[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 14, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54435-54436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-18228]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program: Notice Regarding 
the 2005 and Ongoing Country Practice Reviews

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the timetable for the hearing and 
public comments on petitions requesting modifications in the status of 
certain GSP beneficiary countries.

DATES: The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the schedule of 
dates for conducting the annual country practice review unless 
otherwise specified in a Federal Register notice. The current revised 
schedule follows. Notification of any other changes will be given in 
the Federal Register.

Notice of Public Hearing

    A hearing will be held by the GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC on 
November 30, 2005, beginning at 10 a.m., in combined Rooms 1 and 2, 
1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC. The hearing will be open to the 
public and a transcript of the hearing 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 
hearing must submit, following the ``Requirements for Submissions'' 
below, the name, address, telephone number, and facsimile number and e-
mail address, if available, of the witness(es) representing their 
organization to Marideth Sandler, Executive Director of the GSP Program 
and Chairman of the GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC by 5 p.m., November 9, 
2005. Requests to present oral testimony in connection with the public 
hearing must be accompanied by a written brief or statement, in 
English, and also must be received by 5 p.m., November 9, 2005. Oral 
testimony before the GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC 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 below and are submitted, in English, by 5 p.m., 
December 14, 2005. Parties not wishing to appear at the public hearing 
may submit post-hearing written briefs or statements, in English, by 5 
p.m., December 14, 2005.
    Modifications to the list of countries eligible for GSP benefits 
resulting from the 2005 Annual Review of Country Practice Cases will be 
announced on or about June 30, 2006, in the Federal Register, and any 
changes will take effect on the effective date announced.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The GSP Subcommittee, Office of the 
United States Trade Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., Room F-220, 
Washington, DC 20508. Telephone number is (202) 395-6971; fax number is 
(202) 395-9481.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP statute, Title V of the Trade Act of 
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) provides duty-free treatment to 
designated eligible articles that are imported from designated 
beneficiary developing countries. USTR has received a number of 
petitions requesting that certain practices in certain beneficiary 
developing countries be reviewed to determine whether such countries 
are in compliance with the eligibility criteria set forth in sections 
502(b) and 502(c) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(a), 2462(b), and 
2462(c)).

Petitions Accepted for Review Regarding Country Practices

    Pursuant to 15 CFR 2007.0(b), the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade 
Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) has recommended, and the TPSC has 
accepted, certain country practice petitions (see Annex A) to be 
included in the 2005 Annual Review. Acceptance of a petition for review 
is not indicative of the ultimate disposition of the petition. 
Acceptance indicates only that the listed petitions warrant further 
consideration.

Opportunities for Public Comment

    The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC invites comments in support of or 
in opposition to any petition that have been accepted for review. 
Submissions should comply with 15 CFR Part 2007, except as modified 
below.

Requirements for Submission

    In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR will 
accept only 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 20 single-spaced standard letter-size pages. 
E-mail submissions should use the following subject line: ``2005 GSP 
Annual Country Practice Review'' followed by the subject country, case 
number, and, as appropriate ``Written Comments'', ``Notice of Intent to 
Testify'', ``Pre-hearing brief'', or ``Post-hearing brief''. Documents 
must be submitted in English in one of the following formats: MSWord 
(.DOC), WordPerfect (.WPD), 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''). 
Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as 
Excel files, formatted for printing on 8\1/2\ x 11 inch paper. Any data 
attachments to the submission must 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 of the TPSC to

[[Page 54436]]

arrange for an alternative method of transmission.
    Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be 
available for review approximately two weeks after the relevant 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.

Marideth J. Sandler,
Executive Director, Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program, 
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
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[FR Doc. 05-18228 Filed 9-13-05; 8:45 am]
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