[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 71 (Friday, April 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19909-19911]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-7702]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Re-initiation of a 
Review to Consider the Designation of the Republic of Azerbaijan as a 
Beneficiary Developing Country Under the GSP

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and solicitation of public comment.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the re-initiation of a review to 
consider designating the Republic of Azerbaijan as a beneficiary 
developing country (BDC) for purposes of the GSP program, and solicits 
public comment relating to the designation. Comments are due by 
Wednesday April 30, 2008, in accordance with the requirements for 
submissions, explained below.

ADDRESS: Submit comments by electronic mail (e-mail) to: 
[email protected]. (Note: the digit before the number in the e-mail 
address is the number zero, not a letter.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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, Facsimile: 202-395-9481).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee (TPSC) has initiated a review in order to make a 
recommendation to the President as to whether the Republic of 
Azerbaijan meets the eligibility criteria of the GSP statute, as set 
out below. After considering the recommendation, the President is 
authorized to, and may, designate the country as a beneficiary 
developing country for purposes of the GSP.
    Interested parties are invited to submit comments. Documents should 
be submitted in accordance with the below instructions, to be 
considered in this review.

Eligibility Criteria

    The trade benefits of the GSP program are available to any country 
that the President designates as a GSP ``beneficiary developing 
country.'' In designating countries as GSP beneficiary developing 
countries, the President must consider the criteria in sections 
502(b)(2) and 502(c) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 
2462(b)(2), 2462(c)) (``the Act''). Section 502(b)(2) provides that a 
country is ineligible for designation if:

[[Page 19910]]

    1. Such country is a Communist country, unless--
    (a) The products of such country receive nondiscriminatory 
treatment, (b) Such country is a WTO Member (as such term is defined in 
section 2(10) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act) (19 U.S.C. 3501(10)) 
and a member of the International Monetary Fund, and (c) Such country 
is not dominated or controlled by international communism.
    2. Such country is a party to an arrangement of countries and 
participates in any action pursuant to such arrangement, the effect of 
which is--
    (a) To withhold supplies of vital commodity resources from 
international trade or to raise the price of such commodities to an 
unreasonable level, and (b) To cause serious disruption of the world 
economy.
    3. Such country 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.
    4. Such country--
    (a) Has nationalized, expropriated, or otherwise seized ownership 
or control of property, including patents, trademarks, or copyrights, 
owned by a United States citizen or by a corporation, partnership, or 
association which is 50 percent or more beneficially owned by United 
States citizens, (b) Has taken steps to repudiate or nullify an 
existing contract or agreement with a United States citizen or a 
corporation, partnership, or association which is 50 percent or more 
beneficially owned by United States citizens, the effect of which is to 
nationalize, expropriate, or otherwise seize ownership or control of 
property, including patents, trademarks, or copyrights, so owned, or 
(c) Has imposed or enforced taxes or other exactions, restrictive 
maintenance or operational conditions, or other measures with respect 
to property, including patents, trademarks, or copyrights, so owned, 
the effect of which is to nationalize, expropriate, or otherwise seize 
ownership or control of such property, unless the President determines 
that--
    (i) Prompt, adequate, and effective compensation has been or is 
being made to the citizen, corporation, partnership, or association 
referred to above, (ii) Good faith negotiations to provide prompt, 
adequate, and effective compensation under the applicable provisions of 
international law are in progress, or the country is otherwise taking 
steps to discharge its obligations under international law with respect 
to such citizen, corporation, partnership, or association, or (iii) A 
dispute involving such citizen, corporation, partnership, or 
association over compensation for such a seizure has been submitted to 
arbitration under the provisions of the Convention for the Settlement 
of Investment Disputes, or in another mutually agreed upon forum, and 
the President promptly furnishes a copy of such determination to the 
Senate and House of Representatives.
    5. Such country fails to act in good faith in recognizing as 
binding or in enforcing arbitral awards in favor of United States 
citizens or a corporation, partnership, or association which is 50 
percent or more beneficially owned by United States citizens, which 
have been made by arbitrators appointed for each case or by permanent 
arbitral bodies to which the parties involved have submitted their 
dispute.
    6. Such country aids or abets, by granting sanctuary from 
prosecution to, any individual or group which has committed an act of 
international terrorism or the Secretary of State makes a determination 
with respect to such country under section 6(j)(1)(A) of the Export 
Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. Appx. section 2405(j)(1)(A)) or 
such country has not taken steps to support the efforts of the United 
States to combat terrorism.
    7. Such country has not taken or is not taking steps to afford 
internationally recognized worker rights to workers in the country 
(including any designated zone in that country).
    8. Such country has not implemented its commitments to eliminate 
the worst forms of child labor.
    Section 502(c) provides that, in determining whether to designate 
any country as a GSP beneficiary developing country, the President 
shall take into account:
    1. An expression by such country of its desire to be so designated;
    2. The level of economic development of such country, including its 
per capita gross national product, the living standards of its 
inhabitants, and any other economic factors which the President deems 
appropriate;
    3. Whether or not other major developed countries are extending 
generalized preferential tariff treatment to such country;
    4. The extent to which such country has assured the United States 
that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets and 
basic commodity resources of such country and the extent to which such 
country has assured the United States that it will refrain from 
engaging in unreasonable export practices;
    5. The extent to which such country is providing adequate and 
effective protection of intellectual property rights;
    6. The extent to which such country has taken action to--
    (a) Reduce trade distorting investment practices and policies 
(including export performance requirements); and (b) Reduce or 
eliminate barriers to trade in services; and
    7. Whether or not such country has taken or is taking steps to 
afford to workers in that country (including any designated zone in 
that country) internationally recognized worker rights. Note that the 
Trade Act of 2002 amended paragraph (D) of the definition of the term 
``internationally recognized worker rights,'' which now includes: (A) 
The right of association; (B) the right to organize and bargain 
collectively; (C) a prohibition on the use of any form of forced or 
compulsory labor; (D) a minimum age for the employment of children and 
a prohibition on the worst forms of child labor as defined in paragraph 
(6) of section 507(4) of the Act; and (E) acceptable conditions of work 
with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety 
and health.

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 Subcommittee of the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee (TPSC) as soon as possible, but not later than 5 p.m., 
April 30, 2008.
    In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR 
requires electronic e-mail submissions in response to 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 20 single-spaced 
standard letter-size pages in 12-point type and three megabytes as a 
digital file attached to an e-mail transmission. E-mail submissions 
should use the following subject line: ``Comments for the Republic of 
Azerbaijan Eligibility Review.'' Documents must be submitted in English 
in one of the following formats: WordPerfect (.WPD), Adobe (.PDF), 
MSWord (.DOC), or text (.TXT) files. Documents cannot be submitted as 
electronic image files or contain embedded images, e.g., ``.JPG'', 
``.TIF'', ``.BMP'', or ``.GIF''. Supporting documentation submitted as 
spreadsheets are acceptable as Excel files, formatted for printing on 
8\1/2\ x 11

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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 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 characters ``P-''. The ``P-'' or ``BC-'' should be 
followed by the name of the party (government, company, union, 
association, etc.) which is 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 identifying 
information on the sender's name, organization name, address, telephone 
number and e-mail address. The e-mail address for these submissions is 
[email protected]. (Note: The digit before the number in the e-mail 
address is the number zero, not a letter.) 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. E8-7702 Filed 4-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W8-P