[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 133 (Tuesday, July 13, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40019-40020]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-17012]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice of the Results of 
the 2009 Annual Product Reviews

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the results of 2009 GSP Annual Product 
Review with respect to: (1) Disposition of the product petitions 
accepted for review, including petitions to add and remove products; 
(2) waivers of the Competitive Need Limitations (CNL); (3) revocation 
of CNL waivers; and (4) de minimis waivers and redesignations. This 
notice also announces the continuation of the 2009 Country Practices 
Review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tameka Cooper, GSP Program, Office of 
the United States Trade Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., Room 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, and is 
implemented in accordance with Executive Order 11888 of November 24, 
1975, as modified by subsequent Executive Orders and Presidential 
Proclamations.
    In the 2009 Annual Review, the Trade Policy Staff Committee 
reviewed a number of petitions to change product coverage of the GSP, 
and evaluated the 2009 value of U.S. imports of each GSP-eligible 
article to determine whether imports of an article from a GSP 
beneficiary developing country exceeded the CNLs. The results of the 
2009 GSP Annual Review, comprising eight lists, are available for 
public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov in docket USTR-2009-0037, 
Supporting and Related Materials. These lists are also available at: 
http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/current-review-1.
    Petitions to add certain frozen mixed beans (HTS 0710.22.40) and 
frozen mixtures of vegetables (HTS 0710.90.91) to the list of products 
eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP were granted. Petitions to 
add three other products were denied. Additional information about the 
disposition of the petitions to add products is described in List I 
(Decisions on Petitions to Add Products to the List of Eligible 
Products for the Generalized System of Preferences).
    A petition to remove GSP eligibility for gold mixed link necklaces 
and neck chains (HTS 7113.19.25) from India was granted. These articles 
are no longer eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP when imported 
from India. Additional information about the disposition of all 
requests to remove products is described in 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).
    A petition to grant a waiver of the CNLs for imports of certain 
pneumatic radial tires (HTS 4011.10.10) from Thailand was denied, as 
reflected in List III (Decisions on Petitions to Grant a Waiver to the 
Competitive Need Limitation).
    Existing CNL waivers were not revoked for miniature carnations (HTS 
0603.12.30) from Columbia and certain silver jewelry articles (HTS 
7113.11.50) from Thailand, and revoked for gold mixed link necklaces 
and neckchains (HTS 7113.19.25) from India, as reflected in List IV 
(Decisions on Competitive Need Limitation Waiver Revocations).
    Articles that exceeded the CNLs in 2009 and that, effective July 1, 
2010, are excluded from GSP eligibility when imported from a specific 
beneficiary country are described in List V (Products Newly Subject to 
Exclusion by Competitive Need Limitation), and include certain shrimp 
and prawn products (HTS 1605.20.05) from Thailand, certain pneumatic 
radial tires (HTS 4011.10.10) from Thailand, certain wood products (HTS 
4409.29.05) from Brazil, and gold rope necklaces and neckchains (HTS 
7113.19.21) from India.
    De minimis waivers were granted to all 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 2009 de minimis level of 
$19.5 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. The articles included on this list will 
continue to be eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP when imported 
from the associated countries.
    No products were redesignated as eligible for GSP. List VII 
(Decisions on Products Eligible for GSP Redesignation) provides the 
list of the articles and the associated countries reviewed for 
redesignation.
    The status of petitions considered in the 2009 Country Practices 
Review is described in List VIII. This list includes the status of 
petitions that had previously been accepted for review, as well 
petitions where the decision to accept for further review or reject was 
pending. The beneficiaries that will continue to be under review for 
GSP eligibility include: Lebanon, Russia and Uzbekistan regarding 
intellectual

[[Page 40020]]

property rights, and Bangladesh, Niger, the Philippines and Uzbekistan 
regarding worker rights. The Trade Policy Staff Committee has 
determined to accept petitions to review GSP eligibility for Argentina 
regarding arbitral awards and Sri Lanka regarding worker rights, and 
has deferred a decision on a petition regarding Iraq worker rights.
    The announcement of the 2010 annual review and solicitation of new 
petitions for consideration in that review will be announced in a later 
Federal Register notice.

Seth Vaughn,
Director, Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program; Chairman, 
GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee; Office of the 
U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2010-17012 Filed 7-12-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-WO-P