[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 159 (Thursday, August 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48622-48623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16337]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA); Notice Regarding the 2005 
Annual Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the 2005 Annual Review of the Andean 
Trade Preference Act (ATPA). The deadline for the submission of 
petitions for the 2005 Annual ATPA Review is September 19, 2005. USTR 
will publish a list of petitions filed in response to this announcement 
in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Submit petitions by electronic mail (e-mail) to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bennett M. Harman, Deputy Assistant 
U.S. Trade Representative for Latin America, Office of the Americas, 
Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th St., NW., 
Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-9446 and the 
facsimile number is (202) 395-9675.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ATPA (19 U.S.C. 3201-06), as renewed and 
amended by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) 
in the Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210), provides for trade benefits 
for eligible Andean countries. Consistent with Section 3103(d) of the 
ATPDEA, USTR promulgated regulations (15 CFR part 2016) (68 FR 43922) 
regarding the review of eligibility of articles and countries for the 
benefits of the ATPA, as amended. The 2005 Annual ATPA Review is the 
third such review to be conducted pursuant to the ATPA review 
regulations. To qualify for the benefits of the ATPA and ATPDEA, each 
country must meet several eligibility criteria, as

[[Page 48623]]

set forth in sections 203(c) and (d), and section 204(b)(6)(B) of the 
ATPA, as amended (19 U.S.C. 3202(c), (d); 19 U.S.C. 3203(b)(6)(B)), and 
as outlined in the Federal Register notice USTR published to request 
public comments regarding the designation of eligible countries as 
ATPDEA beneficiary countries (67 FR 53379). Under section 203(e) of the 
ATPA, as amended (19 U.S.C. 3202(e)), the President may withdraw or 
suspend the designation of any country as an ATPA or ATPDEA beneficiary 
country, and may also withdraw, suspend, or limit preferential 
treatment for any product of any such beneficiary country, if the 
President determines that, as a result of changed circumstances, the 
country is not meeting the eligibility criteria.
    The ATPA regulations provide the schedule of dates for conducting 
an annual review, unless otherwise specified by Federal Register 
notice. Notice is hereby given that, in order to be considered in the 
2005 Annual ATPA Review, all petitions to withdraw or suspend the 
designation of a country as an ATPA or ATPDEA beneficiary country, or 
to withdraw, suspend, or limit application of preferential treatment to 
any article of any ATPA beneficiary country under the ATPA, or to any 
article of any ATPDEA beneficiary country under section 204(b)(1), (3), 
or (4) (19 U.S.C. 3202(b)(1), (3), (4)) of the ATPA, must be received 
by the Andean Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee no later 
than 5 p.m. EDT on September 19, 2005. Petitioners should consult 15 
CFR 2016.0 regarding the content of such petitions.
    E-mail submissions should be single copy transmissions in English, 
and the total submission including attachments should not exceed 50 
pages. Submissions should use the following subject line: ``2005 Annual 
ATPA Review--Petition.'' Documents must be submitted as either 
WordPerfect (``.WPD''), MSWord (``.DOC''), or text (``.TXT'') file. 
Documents should not be submitted as electronic image files or contain 
imbedded images (for example, ``.JPG'', ``PDF'', ``.BMP'', or ``GIF''), 
as these type of files are generally excessively large. Supporting 
documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro 
or Excel, pre-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.
    Petitions will be available for public inspection by appointment 
with the staff of the USTR Public Reading Room, except for information 
granted ``business confidential'' status pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.6. 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'' in large, 
bold letters at the top and bottom of every page of the document. The 
public version that does not contain business confidential information 
must be clearly marked either ``PUBLIC VERSION'' or ``NON-
CONFIDENTIAL'' in large, bold letters at the top and bottom of every 
page. The file name of any document containing business confidential 
information attached to an e-mail transmission 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 person or party submitting the petition. 
Submissions by e-mail 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 
submission. The e-mail address for submissions is [email protected]. 
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. 
Availability of documents may be ascertained, and 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.

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 05-16337 Filed 8-17-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W5-P