[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 130 (Monday, July 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37272-37273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-13257]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of the Russian Federation: 
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'' provisions of the 
Trade Act.) In addition, the USTR is required to determine which of 
these countries should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. 
Acts, policies or practices that are the basis of a country's 
identification as a Priority Foreign Country are normally the subject 
of an investigation under the Section 301 provisions of the Trade Act.
    On April 27, 2007, USTR announced the results of the 2007 Special 
301 Review and stated that an Out-of-Cycle Review of the Russian 
Federation (``Russia'') would be conducted this year. Pursuant to this 
Out-of-Cycle Review of Russia, USTR requests written submissions from 
the public concerning Russia's acts, policies, and practices regarding 
the adequacy and effectiveness of Russia's intellectual property 
protection and enforcement. In particular, USTR requests that comments 
address Russia's implementation of the United States-Russia Bilateral 
IPR Agreement of November 19, 2006 (available on USTR's Web site at 
http://www.ustr.gov).

DATES: Submissions must be received on or before 10 a.m. on Monday, 
August 27, 2007.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be addressed to Jennifer Choe Groves, 
Director for Intellectual Property and Innovation and Chair of the 
Special 301 Committee, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, and sent (i) electronically, to [email protected] 
(please note, ``FR0606'' consists of the numbers ``zero-six-zero-
six,'') with ``Russia Out-of-Cycle Review'' in the subject line, or 
(ii) by fax, to (202) 395-9458, with a confirmation copy sent 
electronically to the email address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Choe Groves, Director for 
Intellectual Property and Innovation and Chair of the Special 301 
Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative at (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 are to 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.
    USTR may not identify a country as a Priority Foreign Country if it 
is entering into good faith negotiations, or making significant 
progress in bilateral or multilateral negotiations, to provide adequate 
and effective protection of intellectual property rights.

[[Page 37273]]

    On April 27, 2007, USTR announced the results of the 2007 Special 
301 Review and stated that an Out-of-Cycle Review of Russia would be 
conducted this year. Pursuant to this Out-of-Cycle Review of Russia, 
USTR requests written submissions from the public concerning Russia's 
acts, policies, and practices regarding the adequacy and effectiveness 
of Russia's intellectual property protection and enforcement. In 
particular, USTR requests that comments address Russia's implementation 
of the United States-Russia Bilateral IPR Agreement of November 19, 
2006 (available on USTR's Web site at http://www.ustr.gov).
    Requirements for comments: Comments should include a description of 
experiences with respect to Russia in the field of intellectual 
property rights and the effect of Russian IPR 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 Russia's 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, .pdf, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting 
documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro 
or Excel files. All comments and supporting documentation received by 
USTR will be made available to the public through electronic or other 
means. 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.

DATES: Submissions must be received on or before 10 a.m. on Monday, 
August 27, 2007.
    All comments should be addressed to Jennifer Choe Groves, Director 
for Intellectual Property and Innovation and Chair of the Special 301 
Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative, and sent 
(i) electronically, to [email protected] (please note, ``FR0606'' 
consists of the numbers ``zero-six-zero-six,'') with ``Russia Out-of-
Cycle Review'' in the subject line, or (ii) by fax, to (202) 395-9458, 
with a confirmation copy sent electronically to the email address 
above.
    Public inspection of submissions: (1) 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 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Christopher S. Wilson,
Acting Assistant USTR for Intellectual Property and Innovation.
 [FR Doc. E7-13257 Filed 7-6-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W7-P