[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 21, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76513-76514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27818]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Request for Public Comment on 
Review of Employment Impact of United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement 
Negotiations

AGENCIES: Office of the United States Trade Representative; Department 
of Labor.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) gives notice that the 
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the 
Department of Labor (Labor) are initiating a review of the impact of a 
proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Oman 
on U.S. employment, including labor markets. This notice seeks written 
public comment on potentially significant sectoral or regional 
employment impacts (both positive and negative) in the United States as 
well as other likely labor market impacts of the FTA.

DATES: USTR and Labor will accept any comments received during the 
course of the negotiations of the FTA. However, comments should be 
received by noon, February 16, 2005, to be assured of timely 
consideration.

ADDRESSES: 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, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202) 
395-3475. Substantive questions concerning the employment impact review 
should be addressed to Jorge Perez-Lopez, Director, Office of 
International Economic Affairs, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20210, telephone (202) 693-4883; or William Clatanoff, Assistant U.S. 
Trade Representative for Labor, telephone (202) 395-6120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background Information

    In accordance with section 2104 of the Trade Act of 2002 (Trade 
Act) (19 U.S.C. 3804), on November 15, 2003, the USTR notified the 
Congress of the President's intent to initiate FTA negotiations with 
Oman. Pursuant to the requirements of the Trade Act of 1974, the USTR 
requested the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to provide 
advice on probable economic effects no later than February 28, 2005. In 
addition, USTR published a notice in the Federal Register soliciting 
views from the public on the negotiations in general, and the TPSC will 
hold a public hearing on January 14, 2005. The United States intends to 
begin negotiations with Oman in March 2005.

2. Employment Impact Review

    Section 2102(c)(5) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 3802(c)(5)) directs 
the President to review the impact of future trade agreements on U.S. 
employment, including labor markets, modeled after Executive Order 
13141 to the extent appropriate in establishing procedures and 
criteria, report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate on such 
review, and make that report available to the public. USTR and Labor 
will conduct the employment reviews through the TPSC.
    The employment impact review will be based on the following 
elements, which are modeled to the extent appropriate after those in EO 
13141. The review will be: (1) Written; (2) initiated through a notice 
in the Federal Register soliciting public comment and information on 
the employment impact of the FTA in the United States; (3) made 
available to the public in draft form for public comment, to the extent 
practicable; and (4) made available to the public in final form.
    Comments may be submitted on potentially significant sectoral or 
regional employment impacts (both positive and negative) in the United 
States as well as other likely labor market impacts of the FTA. Persons 
submitting comments should provide as much detail as possible in 
support of their submissions.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to ensure prompt and full consideration of response, the 
TPSC strongly urges and prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in 
response to this notice. In the event that an e-mail submission is 
impossible, submissions should be made by facsimile.
    Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following 
subject line: ``U.S.-Oman FTA Employment Impact Review.'' Documents 
should be submitted as WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. 
Spreadsheets submitted as supporting documentation are acceptable as 
Quattro Pro or Excel files. If any document submitted electronically 
contains 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. 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 will be placed in a file open to public inspection 
pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, except confidential business information 
exempt from public inspection in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. 
Confidential business information submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 
2003.6 must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of 
each page, including any cover letter or cover page, and must be 
accompanied by a non-confidential summary of the confidential 
information. All public documents and non-confidential summaries shall 
be available for public inspection in the USTR Reading Room in Room 3 
of the Annex of the Office of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20508. An appointment to review the file may be made by calling 
(202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room is generally open to the public 
from 10 a.m-12 noon and 1-4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

[[Page 76514]]

Appointments must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 04-27818 Filed 12-20-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W5-P