[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 119 (Tuesday, June 22, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34638-34640]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-14064]


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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Foreign Agricultural Service


WTO Agricultural Safeguard Trigger Levels

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of product coverage and trigger levels for safeguard 
measures provided for in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement 
on Agriculture.

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

SUMMARY: This notice lists the updated quantity trigger levels for 
products, which may be subject to additional import duties under the 
safeguard provisions of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. It also 
includes the relevant

[[Page 34639]]

period applicable for trigger levels on each of those products.

DATES: Effective Date: June 22, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles R. Bertsch, Multilateral Trade 
Negotiations Division, Foreign Agricultural Service, room 5524--South 
Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250-1022, 
telephone at (202) 720-6278, or e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on 
Agriculture provides that additional import duties may be imposed on 
imports of products subject to tariffication as a result of the Uruguay 
Round if certain conditions are met. The agreement permits additional 
duties to be charged if the price of an individual shipment of imported 
products falls below the average price for similar goods imported 
during the years 1986-88 by a specified percentage. It also permits 
additional duties to be imposed if the volume of imports of an article 
exceeds the average of the most recent 3 years for which data are 
available by 5, 10, or 25 percent, depending on the article. These 
additional duties may not be imposed on quantities for which minimum or 
current access commitments were made during the Uruguay Round 
negotiations, and only one type of safeguard, price or quantity, may be 
applied at any given time to an article.
    Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires that the 
President cause to be published in the Federal Register information 
regarding the price and quantity safeguards, including the quantity 
trigger levels, which must be updated annually based upon import levels 
during the most recent 3 years. The President delegated this duty to 
the Secretary of Agriculture in Presidential Proclamation No. 6763, 
Quantity Based Safeguard Trigger dated December 23, 1994. The Secretary 
of Agriculture further delegated the duty to the Administrator of the 
Foreign Agricultural Service (7 CFR 2.43 (a)(2)). The Annex to this 
notice contains the updated quantity trigger levels.
    Additional information on the products subject to safeguards and 
the additional duties which may apply can be found in subchapter IV of 
Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and 
in the Secretary of Agriculture's Notice of Safeguard Action, published 
in the Federal Register at 60 FR 427, January 4, 1995.
    Notice: As provided in section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements 
Act, consistent with Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture, the 
safeguard quantity trigger levels previously notified are superceded by 
the levels indicated in the Annex to this notice.

    Issued at Washington, DC, this 14th day of June, 2004.
A. Ellen Terpstra,
Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, Annex.
    The definitions of these products were provided in the Notice of 
Safeguard Action published in the Federal Register, at 60 FR 427, 
January 4, 1995.

                    Quantity-Based Safeguard Trigger
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Product                 Trigger level          Period
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beef............................  1,193,903 mt......  January 1, 2004 to
                                                       December 31,
                                                       2004.
Mutton..........................  20,668 mt.........  January 1, 2004 to
                                                       December 31,
                                                       2004.
Cream...........................  5,839,930 liters..  January 1, 2004 to
                                                       December 31,
                                                       2004.
Evaporated or Condensed Milk....  7,019,525           January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Nonfat Dry Milk.................  3,677,993           January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Dried Whole Milk................  4,116,442           January 1, 2004.
                                   kilograms.          to December 31,
                                                       2004
Dried Cream.....................  40,845 kilograms..  January 1, 2004.
                                                       to December 31,
                                                       2004
Dried Whey/Buttermilk...........  90,263 kilograms..  January 1, 2004 to
                                                       December 31,
                                                       2004.
Butter..........................  13,754,490          January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Butter Oil and Butter             10,516,706          January 1, 2004 to
 Substitutes.                      kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Dairy Mixtures..................  5,131,250           January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Blue Cheese.....................  4,561,399           January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Cheddar Cheese..................  16,309,700          January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
American-Type Cheese............  25,288,825          January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Edam/Gouda Cheese...............  8,242,960           January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Italian-Type Cheese.............  20,435,015          January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Swiss Cheese with Eye Formation.  35,995,675          January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Gruyere Process Cheese..........  8,309,266           January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Lowfat Cheese...................  3,598,612           January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
NSPF Cheese.....................  59,837,314          January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2004.
Peanuts.........................  54,853 mt.........  April 1, 2004 to
                                                       March 31, 2005.
Peanut Butter/Paste.............  20,512 mt.........  January 1, 2004 to
                                                       December 31,
                                                       2004.
Raw Cane Sugar..................  1,267,407 mt......  October 1, 2003 to
                                  1,297,851 mt......   September 30,
                                                       2004.
                                                      October 1, 2004 to
                                                       September 30,
                                                       2005.
Refined Sugar and Syrups........  95,196 mt.........  October 1, 2003 to
                                  95,785 mt.........   September 30,
                                                       2004.
                                                      October 1, 2004 to
                                                       September 30,
                                                       2005.
Blended Syrups..................  5 mt..............  October 1, 2003 to
                                  8 mt..............   September 30,
                                                       2004.
                                                      October 1, 2004 to
                                                       September 30,
                                                       2005.
Articles Over 65% Sugar.........  23 mt.............  October 1, 2003 to
                                  23 mt.............   September 30,
                                                       2004.
                                                      October 1, 2004 to
                                                       September 30,
                                                       2005.
Articles Over 10% Sugar.........  80,886 mt.........  October 1, 2003 to
                                  80,886 mt.........   September 30,
                                                       2004.
                                                      October 1, 2004 to
                                                       September 30,
                                                       2005.
Sweetened Cocoa Powder..........  841 mt............  October 1, 2003 to
                                  531 mt............   September 30,
                                                       2004.
                                                       October 1, 2004
                                                       to September 30,
                                                       2005.
Chocolate Crumb.................  25,555,455          January 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          December 31,
                                                       2005.
Lowfat Chocolate Crumb..........  460,840 kilograms.  January 1, 2004 to
                                                       December 31,
                                                       2004.
Infant Formula Containing         106,234 kilograms.  January 1, 2004 to
 Oligosaccharides.                                     December 31,
                                                       2004.
Mixes and Doughs................  5,375 mt..........  October 1, 2003 to
                                  6,757 mt..........   September 30,
                                                       2004.
                                                      October 1, 2004 to
                                                       September 30,
                                                       2005.

[[Page 34640]]

 
Mixed Condiments and Seasonings.  560 mt............  October 1, 2003 to
                                  402 mt............   September 30,
                                                       2004.
                                                      October 1, 2004 to
                                                       September 30,
                                                       2005.
Ice Cream.......................  4,404,744 liters..  January 1, 2004 to
                                                       December 31,
                                                       2004.
Animal Feed Containing Milk.....  28,962 kilograms..  January 1, 2004 to
                                                       December 31,
                                                       2004.
Short Staple Cotton.............  233,399 kilograms.  September 20, 2003
                                  94,717 kilograms..   to September 19,
                                                       2004.
                                                      September 20, 2004
                                                       to September 19,
                                                       2005.
Harsh or Rough Cotton...........  0 mt..............  August 1, 2003 to
                                  0 mt..............   July 31, 2004.
                                                      August 1, 2004 to
                                                       July 31, 2005.
Medium Staple Cotton............  483,797 kilograms.  August 1, 2003 to
                                  485,971 kilograms.   July 31, 2004.
                                                      August 1, 2004 to
                                                       July 31, 2005.
Extra Long Staple Cotton........  7,231,773           August 1, 2003 to
                                   kilograms.          July 31, 2004.
                                  8,982,620           August 1, 2004 to
                                   kilograms.          July 31, 2005.
Cotton Waste....................  0 kilograms.......  September 20, 2003
                                  0 kilograms.......   to September 19,
                                                       2004.
                                                      September 20, 2004
                                                       to September 19,
                                                       2005.
Cotton, Processed, Not Spun.....  2,083 kilograms...  September 11, 2003
                                  5,343 kilograms...   to September 10,
                                                       2004.
                                                      September 11, 2004
                                                       to September 10,
                                                       2005.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FR Doc. 04-14064 Filed 6-21-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-10-P