[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 14 (Friday, January 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4263-4264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1392]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


2009 Special 301 Review: Identification of Countries Under 
Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974: Request for Public Comment

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for written submissions from the public.

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SUMMARY: Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 
2242) requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to 
identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of 
intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access 
to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. (The 
provisions of section 182 are commonly referred to as the ``Special 
301'' provisions of the Trade Act.) In addition, the USTR is required 
to determine which of these countries should be identified as Priority 
Foreign Countries.
    USTR requests written submissions from the public concerning 
foreign countries' acts, policies, and practices that are relevant to 
the decision of whether particular trading partners should be 
identified under section 182 of the Trade Act.

DATES: Submissions from the general public must be received on or 
before 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. Foreign governments who 
chose to make written submissions may do so on or before 10 a.m. on 
Monday, March 2, 2009.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be sent electronically to http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2009-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Choe Groves, Senior Director

[[Page 4264]]

for Intellectual Property and Innovation and Chair of the Special 301 
Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative, at (202) 
395-4510.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 182 of the Trade Act, 
USTR must identify those countries that deny adequate and effective 
protection for intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable 
market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property 
protection. Those countries that have the most onerous or egregious 
acts, policies, or practices and whose acts, policies, or practices 
have the greatest adverse impact (actual or potential) on relevant U.S. 
products are to be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. Acts, 
policies, or practices that are the basis of a country's designation as 
a Priority Foreign Country are normally the subject of an investigation 
under the section 301 provisions of the Trade Act.
    USTR may not identify a country as a Priority Foreign Country if 
that country is entering into good faith negotiations, or making 
significant progress in bilateral or multilateral negotiations, to 
provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual property 
rights.
    USTR requests that, where relevant, submissions mention particular 
regions, provinces, states, or other subdivisions of a country in which 
an act, policy, or practice deserve special attention in this year's 
report. Such mention may be positive or negative. For example, 
submissions may address China's protection and enforcement of 
intellectual property rights at the provincial level, including, where 
relevant, areas that were the focus of USTR's review of provincial and 
local issues in China conducted in 2008 (2008 Special 301 Report, pp. 
25-33, available at http://www.ustr.gov).
    Section 182 contains a special rule regarding actions of Canada 
affecting United States cultural industries. The USTR must identify any 
act, policy, or practice of Canada that affects cultural industries, 
which is adopted or expanded after December 17, 1992, and is actionable 
under Article 2106 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). 
Any act, policy, or practice so identified shall be treated the same as 
an act, policy, or practice which was the basis for a country's 
identification as a Priority Foreign Country under section 182(a)(2) of 
the Trade Act, unless the United States has already taken action 
pursuant to Article 2106 of the NAFTA.
    USTR must make the above-referenced identifications within 30 days 
after publication of the National Trade Estimate (NTE) report, i.e., 
approximately April 30, 2009.
    Requirements for Comments: Comments should include a description of 
the problems experienced and the effect of the acts, policies, and 
practices on U.S. industry. Comments should be as detailed as possible 
and should provide all necessary information for assessing the effect 
of the acts, policies, and practices. Any comments that include 
quantitative loss claims should be accompanied by the methodology used 
in calculating such estimated losses. Comments must be in English. All 
comments should be sent electronically to http://www.regulations.gov, 
docket number USTR-2009-0001.
    To submit comments to http://www.regulations.gov, enter docket 
number USTR-2009-0001 on the home page and click ``go.'' The site will 
provide a search-results page listing all documents associated with 
this docket. Find a reference to this notice by selecting ``Notice'' 
under ``Document Type'' on the left side of the search-results page, 
and click on the link entitled ``Send a Comment or Submission.'' (For 
further information on using the http://www.regulations.gov Web site, 
please consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on 
``How to Use This Site'' on the left side of the home page).
    The http://www.regulations.gov site provides the option of 
providing comments by filling in a ``General Comments'' field, or by 
attaching a document. It is expected that most comments will be 
provided in an attached document. If a document is attached, it is 
sufficient to type ``See attached'' in the ``General Comments'' field.
    A person requesting that information contained in a comment 
submitted by that person be treated as confidential business 
information must certify that such information is business confidential 
and would not customarily be released to the public by the submitter. 
Confidential business information must be clearly designated as such, 
the submission must be marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top and 
bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page, and should indicate 
using brackets the specific information which is confidential. Any 
comment containing business confidential information must be 
accompanied by a non-confidential summary of the confidential 
information. The non-confidential summary will be placed in the docket 
and open to public inspection.
    USTR will maintain a docket on the 2009 Special 301 Review, 
accessible to the public. The public file will include non-confidential 
comments received by USTR from the public, including foreign 
governments, with respect to the 2009 Special 301 Review.
    Public Inspection of Submissions: Comments will be placed in the 
docket and open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2006.13, except 
confidential business information exempt from public inspection in 
accordance with 15 CFR 2006.15. Comments may be viewed on the http://www.regulations.gov Web site by entering docket number USTR-2009-0001 
in the search field on the home page.

Stanford K. McCoy,
Assistant USTR for Intellectual Property and Innovation.
 [FR Doc. E9-1392 Filed 1-22-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W9-P