Committee, at (202) 395-6143.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
public comments, contact Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office 
of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202) 
395-3475. Substantive questions concerning the employment impact review 
should be addressed to Jorge Perez-Lopez, Director, Office of 
International Economic Affairs, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20210, telephone (202) 693-4883; or William Clatanoff, Assistant U.S. 
Trade Representative for Labor, telephone (202) 395-6120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background Information

    On November 18, 2003, in accordance with section 2104(a)(1) of the 
Trade Act of 2002, the United States Trade Representative notified the 
Congress of the President's intent to enter into negotiations on a free 
trade agreement with Panama. The notification letters to the Congress 
can be found on the USTR Web site at http://www.ustr.gov/new/fta/
Panama/2003-11-18-notification--letter.pdf. We intend to launch 
negotiations the week of April 26, 2004.
    In January 2004, the USTR requested the U.S. International Trade 
Commission (ITC) provide advice on probable economic effects. The ITC 
intends to provide this advice during the month of April 2004, prior to 
initiation of the negotiations.

2. Employment Impact Review

    Section 2102(c)(5) of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act 
of 2002, 19 U.S.C. 3802(c)(5), directs the President to ``review the 
impact of future trade agreements on United States employment, 
including labor markets, modeled after Executive Order 13141 to the 
extent appropriate in establishing procedures and criteria, report to 
the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Finance of the Senate on such review, and make that report 
available to the public.'' USTR and the Department of Labor will 
conduct the employment reviews through the TPSC.
    The employment impact review will be based on the following 
elements, which are modeled to the extent appropriate after those in 
E.O. 13141. The review will be: (1) Written; (2) initiated through a 
Federal Register notice soliciting public comment and information on 
the employment impact of the FTA in the United States; (3) made 
available to the public in draft form for public comment, to the extent 
practicable; and (4) made available to the public in final form.
    Comments may be submitted on potentially significant sectoral or 
regional employment impacts (both positive and negative) in the United 
States as well as other likely labor market impacts of the FTA. Persons 
submitting comments should provide as much detail as possible in 
support of their submissions.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    To ensure prompt and full consideration of responses, the TPSC 
strongly recommends that interested persons submit comments by 
electronic mail to the following e-mail address: [email protected]. 
Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following subject 
line: ``Panama Employment Review.'' Documents should be submitted in 
WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting documentation 
submitted as spreadsheets is acceptable in 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. 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

[[Page 21178]]

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 1-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments must be scheduled 
at least 48 hours in advance.

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 04-8919 Filed 4-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P