[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 37 (Friday, February 25, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9431-9435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3720]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding 
Products in the 2004 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 2004 to modify the list of products that are 
eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program and to modify 
the GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary developing countries because 
of country practices. The list of country practice petitions accepted 
for review will be announced in the Federal Register at a later date. 
This notice announces the product petitions that are accepted for 
further review in the 2004 GSP Annual Review, and sets forth the 
schedule for comment and public hearing on these petitions, for 
requesting participation in the hearing, and for submitting pre-hearing 
and post-hearing briefs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact the GSP Subcommittee of the 
Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., Room F-220, Washington, DC 20508. 
The telephone number is (202) 395-6971.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP provides for the duty-free 
importation of designated articles when imported from designated 
beneficiary developing countries. The GSP is authorized by title V of 
the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461, et seq.), as amended (the ``1974 
Act''), and is implemented in accordance with Executive Order 11888 of 
November 24, 1975, as modified by subsequent Executive Orders and 
Presidential Proclamations.
    In a Federal Register notice dated November 15, 2004, USTR extended 
the due date for the filing of product and country practice petitions 
for the 2004 GSP Annual Review to December 13, 2004 (69 FR 65674). The 
product petitions received requested changes in the list of eligible 
products by adding or removing products, or by waiving the 
``competitive need limitations'' (CNLs) for a country for an eligible 
article. The President's authority to grant CNL waivers is set forth in 
section 503(d) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(d)).
    The interagency GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff 
Committee (TPSC) has reviewed the product petitions, and the TPSC has 
decided to initiate a full review of the product petitions listed in 
Annex II. Annex II to this notice sets forth, for each type of change 
requested: the case number, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTS) subheading number, a brief description of the 
product (see the HTS for an authoritative description available on the 
U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) Web site (http://www.usitc.gov/taffairs)), and the petitioner for each petition included 
in this review. Acceptance of a petition for review does not indicate 
any opinion with respect to the disposition on the merits of the 
petition. Acceptance indicates only that the listed petitions have been 
found eligible for review by the TPSC and that such review will take 
place. Modifications to the list of articles eligible for duty-free 
treatment under the GSP resulting from the 2004 Annual Review will be 
announced on or about June 30, 2005, in the Federal Register, and any 
changes will take effect on the effective date announced.

Opportunities for Public Comment and Inspection of Comments

    The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC invites comments in support of or 
in opposition to any petition which is included in this Annual Review 
(Annex II). Submissions should comply with 15 CFR part 2007, except as 
modified below. All submissions should identify the subject article(s) 
in terms of the case number and HTS subheading number as shown in 
Annexes II. The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the schedule 
of dates for conducting an annual review unless otherwise specified in 
a Federal Register notice. This notice specifies the revised schedule 
for public comment and hearings, set out in Annex I.

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. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. These 
submissions should be single copy transmissions in English with the 
total submission not to exceed 50 single-spaced standard letter-size 
pages. E-mail submissions should use the following subject line: ``2004 
GSP Annual Review'' followed by the Case Number and HTS subheading 
number found in the Annex II (for example, 2004-07 5702.91.30) and, as 
appropriate ``Written Comments'', ``Notice of Intent to Testify'', 
``Pre-hearing brief'', ``Post-hearing brief'' or ``Comments on USITC 
Advice''. (For example, an e-mail subject line might read ``2004-07 
5702.91.30 Written Comments''.) Documents must be submitted in English 
in one of the following formats: WordPerfect (.WPD), MSWord (.DOC) , or 
text (.TXT) files. Documents may not be submitted as electronic image 
files or contain imbedded images (for example, ``.JPG'', ``.PDF'', 
``.BMP'', or ``.GIF''). E-mail submissions containing such files will 
not be accepted. Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets are 
acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel files, formatted for printing

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on 8\1/2\ x 11 inch paper. To the extent possible, any data attachments 
to the submission should be included in the same file as the submission 
itself, and not as separate files.
    If the submission contains business confidential information, a 
non-confidential version of the submission must also be submitted that 
indicates where confidential information was redacted by inserting 
asterisks where material was deleted. In addition, the confidential 
submission must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top 
and bottom of each page of the document. The non-confidential version 
must also be clearly marked at the top and bottom of each page (either 
``PUBLIC VERSION'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL''). Documents that are 
submitted without any marking might not be accepted or will be 
considered public documents.
    For any document containing business confidential information 
submitted as an electronic attached file to an e-mail transmission, 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 party (government, company, union, 
association, etc.) which is making the submission.
    E-mail submissions should not include separate cover letters or 
messages in the message area of the e-mail; information that might 
appear in any cover letter should be included directly in the attached 
file containing the submission itself, including the sender's e-mail 
address and other identifying information. The e-mail address for these 
submissions is [email protected]. Documents not submitted in accordance 
with these instructions might not be considered in this review. If 
unable to provide submissions by e-mail, please contact the GSP 
Subcommittee to arrange for an alternative method of transmission.
    Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be 
available for review Tuesday, March 15, by appointment in the USTR 
public reading room, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC. Appointments 
may be made from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, by calling (202) 395-6186.

Notice of Public Hearings

    Hearings will be held by the GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC on March 
24, 2005, beginning at 10 a.m. at the U.S. International Trade 
Commission, Main Hearing Room, 500 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20436. 
The hearings will be open to the public and a transcript of the 
hearings will be made available for public inspection or can be 
purchased from the reporting company. No electronic media coverage will 
be allowed.
    All interested parties wishing to make an oral presentation at the 
hearings must submit, following the above ``Requirements for 
Submissions'', the name, address, telephone number, and facsimile 
number and email address, if available, of the witness(es) representing 
their organization to the Chairman of the GSP Subcommittee by 5 p.m., 
March 10, 2005. Requests to present oral testimony in connection with 
the public hearings must be accompanied by a written brief or 
statement, in English, and also must be received by 5 p.m., March 10, 
2005. Oral testimony before the GSP Subcommittee will be limited to 
five-minute presentations that summarize or supplement information 
contained in briefs or statements submitted for the record. Post-
hearing briefs or statements will be accepted if they conform with the 
regulations cited above and are submitted, in English, by 5 p.m., April 
15, 2005. Parties not wishing to appear at the public hearings may 
submit post-hearing written briefs or statements, in English, by 5 
p.m., April 15, 2005.
    In accordance with sections 503(a)(1)(A) and 503(e) of the 1974 Act 
and the authority delegated by the President, pursuant to section 
332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930, the U.S. Trade Representative has 
requested that the USITC provide its advice on the probable economic 
effect of the following actions on U.S. industries producing like or 
directly competitive articles and on consumers, as appropriate: (1) The 
elimination of U.S. import duties for all beneficiary developing 
countries, (2) the removal of a country from eligibility for duty-free 
treatment under the GSP for such article, and (3) whether any industry 
in the United States is likely to be adversely affected by a waiver of 
the competitive need limits specified in section 503(d)(1) of the 1974 
Act for the country specified. Comments by interested persons on the 
USITC Report prepared as part of the product review should be submitted 
by 5 p.m., 10 days after the date of USITC publication of its report.

Stephen Wanser,
Deputy Director, GSP, GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff 
Committee.

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[FR Doc. 05-3720 Filed 2-24-05; 8:45 am]
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