[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 8 (Friday, January 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2068-2069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-307]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), as Amended: Notice Regarding 
the 2007 Annual Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 
received one petition in September 2007 to review certain practices in 
a beneficiary developing country to determine whether such country is 
in compliance with the ATPA eligibility criteria. This notice specifies 
the results of the review of that petition as well as the status of the 
petitions filed in prior years that have remained under review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bennett M. Harman, Deputy Assistant 
U.S. Trade Representative for Latin America, at (202) 395-9446.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ATPA (19 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.), as 
renewed and amended by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication 
Act of 2002 (ATPDEA) in the Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210) and the 
Andean Trade Preferences Extension Act (Pub.

[[Page 2069]]

L. 109-432), provides trade benefits for eligible Andean countries. 
Pursuant to section 3103(d) of the ATPDEA, USTR promulgated regulations 
(15 CFR part 2016) (68 FR 43922) regarding the review of eligibility of 
countries for the benefits of the ATPA, as amended. The 2007 Annual 
ATPA Review is the fourth such review to be conducted pursuant to the 
ATPA regulations.
    In a Federal Register notice dated August 15, 2007, USTR initiated 
the 2007 ATPA Annual Review and announced a deadline of September 17, 
2007 for the filing of petitions (72 FR 45833). One petition was filed 
for the 2007 review, by Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, concerning Ecuador. The 
Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) has conducted a preliminary review 
of this petition, has determined that it does not require further 
action and is terminating its review. USTR also received updated 
information from the U.S./Labor Education in the Americas Project (US/
LEAP) concerning worker rights in Ecuador, which has been under 
consideration since the 2003 ATPA review.
    The TPSC is terminating its review of a petition filed with respect 
to 19 U.S.C. 3202(c)(2)(A), by Engelhard Corporation in 2003 regarding 
its tax dispute with the Peruvian government because the petitioning 
company is no longer majority U.S.-owned. The TPSC is also terminating 
its review of a petition filed by Parsons Corporation in 2004 regarding 
a payment dispute with the Peruvian government, since that matter has 
since been resolved through arbitration.
    Following is the list of all petitions from prior years that will 
remain under review through February 29, 2008, which is the period that 
the ATPA is in effect:

Ecuador Human Rights Watch
Ecuador U.S./Labor Education in the Americas Project
Ecuador AFL/CIO
Ecuador Chevron Texaco
Peru Princeton Dover
Peru Duke Energy

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
 [FR Doc. E8-307 Filed 1-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W8-P