[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 116 (Friday, June 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34969-34970]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-9498]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Special Provincial Review of Intellectual Property Rights 
Protection in China: 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: In its Special 301 Report issued on April 28, 2006, USTR 
announced plans to conduct a special provincial review (SPR) of 
intellectual property rights protection in China. As the first step in 
this review, USTR requests written comments from the public concerning 
the locations and issues that should be the focus of the SPR.

DATES: Submissions must be received on or before 5 p.m. on Friday, July 
14, 2006.

ADDRESS: All comments should be addressed to Sybia Harrison, Special 
Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, and sent (i) electronically, to 
the following e-mail address: [email protected], with ``China Special 
Provincial Review'' 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: Stanford K. McCoy, Office of 
Intellectual Property, at (202) 395-4510.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 28, 2006, USTR released its annual 
Special 301 report pursuant to Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
amended by the Omnibus Trade and

[[Page 34970]]

Competitiveness Act of 1988 and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act 
(enacted in 1994). In that report, USTR announced that the United 
States would conduct a special provincial review in the coming year to 
examine the adequacy and effectiveness of China's IPR protection and 
enforcement at the provincial level. The goal of this review is to 
spotlight strengths, weaknesses, and inconsistencies in and among 
specific jurisdictions, and to inform next year's Special 301 review of 
China as a whole.
    USTR is now commencing the China SPR by seeking public comments on 
the locations and issues that should be reviewed. The information 
received will be used to set initial priorities for the review and 
ensure that the most important locations and issues receive appropriate 
attention. Before concluding the review, USTR plans to seek more 
detailed public comments on the adequacy and effectiveness of IPR 
protection and enforcement at the provincial level in China.
    USTR proposes to focus the SPR on the locations in China that are 
most economically significant for U.S. right holders, or which merit 
special attention for other reasons. USTR seeks public comments on the 
specific provinces and other jurisdictions at the provincial level that 
should be the focus of the SPR. For purposes of this review, 
jurisdictions at the provincial level may include, in addition to 
China's provinces (sheng), the four the municipalities (shi) of 
Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin, as well as China's five 
autonomous regions (zizhiqu). Persons submitting comments should 
identify specific provinces, municipalities, and/or autonomous regions 
and give reasons why they should be reviewed in the SPR.
    Within each province, municipality, or autonomous region that is 
included in the review, USTR proposes to examine the issues and 
locations of greatest interest to U.S. right holders. USTR therefore 
requests that, with respect to each province, municipality, and/or 
autonomous region recommended for inclusion in the SPR, commenters 
identify with particularity any key locations or issues that merit 
attention. Key locations could include, for example, particular 
regions, cities, towns, districts, sub-districts, or markets. Key 
issues could include, for example, counterfeiting or piracy of 
particular types of products in a particular location, or factors that 
affect the ability to enforce particular rights (e.g., positive or 
negative aspects of local policy, legislation, or resources). 
Commenters should bear in mind that the goals of the SPR include 
highlighting strengths, as well as weaknesses and inconsistencies, in 
and among specific jurisdictions. Strengths could include, for example, 
taking ex officio action on behalf of, and providing fair treatment 
for, foreign right holders, or local measures that facilitate IPR 
enforcement. USTR welcomes suggestions for activities, such as visits 
or meetings, that would contribute to a full examination of the issues 
and locations of greatest interest to U.S. right holders.
    Among other locations to be considered for inclusion in the SPR, 
USTR seeks comments on possible inclusion of the four ``hot spots'' 
identified in the 2006 Special 301 Report: Guangdong Province, Beijing 
City, Zhejiang Province, and Fujian Province. USTR noted an apparent 
acute need for authorities in these areas to more effectively establish 
and sustain proactive, deterrent IPR enforcement. The China section of 
the 2006 Special 301 Report (available on USTR's Web site at http://www.ustr.gov) identifies certain issues and locations of concern in 
Guangdong, Beijing, Zhejiang, and Fujian.
    Finally, USTR encourages interested persons to monitor progress 
with respect to significant locations and issues at China's provincial 
level over the remainder of the year. As noted above, USTR plans to 
seek more detailed public comments before concluding the SPR.
    Requirements for Comments: Comments should be brief, and should 
respond to the requests in this notice.
    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 is 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 
the following e-mail address: [email protected], with ``China Special 
Provincial Review'' 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. The USTR reading room is open to the public 
from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday.

Victoria Espinel,
Assistant USTR for Intellectual Property.
[FR Doc. E6-9498 Filed 6-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P