[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17499-17501]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6935]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Addendum Notice 
Regarding Competitive Need Limitations 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) 
released a notice on February 25, 2005, to announce the product 
petitions that were accepted for further review in the 2004 GSP Annual 
Review, and set 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. This addendum is to 
inform the public of the addition of several self-initiated competitive 
need limitation (CNL) waiver requests and sets forth a schedule for 
public participation.

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.
    Section 503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act states that the President must 
terminate GSP duty-free treatment for an article from a beneficiary 
developing country by July 1 of the next calendar year if the import 
value of that article exceeds a set amount ($115 million in 2004) or 
exceeds 50 percent of total U.S. imports of the article from all 
countries. The President has the authority to grant CNL waivers, as set 
forth in section 503(d) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(d)).
    Modifications to the list of articles eligible for duty-free 
treatment under the GSP and CNL waivers 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 proposed CNL waiver which is included in this 
addition to the Annual Review (Annex II). Submissions should comply 
with 15 CFR part 2007, except as modified below. All submissions should 
identify the proposed CNL waiver(s) in terms of the HTS subheading 
number and country of origin as shown in Annex 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 schedule for public comment and hearings on 
the proposed CNL waivers, 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: 
``Comments on 2004 CNL Review'' followed by the HTS subheading number 
and the country of origin found in the Annex II and, as appropriate 
``Written Comments'', ``Notice of Intent to Testify'', ``Pre-hearing 
brief'', ``Post-hearing brief'' or ``Comments on USITC Advice''. 
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'', ``.TIF'', ``.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 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 shortly after the due date, 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 May 2, 
2005, beginning at 10 a.m. at the White House Conference Center, Truman 
Room, 726 Jackson Place, NW., Washington, DC. 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

[[Page 17500]]

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 e-mail address, if available, of the witness(es) 
representing their organization to the Chairman of the GSP Subcommittee 
by 5 p.m., April 28, 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., 
April 28, 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., 
May 27, 2005. Parties not wishing to appear at the public hearings may 
submit post-hearing written briefs or statements, in English, by 5 
p.m., May 27, 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 proposed CNL waivers. Comments by interested persons on 
the USITC Report prepared as part of the product review should be 
submitted by 5 p.m., 5 days after the date of USITC publication of its 
report.

Jon Rosenbaum,
Acting Executive Director for GSP, GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee.
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[FR Doc. 05-6935 Filed 4-5-05; 8:45 am]
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