[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 211 (Tuesday, November 3, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56908-56909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-26409]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the 
Filing of Petitions Requesting Competitive Need Limitations (CNL) 
Waivers for the 2009 GSP Annual Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice affirms the previously announced deadline of 
November 17, 2009, for submission of petitions requesting: (1) 
Competitive Need Limitation (CNL) waivers; and (2) determinations 
regarding eligible products not produced in the United States on 
January 1, 1995. The list of petitions for such CNL waivers and 
determinations that are accepted for review, along with the date of 
public hearing, receipt of comments, and availability of U.S. 
International Trade Commission (USITC) advice, will be announced in the 
Federal Register at a later date.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tameka Cooper, GSP Program, Office of 
the United States Trade Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., 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 designated 
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 ``1974 Act''), and is implemented in accordance with Executive 
Order 11888 of November 24, 1975, as modified by subsequent Executive 
Orders and Presidential Proclamations.

Competitive Need Limitations, Including Determinations of Eligible 
Products Not Produced in the United States as of January 1, 1995

    Section 503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act sets out the two competitive 
need limitations (CNLs). When the President determines that a 
beneficiary developing country exported to the United States during a 
calendar year either: (1) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a 
value in excess of the applicable amount for that year ($140 million 
for 2009), or (2) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a value 
equal to or greater than 50 percent of the value of total U.S. imports 
of the article from all countries (the ``50-percent CNL''), the 
President must terminate GSP duty-free treatment for that article from 
that beneficiary developing country by no later than July 1 of the next 
calendar year.

Petitions To Waive the Competitive Needs Limitations

    However, Section 503(d) of the 1974 Act sets forth the criteria 
under which the President may grant a waiver of the CNL for articles 
imported from specific beneficiary developing countries. (These 
limitations do not apply, by statute, either to least-developed 
beneficiary developing countries or AGOA beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African countries.) In addition, Section 503(c)(2)(E) of the 1974 Act 
provides that the 50-percent CNL shall not apply with respect to any 
eligible article if a like or directly competitive article was not 
produced in the United States on January 1, 1995.
    Product petitions requesting CNL waivers for GSP-eligible articles 
from beneficiary developing countries that exceed the CNLs in 2009 must 
be filed in the 2009 Annual Review by November 17, 2009, in the manner

[[Page 56909]]

described below. Each interested party is responsible for conducting 
its own review of 2009 import data to date with regard to the possible 
application of GSP CNLs. The USITC will make available January through 
September 2009 U.S. import data on November 13, 2009, on the Web site 
of the USITC at http://dataweb.usitc.gov. Any CNL exclusions will be 
based on full calendar-year 2009 import statistics; full calendar year 
2009 data for individual tariff subheadings will be available in 
February 2010 on the Web site of the USITC.
    Under section 503(c)(2)(F) of the 1974 Act, the President may also 
waive the 50 percent CNL with respect to an eligible article imported 
from a beneficiary developing country if the value of total imports of 
that article from all countries during the calendar year did not exceed 
the applicable de minimis amount for that year. Comments on de minimis 
waivers will not be accepted at this time but are expected to be 
requested after publication of a separate Federal Register notice 
following the availability of full 2009 calendar-year data.

Submission of Petitions Requesting Waivers of Competitive Needs 
Limitations (CNLs)

    Interested parties, including foreign governments, may submit 
petitions to waive the ``competitive need limitations'' for individual 
beneficiary developing countries with respect to specific GSP-eligible 
articles. As announced in the May 28, 2009, Federal Register notice, 
petitions requesting CNL waivers, or determinations regarding 
production of a like or directly competitive product in the United 
States on January 1, 1995, must be received by the GSP Subcommittee of 
the Trade Policy Staff Committee no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 
November 17, 2009, in order to be considered in the 2009 Annual Review. 
Petitions submitted after the deadline will not be considered for 
review. Filed petitions will be available for public review on http://www.regulations.gov/ after the November 17, 2009, deadline. The list of 
petitions accepted for review will be announced in the Federal Register 
at a later date.
    As specified in 15 CFR 2007.1, all petitions requesting CNL waivers 
for GSP-eligible articles from beneficiary developing countries, or 
determinations regarding production of a like or directly competitive 
product in the United States on January 1, 1995, must include a 
detailed description of the product and the identification of the 
pertinent item number of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS) under which the product is classified. The HTSUS number 
for the relevant product should be provided at the 8-digit level. 
Furthermore, petitions should include on the first page of the petition 
the following information, in addition to identification of the ``2009 
Annual GSP Review'': (1) The requested action; (2) the HTSUS 8-digit 
subheading in which the product is classified; and (3) the beneficiary 
developing country.
    Petitions requesting waivers of the ``competitive need 
limitations'' and determinations regarding whether a like or directly 
competitive product was produced in the United States on January 1, 
1995, must meet the relevant information requirements listed in 
sections 2007.1(a) of the GSP regulations. Petitions requesting waivers 
of the CNLs must also meet the relevant information requirements listed 
in section 2007.1(c) of the GSP regulations.

Procedures for Submissions

    Submissions in response to this notice, with the exception of 
business confidential submissions, must be submitted electronically by 
5 p.m., Tuesday, November 17, 2009, using http://www.regulations.gov, 
docket number USTR-2009-0037. Instructions for submitting business 
confidential versions are provided below. Hand-delivered submissions 
will not be accepted. Submissions must be submitted to the Chairman of 
the GSP Subcommittee, Trade Policy Staff Committee, by the applicable 
deadlines set forth in this notice.
    To make a submission using http://www.regulations.gov, enter docket 
number USTR-2009-0037 on the home page and click ``Search.'' The site 
will provide a search-results page listing all documents associated 
with this docket. Locate the reference to this notice by selecting 
``Notices'' under ``Document Type''. In the results table below, click 
on the ``Send a Comment'' link that corresponds to this notice. Follow 
the instructions given on the screen to submit the comment. The http://www.regulations.gov website offers the option of providing comments by 
filling in a ``Type Comment'' field or by attaching a document. While 
both options are acceptable, USTR prefers submissions in the form of an 
attachment.
    Comments must be in English, with the total submission not to 
exceed 30 single-spaced standard letter-size pages in 12-point type, 
including attachments. Any data attachments to the submission should be 
included in the same file as the submission itself, and not as separate 
files.
    Any person or party making a submission is strongly advised to 
review the GSP regulations and GSP Guidebook (available at: http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Development/Preference_Programs/GSP/General_GSP_Program_Information/Section_Index.html).

Business Confidential Submissions

    Persons wishing to submit business confidential information must 
submit that information by electronic mail to [email protected]. 
Business confidential submissions will not be accepted at http://www.regulations.gov. For any document containing business confidential 
information submitted as a file attached to an e-mail transmission, the 
file name of the business confidential version should begin with the 
characters ``BC.'' The ``BC'' should be followed by the name of the 
party (government, company, union, association, etc.) that is making 
the submission.
    If comments contain 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 of the submission. The submitter must include in 
the comments a written explanation of why the information should be 
protected in accordance with 15 CFR 2007.7(b).
    In addition, the submission must be accompanied by a non-
confidential version that is submitted to http://www.regulations.gov, 
docket number USTR-2009-0037 and 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.

Marideth J. Sandler,
Executive Director, Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program and 
Chair, GSP Subcommittee, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. E9-26409 Filed 11-2-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W0-P