[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 139 (Wednesday, July 21, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43656-43657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16479]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), as Amended: Notice Regarding 
the 2003 Annual Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 
received petitions in September 2003 to review certain practices in 
certain beneficiary developing countries to determine whether such 
countries are in compliance with the ATPA eligibility criteria. This 
notice specifies the results of the preliminary review of those 
petitions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bennett M. Harman, Deputy Assistant 
U.S. Trade Representative for Latin America, at (202) 395-9446.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ATPA (19 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.), as 
renewed and amended by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication 
Act of 2002 (ATPDEA) in the Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210), 
provides trade benefits for eligible Andean countries. Pursuant to 
section 3103(d) of the ATPDEA, USTR promulgated regulations (15 CFR 
part 2016) (68 FR 43922) regarding the review of eligibility of 
countries for the benefits of the ATPA, as amended.
    In a Federal Register notice dated August 14, 2003, USTR initiated 
the 2003 ATPA Annual Review and announced a deadline of September 15, 
2003 for the filing of petitions (68 FR 48657). Several of these 
petitions requested the review of certain practices in certain 
beneficiary developing countries regarding compliance with the 
eligibility criteria set forth in sections 203(c) and (d) and section 
204(b)(6)(B) of the ATPA, as amended (19 U.S.C. 3203 (c) and (d); 19 
U.S.C. 3203(b)(6)(B)).
    In a Federal Register notice dated November 13, 2003, USTR 
published a list of the responsive petitions filed pursuant to the 
announcement of the annual review. The Trade Policy Staff Committee 
(TPSC) has conducted a preliminary review of these petitions. 15 CFR 
2016.2(b) provides for

[[Page 43657]]

announcement of the results of the preliminary review on or about 
December 1. 15 CFR 2016.2(b) also provides for modification of the 
schedule if specified by Federal Register notice. In a Federal Register 
notice dated December 30, 2003, USTR modified the schedule for this 
review, specifying that the results would be announced on or about 
March 31, 2004. In a Federal Register notice dated April 5, 2004, USTR 
modified the schedule for this review, specifying that the results 
would be announced on or about May 15, 2004.
    Following is the status of the responsive petitions filed pursuant 
to the announcement of the annual review. The TPSC has determined that 
certain of the petitions do not require action and terminates their 
review. These include: Nortel Networks--Colombia, PhRMA--Peru, Big 3 
Marine--Peru, Duke Energy--Ecuador, and PhRMA--Ecuador.
    The TPSC has decided to modify the date of the announcement of the 
results of preliminary review for the following petitions: Engelhard--
Peru, Princeton Dover--Peru, LeTourneau--Peru, Duke Energy--Peru, AFL-
CIO--Ecuador, Human Rights Watch--Ecuador, and US/LEAP--Ecuador. USTR 
will announce the results of the preliminary review of these petitions 
at the same time it publishes the list of responsive petitions filed 
pursuant to the 2004 Annual ATPA Review.

Bennett M. Harman,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Latin America.
[FR Doc. 04-16479 Filed 7-20-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W3-P