[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 130 (Thursday, July 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33013-33014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16083]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice of the Results of 
the 2008 Annual Product Reviews

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces: (1) The disposition of the product 
petitions accepted for review in the 2008 GSP Annual Product Review; 
(2) the results of the 2008 Competitive Need Limitations (CNL) Waiver 
Review; (3) the results of the 2008 Competitive Need Limitation Waiver 
Revocation Review; (4) the addition of a product to the list of 
products that were not produced in the United States on January 1, 
1995; (5) the results of the 2008 De Minimis Waiver and Redesignation 
Reviews; and (6) the continuation of the 2008 Country Practices Review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tameka Cooper, GSP Program, Office of 
the United States Trade Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., Room F-601, 
Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-6971, the fax 
number is (202) 395-2961, and the e-mail address is [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP program provides for the duty-free 
importation of designated articles when imported from beneficiary 
developing countries. The GSP program is authorized by Title V of the 
Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.), as amended (the ``Trade 
Act''), and is implemented in accordance with Executive Order 11888 of 
November 24, 1975, as modified by subsequent Executive Orders and 
Presidential Proclamations.
    In the 2008 Annual Product Review, the Trade Policy Staff Committee 
reviewed petitions to change product coverage of the GSP. The results 
of the 2008 GSP Annual Review, comprising nine lists, are available for 
public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov in docket USTR-2008-0045. 
The listed results of the 2008 GSP Annual Review are also available at: 
http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/current-reviews.
    The disposition of the petitions considered in the 2008 GSP Annual 
Review is described in: List I (Decisions on Petitions to Add Products 
to the List of Eligible Products for the Generalized System of 
Preferences); List II (Decisions on Petitions to Remove Duty-Free 
Status from a Beneficiary Developing Country for a Product on the List 
of Eligible Articles for the Generalized System of Preferences); and 
List III (Decisions on Petitions to Grant a Waiver to the Competitive 
Need Limitations).
    Certain articles for which a waiver of the application of Section 
503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act was issued at least five years ago, but 
which are revoked pursuant to Section 503(d)(5) are listed in List IV 
(Decisions on Competitive Need Limit Waiver Revocations).
    Certain articles for which it has been determined that a like or 
directly competitive product was not produced in the United States on 
January 1, 1995, for the purposes of section 503(c)(2)(E), are listed 
in List V (Addition to List of Products ``Not Produced in the United 
States'', Pursuant to Section 503(c)(2)(E)).
    In the 2008 Product Review, the Trade Policy Staff Committee 
evaluated the 2008 value of U.S. imports of each GSP-eligible article 
to determine whether an article from a GSP beneficiary developing 
country exceeded the GSP CNLs. De minimis waivers were granted to 
certain articles that exceeded the 50-percent import-share CNL, but for 
which the aggregate value of all U.S. imports of that article was below 
the 2008 de minimis level of $19 million. List VI (Decisions on 
Products Eligible for De Minimis Waivers) provides the list of the 
articles and the associated countries granted de minimis waivers. No 
eligible products were redesignated to GSP eligibility. List VII 
(Decisions on Products Eligible for GSP Redesignation) provides the 
list of the articles and the associated countries reviewed for 
redesignation.
    Articles that exceeded one of the GSP CNLs in 2008, and that are 
newly excluded from GSP eligibility when imported from a specific 
beneficiary country, are listed in List VIII (Products Newly Subject to 
CNL Exclusion).
    The Trade Policy Staff Committee has determined to continue the 
review of GSP eligibility of certain beneficiary developing countries. 
The beneficiaries

[[Page 33014]]

that will continue to be under review for GSP eligibility include: 
Lebanon, Russia and Uzbekistan regarding intellectual property rights, 
and Bangladesh, Niger, the Philippines and Uzbekistan regarding worker 
rights. The disposition of petitions (see List IX, Petitions for Review 
of Country Practices) considered in the 2008 Country Practices Review 
and a decision whether to accept petitions submitted concerning Iraq 
and Sri Lanka will be announced in a later Federal Register notice.

Marideth J. Sandler,
Executive Director, GSP Program; Chairman, GSP Subcommittee.
[FR Doc. E9-16083 Filed 7-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W9-P