[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 120 (Friday, June 20, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35173-35174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-14017]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Initiation of a Review 
To Consider the Designation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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 initiation of a review to consider 
designating the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as a beneficiary 
developing country (BDC) for purposes of the GSP program, and solicits 
public comments on whether Vietnam meets certain eligibility criteria 
for designation as a BDC. Comments are due by Monday, August 4, 2008, 
and must be submitted in accordance with the requirements set out 
below.

[[Page 35174]]


ADDRESSES: 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, contact Regina Teeter, 
USTR's GSP Office at 202-395-6971.

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 Vietnam meets the 
eligibility criteria of the GSP statute. After considering the 
recommendation, the President is authorized to, and may, designate 
Vietnam as a BDC for purposes of the GSP program.
    Interested persons are invited to submit comments on whether 
Vietnam meets the eligibility criteria set forth below and in section 
502(c) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2462(c)) (the 
``Act'').

Eligibility Criteria

    The trade benefits of the GSP program are available to any country 
that the President designates as a BDC for purposes of the GSP program. 
In designating countries as BDCs, the President must consider among 
other factors, the criteria in section 502(c) of the Act. Section 
502(c) provides that, in determining whether to designate any country 
as a GSP BDC, 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. The term 
``internationally recognized worker rights'' is defined in section 
507(4) of the Act, as amended, (19 U.S.C. 2467), to mean: (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 section 507(6) 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

    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 5:00 p.m., August 4, 2008.
    In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR 
strongly recommends that comments be set out in digital files attached 
to e-mails transmitted to the following address: [email protected] 
(Note: The digit before the number in the e-mail address is the number 
zero, not a letter). If you are unable to provide comments by e-mail, 
please contact Regina Teeter, USTR's GSP Office at (202) 395-6971 to 
arrange for an alternative method of transmission.
    Comments should be provided in a single copy and must not exceed 30 
single-spaced standard letter-size pages in 12-point type or a digital 
file size of three megabytes. E-mails should include the following 
subject line: ``Designation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as a 
GSP Beneficiary Country.'' The transmittal message or cover letter 
accompanying a submission must be set out exclusively in the digital 
file attached to the e-mail transmission--not in the message portion of 
e-mail--and must include the sender's name, organization name, address, 
telephone number and e-mail address.
    Digital files must be submitted in one of the following formats: 
WordPerfect (.WPD), Adobe (.PDF), MSWord (.DOC), or text (.TXT) files. 
Comments may not be submitted as electronic image files or contain 
embedded images, e.g., ``.JPG'', ``.TIF'', ``.BMP'', or ``.GIF''. 
Spreadsheet data may be submitted as Excel files, formatted for 
printing on 8\1/2\ x 11 inch paper. To the extent possible, any data 
accompanying the submission should be set out in the same file as the 
submission itself, and not in a separate file.
    If a submission contains business confidential information that the 
submitter wishes to protect from public disclosure, the confidential 
submission must be marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top and 
bottom of each page. In addition, the submission must be accompanied by 
a non-confidential version that indicates, with asterisks, where 
confidential information was redacted or deleted. The top and bottom of 
each page of the non-confidential version must be marked either 
``PUBLIC VERSION'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL''. Business confidential 
comments that are submitted without the required markings or that are 
not accompanied by a properly marked non-confidential version as set 
forth above may not be accepted or may be treated as public documents.
    The digital file name assigned to any business confidential version 
of a submission 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 
(government, company, union, association, etc.) making the submission.
    Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be 
available for review approximately two weeks after the relevant 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.

Meredith Broadbent,
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Industry, Market Access and 
Telecommunications.
[FR Doc. E8-14017 Filed 6-19-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W8-P