[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 113 (Monday, June 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33091-33092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-13322]


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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 FTA Negotiations With 
Certain Andean Countries

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 U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) 
negotiations with certain Andean countries. 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

[[Page 33092]]

capacity building efforts in support of the FTA process with Colombia, 
Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia (the Andean countries), subject to: (1) The 
priorities set by the Andean countries in their trade capacity building 
strategies; (2) the coordination efforts of the U.S. interagency trade 
capacity working group to, inter alia, 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 this 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 June 30, 
2004. However, expressions of interest are welcome throughout the 
period of the Andean 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 of the USTR, 1724 F 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202) 395-3475. 
Substantive questions should be addressed to Karen Taylor, Director for 
Trade Capacity Building, Office of the USTR, telephone (202) 395-2839.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 18, 2004, the United States launched 
FTA negotiations with Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, and hopes to include 
Bolivia at a later stage.
    The United States seeks to attract additional resource partners 
that can legitimately contribute to the trade capacity building efforts 
in support of the FTA. The United States seeks 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.
    Negotiating groups include the following topics: market access, 
investment, services, government procurement, intellectual property, 
labor, environment, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and 
institutional issues such as dispute settlement. A non-negotiating 
cooperative group on trade capacity building (ATCB Working Group'') 
will be formed. The TCB Working Group seeks to address, to the extent 
possible, the needs of the countries in preparing for negotiations, 
implementation of the agreement and transition to free trade (i.e., 
rural diversification and small and medium sized enterprises). 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.
    There are two parts to TCB Working Group meetings. The first 
involves a meeting of exclusively government officials from the United 
States and Andean countries. The second part involves government 
officials from the United States and the Andean 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 Andean 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: AAndean 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 Andean 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. 04-13322 Filed 6-10-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W4-P