[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 216 (Thursday, November 6, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 66066]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-26546]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), as Amended: Notice Regarding 
the 2008 Annual Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: With respect to the Annual Review under the ATPA, the Office 
of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received no new 
petitions in August-September 2008 to review certain practices in a 
beneficiary developing country to determine whether such country is in 
compliance with the ATPA eligibility criteria. USTR received updates to 
two petitions that are currently under review and a request to withdraw 
a petition that was under review. This notice specifies the status of 
the petitions filed in prior years that have remained under review. 
This notice does not relate to the Bolivia-specific review initiated on 
October 1, 2008 (73 FR 57158).

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 
Act to Extend the Andean Trade Preference Act (Pub. L. 110-436), 
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 2008 Annual 
ATPA Review is the fifth such review to be conducted pursuant to the 
ATPA regulations.
    In a Federal Register notice dated August 14, 2008, USTR initiated 
the 2008 ATPA Annual Review and announced a deadline of September 15, 
2008 for the filing of petitions (73 FR 47633). Chevron submitted 
information updating the petition it originally filed in 2004, which 
remains under review. USTR also received updated information from the 
U.S./Labor Education in the Americas Project (US/LEAP) concerning its 
petition related to worker rights in Ecuador, which has been under 
consideration since the 2003 ATPA review. The AFL-CIO filed a 
submission which indicated that it is no longer seeking a removal of 
ATPA benefits from Ecuador over worker rights issues. The Trade Policy 
Staff Committee (TPSC) is therefore terminating its review of the AFL-
CIO petition filed in 2003.
    Following is the list of all petitions from prior years that will 
remain under review through December 31, 2009, which is the period that 
the ATPA is in effect:

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

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
 [FR Doc. E8-26546 Filed 11-5-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W9-P