[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60928-60929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-22901]


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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 of 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 fall 
for Malaysia, Poland, and Taiwan. 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, 
November 5, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Sybia Harrison, Special 
Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, and sent (i) electronically, to 
[email protected], with ``Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review'' in the 
subject line, or (ii) by fax, to (202) 395-9458, with a confirmation 
copy sent electronically to the e-mail address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Peck, Senior Director for 
Intellectual Property, (202) 395-6864; or

[[Page 60929]]

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 fall for Malaysia, Poland and Taiwan. 
Additional countries may also be reviewed as a result of the comments 
received pursuant to this notice, or 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. 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 addressed to Sybia Harrison, Special 
Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, and sent (i) electronically, to 
[email protected], with ``Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review'' in the 
subject line, or (ii) by fax, to (202) 395-9458, with a confirmation 
copy sent electronically to the email address above.
    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 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 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Brian Peck,
Senior Director for Intellectual Property.
[FR Doc. 04-22901 Filed 10-12-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W5-M