[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 8, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45080-45081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12833]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Request for Public 
Comments on the Possible Withdrawal or Suspension of GSP Benefits With 
Respect to Romania

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and solicitation of public comment.

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SUMMARY: As part of an ongoing country practice review, the GSP 
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is considering 
whether to recommend that duty-free treatment accorded to imports from 
Romania under the U.S. GSP program be withdrawn or suspended on the 
grounds that Romania affords preferential treatment to the products of 
a developed country, other than the United States, which has, or is 
likely to have, a significant adverse effect on United States commerce. 
In addition, Romania adopted Veterinary Order 95 which includes 
requirements that: (1) Individual U.S. poultry plants must be approved 
for export to the EU; and (2) U.S. poultry producers must abide by EU 
welfare rules for slaughter. There are no EU-approved poultry 
facilities in the United States.
    The GSP Subcommittee is seeking public comments on whether, in view 
of the information provided in the petition, implementation of this new 
measure, and any additional information pertaining to the eligibility 
criteria set forth in the statute, Romania no longer meets one or more 
statutory criteria for GSP eligibility. All public comments must be 
received by Thursday, September 7, 2006.

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: The GSP program is authorized pursuant to 
Title V of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (``the Trade Act'') (19 
U.S.C. 2461 et seq.). The GSP program grants duty-free treatment to 
designated eligible articles that are imported from designated 
beneficiary developing countries. Once granted, GSP benefits may be 
withdrawn, suspended, or limited by the President with respect to any 
country. (19 U.S.C. 2462(d)(1)). Romania is a designated beneficiary 
developing country under the GSP program.

Possible Withdrawal or Suspension of GSP Benefits for Romania

    In 2002, the GSP Subcommittee received a petition from the 
Distilled Spirits Council of the United States and the Pharmaceutical 
Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) requesting that Romania's 
eligibility for GSP benefits be terminated because Romania granted 
tariff preferences to EU distilled spirits and certain pharmaceuticals 
which have, or are likely to have, a significant adverse effect on 
United States commerce. These petitions were accepted for review in the 
2005 Annual Review. On June 2, 2006, Romania adopted Veterinary Order 
95. This Order affects all poultry meat shipments loaded for shipment 
to Romania after June 7, 2006, and includes requirements that: (1) 
Individual U.S. poultry plants must be approved for export to the EU; 
and (2) U.S. poultry producers must abide by EU welfare rules for 
slaughter. Romania will allow poultry certified under previous 
regulations until August 5, 2006.

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

[[Page 45081]]

Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) as soon as 
possible, but not later than 5 p.m., September 7, 2006.
    In order to facilitate prompt consideration of submissions, USTR 
strongly prefers electronic e-mail submissions in response to this 
notice. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. E-mail 
submissions should be single-copy transmissions in English with the 
total submission, including attachments, not to exceed 30 single-spaced 
standard letter-size pages using 12-point type. The e-mail transmission 
should use the following subject line: ``Romania 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'', ``.tif'', or ``.gif'') will not be accepted. 
Spreadsheets submitted as supporting documentation are acceptable as 
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 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. E6-12833 Filed 8-7-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P