[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 188 (Thursday, September 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56963-56964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-19490]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Identification of Countries Under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 
1974: Request for Public Comment

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative

ACTION: Request for written submissions from the public.

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SUMMARY: Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 
2242), requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to 
identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of 
intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access 
to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. Section 
182 is commonly referred to as the ``Special 301'' provision of the 
Trade Act. In addition, USTR is required to determine which of those 
countries should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. On April 
30, 2005, USTR announced the results of the 2005 Special 301 review and 
stated that Out-of-Cycle Reviews (OCRs) would be conducted for Russia, 
Canada, Indonesia and the Philippines. USTR will conduct these OCRs in 
early 2006. USTR requests written comments from the public concerning 
the acts, policies, and practices relevant for this review under 
Section 182 of the Trade Act.

DATES: Submissions must be received on or before 5 p.m. on Friday, 
December 2, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Sybia Harrison, Special 
Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, and sent (i) electronically, to 
[email protected], with ``Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review: Russia, 
Canada, Indonesia and the Philippines'' in the subject line, or (ii) by 
fax, to (202) 395-9458, with a confirmation copy sent electronically to 
the e-mail address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Choe Groves, Director for 
Intellectual Property and Chair of the Special 301 Committee, Office of 
the United States Trade Representative, (202) 395-4510.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 182 of the Trade Act, 
USTR must identify those countries that deny adequate and effective 
protection for intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable 
market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property 
protection. Those countries that have the most onerous or egregious 
acts, policies, or practices and whose acts, policies, or practices 
have the greatest adverse impact (actual or potential) on relevant U.S. 
products may be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. Acts, 
policies, or practices that are the basis of a country's designation as 
a Priority Foreign Country are normally the subject of an investigation 
under the Section 301 provisions of the Trade Act.
    On April 30, 2005, USTR announced the results of the 2005 Special 
301 review, including an announcement that Out-of-Cycle Reviews (OCRs) 
would be conducted for Russia, Canada, Indonesia and the Philippines. 
Additional countries may also be reviewed as a result of the comments 
received pursuant to this notice, or as warranted by events.

Requirements for Comments

    Comments should include a description of the problems experienced, 
and the effect of the acts, policies, and practices on U.S. industry. 
Comments should be as detailed as possible and should provide all 
necessary information for assessing the effect of the acts, policies, 
and practices. Any comments that include quantitative loss claims 
should be accompanied by the methodology used in calculating such 
estimated losses.
    Comments must be in English. No submissions will be accepted via 
postal service mail. Documents should be submitted as either 
WordPerfect, MS Word, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting documentation 
submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel files. 
A submitter requesting that information contained in a comment be 
treated as confidential business information must certify that such 
information is business confidential and would not customarily be 
released to the public by the submitter. A non-confidential version of 
the comment must also be provided. For any document containing 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. Submissions 
should not include 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.
    All comments should be addressed to Sybia Harrison, Special 
Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, and sent (i) electronically, to 
[email protected], with ``Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review: Russia, 
Canada, Indonesia and the Philippines'' in the subject line, or (ii) by 
fax, to (202) 395-9458, with a confirmation copy sent electronically to 
the e-mail address above.

Public Inspection of Submissions

    Within one business day of receipt, non-confidential submissions 
will be placed in a public file open for inspection at the USTR reading 
room, Office of the United States Trade Representative, Annex Building, 
1724 F Street, NW., Room 1, Washington, DC. An appointment to review 
the file must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance and may be made 
by calling Jacqueline Caldwell at (202) 395-6186.

[[Page 56964]]

The USTR reading room is open to the public from 10 a.m. to noon and 
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Jennifer Choe Groves,
Director for Intellectual Property and Chair of the Special 301 
Committee.
[FR Doc. 05-19490 Filed 9-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W5-P