[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 8, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45079-45080]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12870]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Initiation of Reviews 
and Request for Public Comments

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Initiation of Reviews and Request for Comments on the 
Eligibility of Certain GSP Beneficiaries and Existing Competitive Need 
Limitation (CNL) Waivers.

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SUMMARY: Legislation authorizing the Generalized System of Preferences 
(GSP) program expires on December 31, 2006. In connection with 
Congress' consideration of reauthorization of the program, the Trade 
Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) requested public comments on October 6, 
2005, relating to whether the Administration's operation of the program 
should be changed so that benefits are not focused on trade from a few 
countries and that developing countries that traditionally have not 
been major traders under the program receive benefits. Based on 
information obtained thus far, the TPSC has decided to initiate a 
further review and request additional comments to determine whether 
major beneficiaries of the program have expanded exports or have 
progressed in their economic development within the meaning of the 
statute to the extent that their eligibility should be limited, 
suspended, or withdrawn, pursuant to section 502(d) of the Trade Act of 
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462(d)). For the purpose of identifying beneficiary 
countries that are subject to this review and on which we are seeking 
comments, the TPSC looked at a country's total volume of trade under 
the GSP program, the World Bank's classification of the country's level 
of income, and the country's share of world goods exports. The TPSC is 
also conducting a review of existing competitive need limitation (CNL) 
waivers and requesting comments on whether any waivers should be 
terminated, pursuant to section 503(d)(5) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 
2463(d)(5)), because they are no longer warranted due to changed 
circumstances. All public comments must be received by September 5, 
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 Subcommittee is seeking written 
comments on whether to limit, suspend, or withdraw the eligibility of 
those GSP beneficiary countries for which the total value of U.S. 
imports under GSP exceeded $100 million in 2005, and (a) which the 
World Bank classified as an upper-middle-income economy in 2005; or (b) 
that accounted for more than 0.25 percent of world goods exports in 
2005, as reported by the World Trade Organization. Thus, the TPSC is 
seeking comments on the eligibility status of the following GSP 
beneficiary developing countries: Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, India, 
Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, South Africa, 
Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela. The TPSC is also seeking comments on 
whether any of the 83 existing competitive need limitation (CNL) 
waivers are no longer warranted due to changed circumstances.

Country Eligibility Review

    The GSP statute authorizes the President to withdraw, suspend, or 
limit the application of duty-free treatment with respect to any 
country based on statutory eligibility criteria. See section 502(d) of 
the Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(d)). These criteria include: (1) The effect 
such action will have on furthering the economic development of 
developing countries through the expansion of their exports; (2) the 
extent of the beneficiary developing country's competitiveness with 
respect to eligible articles; and (3) a country's level of economic 
development, including its per capita gross national product, the 
living standards of its inhabitants, and any other economic factors 
which the President deems appropriate. The GSP Subcommittee is seeking 
comments on whether the eligibility of any of these beneficiaries 
should be limited, suspended, or withdrawn based on the statutory 
eligibility criteria enumerated in sections 501(1) and (4) and section 
502(c)(2) of the Act.

CNL Waiver Review

    Section 503(c)(2)(A) of the Act sets out the two competitive need 
limitations (CNLs) applicable to eligible articles from beneficiary 
developing countries (other than sub-Saharan African and least-
developed beneficiaries). When the President determines that a 
beneficiary developing country exported to the United States during a 
calendar year either (1) A quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a 
value in excess of the applicable amount for that year ($120 million 
for 2005), or (2) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a value 
equal to or greater than 50 percent of the value of total U.S. imports 
of the article from all countries (the ``50 percent CNL''), the 
President must terminate GSP duty-free treatment for that article from 
that beneficiary developing country by no later than July 1 of the next 
calendar year.
    Under section 503(d) of the 1974 Act, the President may waive the 
application of section 503(c)(2) if the President (1) Receives the 
advice of the International Trade Commission (ITC) on whether any 
industry in the United States is likely to be adversely affected by 
such waiver; (2) determines, based on the considerations in section 501 
and 502(c) of the Act and the advice of the ITC that such waiver is in 
the national economic interest of the United States; and (3) publishes 
the determination in the Federal Register. CNL waivers were first 
authorized by Congress in 1984. Nineteen GSP beneficiaries currently 
benefit from 83 CNL waivers. Under section 503(d)(5) of the Act, a 
waiver may be terminated if the President determines that it is no 
longer warranted due to changed circumstances. The GSP Subcommittee is 
seeking comments on whether any of the 83 existing waivers should be 
terminated pursuant to this provision of the statute. For a list of 
existing CNL waivers, see ``CNL Waivers'', http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Development/Preference_Programs/GSP/Section_Index.html.

Requirements for Submission

    In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR 
strongly urges and prefers electronic e-mail submissions only in 
response to

[[Page 45080]]

this notice. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. These 
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 font. E-mail submissions 
should use the following subject line: ``2006 GSP Eligibility and CNL 
Waiver Review''. Comments on CNL waivers should include the 8-digit 
tariff number of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). 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. 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.
    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 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.) 
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 to 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 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 for the GSP Program, Chairman, GSP Subcommittee of 
the Trade Policy Staff Committee.
 [FR Doc. E6-12870 Filed 8-7-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P