[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 133 (Tuesday, July 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42077-42078]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15831]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Identification of Countries Under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 
1974: Request for Public Comment

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for written submissions from the public.

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SUMMARY: Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 
2242), requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to 
identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of 
intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access 
to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. Section 
182 is commonly referred to as the ``Special 301'' provision in the 
Trade Act. In addition, USTR is required to determine which of those 
countries should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. On May 3, 
2004, USTR announced the results of the 2004 Special 301 review and 
stated that an Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) would be conducted in the 
summer for Israel. USTR requests written comments from the public 
concerning the acts, policies, and practices relevant for this review 
under section 182 of the Trade Act.

DATES: Submissions must be received on or before 12 noon on Friday, 
August 6, 2004.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be sent to Sybia Harrison, Special 
Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, at the following e-mail 
address: [email protected], with ``Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review'' in 
the subject line. Please note, only electronic submissions will be 
accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Peck, Senior Director for 
Intellectual Property, (202) 395-6864; or Stanford McCoy, Assistant 
General Counsel, (202) 395-3581, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 182 of the Trade Act, 
USTR must identify those countries that deny adequate and effective 
protection for intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable 
market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property 
protection. Those countries that have the most onerous or egregious 
acts, policies, or practices and whose acts, policies, or practices 
have the greatest adverse impact (actual or potential) on relevant U.S. 
products may be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. Acts, 
policies, or practices that are the basis of a country's designation as 
a Priority Foreign Country are normally the subject of an investigation 
under the section 301 provisions of the Trade Act.
    On May 3, 2004, USTR announced the results of the 2004 Special 301 
review, including an announcement that an Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) 
would be conducted in the summer for Israel. Additional countries may 
also be reviewed as warranted by events.
    Requirements for Comments: Comments should include a description of 
the problems experienced and the effect of the acts, policies, and 
practices on U.S. industry. Comments should be as detailed as possible 
and should provide all necessary information for assessing the effect 
of the acts, policies, and practices. Any comments that include 
quantitative loss claims should be accompanied by the methodology used 
in calculating such estimated losses.
    Comments must be in English and sent electronically. No submissions 
will be accepted via postal service mail. Documents should be submitted 
as either WordPerfect, MS Word, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting 
documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro 
or Excel files. A submitter requesting that information contained in a 
comment be treated as confidential business information must certify 
that such information is business confidential and would not 
customarily be released to the public by the submitter. A non-
confidential version of the comment must also be provided. For any 
document containing business confidential information, 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. Submissions should not include 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.
    All comments should be sent to Sybia Harrison, Special Assistant to 
the Section 301 Committee, at the following e-mail address: 
[email protected], with ``Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review'' in the 
subject line. Please note, only electronic submissions will be 
accepted.
    Public Inspection of Submissions: Within one business day of 
receipt, non-confidential submissions will be placed in a public file, 
open for inspection at the USTR reading room, Office of the

[[Page 42078]]

United States Trade Representative, Annex Building, 1724 F Street, NW., 
Room 1, Washington, DC. An appointment to review the file must be 
scheduled at least 48 hours in advance and may be made by calling 
Jacqueline Caldwell at (202) 395-6186. The USTR reading room is open to 
the public from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday.

Brian Peck,
Senior Director for Intellectual Property.
[FR Doc. 04-15831 Filed 7-12-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W4-P