[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 194 (Thursday, October 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60219-60220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-22574]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Public Comments for Market Access 
Negotiations Under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is requesting written 
public comments with respect to the expansion of market access 
opportunities in government procurement under the World Trade 
Organization Agreement on Government Procurement. The specific 
information being sought is described in the background section below.

DATES: Public Comments are due by noon, November 1, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Offices of the U.S. Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20508. 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, 1725 F. Street, NW, Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202) 
395-3475. Questions concerning the expansion of market access 
opportunities in government procurement should be addressed to Jean 
Heilman Grier, Senior Procurement Negotiator, Office of the USTR, (202) 
395-5097, or Scott Pietan, Department of Commerce, (202) 482-4337.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Chairman of the TPSC invites written 
comments from the public on the expansion of market access 
opportunities in government procurement under the World Trade 
Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). Comments 
should identify specific improvements that are needed in the current 
coverage of the Parties to the GPA. Such requests could include the 
addition of specific government entities, state-owned enterprises or 
other government-related entities, the addition of services covered by 
the Agreement, and the removal of existing discriminatory measures or 
exclusions.
    The Appendices with the current market access commitments or 
coverage of each Party can be found on the WTO Web site at http://www.wto.org under the trade topic ``government procurement,'' with the 
details of Parties' market access obligations at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/loose_e.htm.

1. Background Information

    The GPA is a plurilateral agreement that currently applies to 38 
Members of the WTO. In addition to the United States, they are: Canada, 
European Communities (including its 25 member States: Austria, Belgium, 
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, 
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, 
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, 
Sweden, United Kingdom), Hong Kong China, Iceland, Israel, Japan, 
Korea, Liechtenstein, Netherlands with respect to Aruba, Norway, 
Singapore, and Switzerland. The GPA includes both procedures that all 
the Parties are required to follow when they undertake procurements 
covered by the GPA and market access obligations in the Appendices to 
the Agreement.
    The Appendices include for each Party a positive list of the 
government entities that are required to comply with the Agreement when 
they undertake procurement above specified thresholds, subject to 
exclusions of certain goods. The government entities covered by the GPA 
include central government entities and government-related enterprises 
(such as state-owned enterprises), as well as, for most Parties, sub-
central government entities. The Appendices also include a list of the 
services covered by the Party. In addition, the Parties set out 
exclusions and discriminatory measures in the Appendices.
    The GPA calls for negotiations aimed at increasing market access 
opportunities under the Agreement through the greatest possible 
extension of coverage of government procurement by the Parties, on the 
basis of reciprocity, and the elimination of discriminatory measures 
and practices that distort open procurement. The GPA Parties have 
agreed to commence bilateral negotiations with the submission of 
initial requests to the other Parties for improvements in their 
coverage under the GPA by the end of November 2004. Based on the 
requests, the Parties will exchange offers in the spring of 2005.
    The comments will be considered in developing U.S. positions in the 
negotiations, including requests for improvements in the market access 
provided by other Parties under the GPA.

2. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR 
strongly urges and prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in response 
to this notice.
    Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following 
subject line: ``Expansion of Market Access under the WTO/GPA'' followed 
by ``Written Comments.'' Documents should be submitted as WordPerfect, 
MSWord, or text (.txt) files. Supporting documentation submitted as 
spreadsheets are acceptable in Quattro Pro or Excel.
    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 characters ``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 submitted in response to this request will be 
placed in a file open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, 
except business confidential information exempt from public inspection 
in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. Business confidential information 
submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6 must be clearly market 
``Business Confidential'' at the top of each page, including any cover 
letter or cover page, and must be accompanied by a nonconfidential 
summary of the confidential information. All public documents and 
nonconfidential summaries shall be available for public inspection in 
the USTR Reading Room. The USTR Reading Room is open to the public, by 
appointment only, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday. An appointment to review the file must be scheduled at 
least 48 hours in advance

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and may be made by calling (202) 395-6186.
    General information concerning the Office of the United States 
Trade Representative may be obtained by accessing its Internet Web site 
(http://www.ustr.gov).

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 04-22574 Filed 10-6-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W4-P