[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 95 (Thursday, May 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28174-28175]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-10917]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the 
Initiation of the 2008 Annual GSP Product and Country Eligibility 
Practices Review and Deadlines for Filing Petitions

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and Solicitation for Public Petitions.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Office of the United States 
Trade Representative (USTR) will receive petitions in 2008 to modify 
the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under 
the GSP program and to modify the GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary 
developing countries because of country practices. This notice further 
determines that the deadline for submission of product petitions, other 
than those requesting competitive need limitation (CNL) waivers, and 
country practice petitions for the 2008 Annual GSP Product and Country 
Eligibility Practices Review is 5 p.m., Wednesday, June 18, 2008. The 
deadline for submission of product petitions requesting CNL waivers is 
5 p.m., Thursday, November 13, 2008. The list of product petitions and 
country practice petitions accepted for review will be announced in the 
Federal Register at later dates.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact the GSP Subcommittee of the 
Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., Room F-220, Washington, DC 20508. 
The telephone number is (202) 395-6971, the facsimile number is (202) 
395-9481, and the e-mail address is [email protected]. (Note: the 
digit before the number in the e-mail address is the number ``zero,'' 
not a letter.) Public versions of all documents relating to this Review 
will be available for examination approximately 30 days after the 
pertinent 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.

2008 Annual GSP Review

    The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the timetable for 
conducting an annual review, unless otherwise specified by Federal 
Register notice. Notice is hereby given that, in order to be considered 
in the 2008 Annual GSP Product and Country Eligibility Practices 
Review, all petitions to modify the list of articles eligible for duty-
free treatment under GSP or to review the GSP status of any beneficiary 
developing country, with the exception of petitions requesting CNL 
waivers, must be received by the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18, 2008. 
Petitions requesting CNL waivers must be received by the GSP 
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee no later than 5 p.m. 
on Thursday, November 13, 2008, in order to be considered in the 2008 
Annual Review. Petitions submitted after the respective deadlines will 
not be considered for review.
    Interested parties, including foreign governments, may submit 
petitions to: (1) Designate additional articles as eligible for GSP 
benefits, including to designate articles as eligible for GSP benefits 
only for countries designated as least-developed beneficiary developing 
countries, or only for countries designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA); 
(2) withdraw, suspend or limit the application of duty-free treatment 
accorded under the GSP with respect to any article, either for all 
beneficiary developing countries, least-developed beneficiary 
developing countries or beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries, or 
for any of these countries individually; (3) waive the ``competitive 
need limitations'' for individual beneficiary developing countries with 
respect to specific GSP-eligible articles (these limits do not apply to 
either least-developed beneficiary developing countries or AGOA 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries); and (4) otherwise modify 
GSP coverage.
    As specified in 15 CFR 2007.1, all product petitions must include a 
detailed description of the product and the 8-digit subheading of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under which the 
product is classified.
    Further, product petitions requesting CNL waivers for GSP-eligible 
articles from beneficiary developing countries that exceed the CNLs in 
2008 must be filed in the 2008 Annual Review. In order to allow 
petitioners an opportunity to review additional 2008 U.S. import 
statistics, these petitions may be filed after Wednesday, June 18, 
2008, but must be received on or before the Thursday, November 13, 
2008, deadline described above in order to be considered in the 2008 
Annual Review. Copies will be made available for public inspection 
after the November 13, 2008, deadline.
    Any person may also submit petitions to review the designation of 
any beneficiary developing country, including any least-developed 
beneficiary developing country, with respect to any of the designation 
criteria listed in sections 502(b) or 502(c) of the Trade Act (19 
U.S.C. 2462(b) and (c)) (petitions to review the designation of 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries are considered in the Annual 
Review of the AGOA, a separate administrative process not governed by 
the GSP regulations). Such petitions must comply with the requirements 
of 15 CFR 2007.0(b).

Requirements for Submissions

    All such submissions must conform to the GSP regulations set forth 
at 15 CFR part 2007, except as modified below. These regulations are 
reprinted in the ``U.S. Generalized System of Preferences Guidebook'' 
(``GSP Guidebook''), available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Trade_Development/Preference_Programs/GSP/asset_upload_file666_8359.pdf.
    Any person or party making a submission is strongly advised to 
review the GSP regulations. Submissions that do not provide the 
information required by sections 2007.0 and 2007.1 of the GSP 
regulations will not be accepted for review, except upon a detailed 
showing in the submission that the petitioner made a good faith effort 
to obtain the information required. Petitions with respect to waivers 
of the ``competitive need limitations'' must meet the information 
requirements for product addition requests in section 2007.1(c) of the 
GSP regulations. A model petition format is available from the GSP 
Subcommittee and is included in the GSP Guidebook. Petitioners are 
requested to use this model petition format so as to ensure that all 
information requirements are met. Furthermore, interested parties 
submitting petitions that request action with respect to specific 
products should list on the first page of the petition the following 
information after typing ``2008 Annual GSP Review'': (1) The requested 
action; (2) the HTSUS 8-digit subheading in which the product is

[[Page 28175]]

classified; and (3) if applicable, the beneficiary developing country. 
Petitions and requests must be submitted, in English, to the Chairman 
of the GSP Subcommittee, Trade Policy Staff Committee. Submissions in 
response to this notice will be available for 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 
submission must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' in large, 
bold letters at the top and bottom of each and every page of the 
document. The public version that does not contain business 
confidential information must also be clearly marked in large, bold 
letters at the top and bottom of each and every page (either ``PUBLIC 
VERSION'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL''). Documents that are submitted 
without any marking might not be accepted or will be considered public 
documents.
    In order to facilitate prompt consideration of submissions, USTR 
requires electronic mail (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 pages in 12-
point type and 3 megabytes as a digital file attached to an e-mail 
transmission. Submissions should use the following e-mail subject line: 
``2008 Annual GSP Review-Petition.'' Documents must be submitted as 
either WordPerfect (``.WPD''), MSWord (``.DOC''), text (``.TXT''), or 
Adobe (``PDF'') files. Documents cannot be submitted as electronic 
image files or contain embedded images (for example, ``.JPG'', 
``.TIF'', ``.BMP'', or ``.GIF''). Supporting documentation submitted as 
spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel, pre-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. 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, 
organization name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address. The 
electronic 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 may 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.
    For any document containing business confidential information 
submitted as an electronic attached file to an e-mail transmission, in 
addition to the proper marking at the top and bottom of each page as 
previously specified, 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 person or party 
(government, company, union, association, etc.) submitting the 
petition.
    Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be 
available for public review approximately 30 days 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 to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, by calling 202-395-6186.

Marideth Sandler,
Executive Director, GSP Program Chairman, GSP Subcommittee of the Trade 
Policy Staff Committee.
 [FR Doc. E8-10917 Filed 5-14-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W8-P