[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 249 (Thursday, December 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77237-77239]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-8021]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Initiation of a Review 
To Consider the Designation of Liberia as a Least Developed Beneficiary 
Developing Country Under the GSP

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and solicitation of public comment.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the initiation of a review to consider 
the designation of Liberia as a least developed beneficiary developing 
country under the GSP program and solicits public comment relating to 
the designation criteria. Comments are due January 13, 2006, in 
accordance with the requirements for submissions, explained below.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments by electronic mail (e-mail) to: 
[email protected]. For assistance or if unable to submit comments by e-
mail, contact the GSP Subcommittee, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative; USTR Annex, Room F-220; 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20508 (Tel. 202-395-6971).

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Liberia's GSP eligibility was suspended, 
effective May 1, 1990, because, following a review and recommendation 
by the Trade Policy Staff Committee in 1989, it was determined that it 
had not taken and was not taking steps to afford internationally 
recognized worker rights to workers in Liberia. The review was 
initiated in response to a petition filed by the Lawyers Committee for 
Human Rights in 1988. The GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff 
Committee (TPSC) has initiated a review in order to make a 
recommendation to the President as to whether Liberia meets the 
eligibility criteria of the GSP statute, as set out below. After 
considering the eligibility criteria, the President is authorized to 
designate Liberia as a least developed beneficiary developing country 
for purposes of the GSP.
    Interested parties are invited to submit comments regarding the 
eligibility of Liberia for designation as a least developed beneficiary 
developing country. Documents should be submitted in accordance with 
the below instructions to be considered in this review.

Eligibility Criteria

    The trade benefits of the GSP program are available to any country 
that the President designates as a GSP ``beneficiary developing 
country.'' Additional trade benefits under the GSP are available to any 
country that the President designates as a GSP ``least-developed 
beneficiary developing country.'' In designating countries as GSP 
beneficiary developing countries, the President must consider the 
criteria in sections 502(b)(2) and 502(c) of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
amended (19 U.S.C. 2462(b)(2), 2462(c)) (``the Act''). Section 
502(b)(2) provides that a country is ineligible for designation if:
    1. Such country is a Communist country, unless--
    (a) The products of such country receive nondiscriminatory 
treatment, (b) Such country is a WTO Member (as such term is defined in 
section 2(10) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act) (19 U.S.C. 3501(10)) 
and a member of the International Monetary Fund, and (c) Such country 
is not dominated or controlled by international communism.
    2. Such country is a party to an arrangement of countries and 
participates in any action pursuant to such arrangement, the effect of 
which is--
    (a) To withhold supplies of vital commodity resources from 
international trade or to raise the price of such commodities to an 
unreasonable level, and (b) To cause serious disruption of the world 
economy.
    3. Such country affords preferential treatment to the products of a 
developed country, other than the United States, which has, or is 
likely to have, a

[[Page 77238]]

significant adverse effect on United States commerce.
    4. Such country--
    (a) Has nationalized, expropriated, or otherwise seized ownership 
or control of property, including patents, trademarks, or copyrights, 
owned by a United States citizen or by a corporation, partnership, or 
association which is 50 percent or more beneficially owned by United 
States citizens, (b) Has taken steps to repudiate or nullify an 
existing contract or agreement with a United States citizen or a 
corporation, partnership, or association which is 50 percent or more 
beneficially owned by United States citizens, the effect of which is to 
nationalize, expropriate, or otherwise seize ownership or control of 
property, including patents, trademarks, or copyrights, so owned, or 
(c) Has imposed or enforced taxes or other exactions, restrictive 
maintenance or operational conditions, or other measures with respect 
to property, including patents, trademarks, or copyrights, so owned, 
the effect of which is to nationalize, expropriate, or otherwise seize 
ownership or control of such property, unless the President determines 
that--
    (i) Prompt, adequate, and effective compensation has been or is 
being made to the citizen, corporation, partnership, or association 
referred to above, (ii) Good faith negotiations to provide prompt, 
adequate, and effective compensation under the applicable provisions of 
international law are in progress, or the country is otherwise taking 
steps to discharge its obligations under international law with respect 
to such citizen, corporation, partnership, or association, or (iii) A 
dispute involving such citizen, corporation, partnership, or 
association over compensation for such a seizure has been submitted to 
arbitration under the provisions of the Convention for the Settlement 
of Investment Disputes, or in another mutually agreed upon forum, and 
the President promptly furnishes a copy of such determination to the 
Senate and House of Representatives.
    5. Such country fails to act in good faith in recognizing as 
binding or in enforcing arbitral awards in favor of United States 
citizens or a corporation, partnership, or association which is 50 
percent or more beneficially owned by United States citizens, which 
have been made by arbitrators appointed for each case or by permanent 
arbitral bodies to which the parties involved have submitted their 
dispute.
    6. Such country aids or abets, by granting sanctuary from 
prosecution to, any individual or group which has committed an act of 
international terrorism or the Secretary of State makes a determination 
with respect to such country under section 6(j)(1)(A) of the Export 
Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. Appx. section 2405(j)(1)(A)) or 
such country has not taken steps to support the efforts of the United 
States to combat terrorism.
    7. Such country has not taken or is not taking steps to afford 
internationally recognized worker rights to workers in the country 
(including any designated zone in that country).
    8. Such country has not implemented its commitments to eliminate 
the worst forms of child labor.
    Section 502(c) provides that, in determining whether to designate 
any country as a GSP beneficiary developing country, the President 
shall take into account:
    1. An expression by such country of its desire to be so designated;
    2. The level of economic development of such country, including its 
per capita gross national product, the living standards of its 
inhabitants, and any other economic factors which the President deems 
appropriate;
    3. Whether or not other major developed countries are extending 
generalized preferential tariff treatment to such country;
    4. The extent to which such country has assured the United States 
that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets and 
basic commodity resources of such country and the extent to which such 
country has assured the United States that it will refrain from 
engaging in unreasonable export practices;
    5. The extent to which such country is providing adequate and 
effective protection of intellectual property rights;
    6. The extent to which such country has taken action to--
    (a) Reduce trade distorting investment practices and policies 
(including export performance requirements); and (b) Reduce or 
eliminate barriers to trade in services; and
    7. Whether or not such country has taken or is taking steps to 
afford to workers in that country (including any designated zone in 
that country) internationally recognized worker rights. Note that the 
Trade Act of 2002 amended paragraph (D) of the definition of the term 
``internationally recognized worker rights,'' which now includes: (A) 
The right of association; (B) the right to organize and bargain 
collectively; (C) a prohibition on the use of any form of forced or 
compulsory labor; (D) a minimum age for the employment of children and 
a prohibition on the worst forms of child labor as defined in paragraph 
(6) of section 507(4) of the Act; and (E) acceptable conditions of work 
with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety 
and health.
    To designate a country as a least-developed beneficiary developing 
country, the President must consider the criteria in section 502(c), as 
well as the criteria in section 501 of the Act. Section 501 provides 
that, in extending preferences under the GSP, the President shall have 
due regard for:
    1. The effect such action will have on furthering the economic 
development of developing countries through the expansion of their 
exports.
    2. The extent to which other major developed countries are 
undertaking a comparable effort to assist developing countries by 
granting generalized preferences with respect to imports of products of 
such countries.
    3. The anticipated impact of such action on United States producers 
of like or directly competitive products.
    4. The extent of the beneficiary developing country's 
competitiveness with respect to eligible articles.

Requirements for Submissions

    All submissions must conform to the GSP regulations set forth at 15 
CFR Part 2007, except as modified below. Comments must be submitted, in 
English, to the Chairman of the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee (TPSC) as soon as possible, but not later than 5 p.m., 
January 13, 2006.
    In order to facilitate prompt consideration of submissions, USTR 
requires electronic e-mail submissions in response to this notice. 
Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. Submissions should be 
single-copy transmissions in English with the total submission not to 
exceed 50 single-spaced standard letter-size pages. The e-mail 
transmission should use the following subject line: ``Liberia GSP 
Eligibility Review''. Documents must be submitted as MSWord (``.doc''), 
WordPerfect (``.wpd''), or text (``.txt'') files. Documents submitted 
as electronic image files or containing imbedded images (for example, 
``.jpg'', ``.pdf'', ``.bmp'', or ``.gif'') will not be accepted. 
Spreadsheets submitted as supporting documentation are acceptable as 
Quattro Pro or Excel files, pre-formatted for printing only 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.
    Submissions in response to this notice will be subject to public 
inspection by

[[Page 77239]]

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 
version must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top and 
bottom of each page of the document. The non-confidential version must 
be clearly marked ``PUBLIC'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top and 
bottom of each page. 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 character ``P-''. The BC-'' or ``P-'' should be followed 
by the name of the party (government, company, union, association, 
etc.) which is submitting the comments.
    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 
identifying information with telephone number, fax number, and e-mail 
address. 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 public review approximately three weeks 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.

Marideth J. Sandler,
Executive Director for the GSP Program; Chairman, GSP Subcommittee of 
the Trade Policy Staff Committee.
 [FR Doc. E5-8021 Filed 12-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P