[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 135 (Thursday, July 15, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41274-41276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-17221]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Announcing the 
Initiation of the 2010 Annual GSP Product Review and Deadlines for 
Filing Petitions

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and solicitation for public petitions.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Office of the United States 
Trade Representative (USTR) will receive petitions to modify the list 
of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the 
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. This notice determines 
that the deadline for submission of product petitions, other than those 
requesting competitive need limitation (CNL) waivers, is 5 p.m., 
Tuesday, August 3, 2010. The deadline for submission of petitions 
requesting CNL waivers is 5 p.m., Tuesday, November 16, 2010. The lists 
of product petitions accepted for review 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., 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].
    Public versions of the product and CNL waiver petitions submitted 
for the August 3, 2010, deadline will be available in docket USTR-2010-
0017 at http://www.regulations.gov. Public versions of all documents 
relating to this review will be made available for public viewing at 
http://www.regulations.gov upon completion of processing and no later 
than approximately two weeks after the relevant due date.

I. 2010 Annual GSP Review

    The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the timetable for 
conducting an annual review, unless otherwise specified by Federal 
Register notice. Notice is hereby given that, in order to be considered 
in the 2010 Annual GSP Product Review, all petitions to modify the list 
of articles eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP must be received 
by the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee no later 
than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 3, 2010. Petitions requesting CNL 
waivers must be received by the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, November 16, 2010, in 
order to be considered in the 2010 Annual Review. Petitions submitted 
after the respective deadlines will not be considered for review. The 
deadline for receipt of petitions for the Country Practices Eligibility 
Review and related public hearing date will be announced in the Federal 
Register at a later date.

[[Page 41275]]

GSP Product Review Petitions

    Interested parties, including foreign governments, may submit 
petitions to: (1) Designate additional articles as eligible for duty-
free treatment under GSP, including to designate articles as eligible 
for GSP only for countries designated as least-developed beneficiary 
developing countries, or only for countries designated as beneficiary 
sub-Saharan African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity 
Act (AGOA); (2) withdraw, suspend or limit the application of duty-free 
treatment accorded under the GSP with respect to any article, either 
for all beneficiary developing countries, least-developed beneficiary 
developing countries or beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries, or 
for any of these countries individually; (3) waive the ``competitive 
need limitations'' for individual beneficiary developing countries with 
respect to specific GSP-eligible articles (these limits do not apply to 
either least-developed beneficiary developing countries or AGOA 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries); and (4) otherwise modify 
GSP coverage.
    Petitions requesting CNL waivers for GSP-eligible articles from 
beneficiary developing countries that exceed the CNLs in 2010 must be 
filed in the 2010 Annual Review. In order to allow petitioners an 
opportunity to review additional 2010 U.S. import statistics, these 
petitions may be filed after Tuesday, August 3, 2010, but must be 
received on or before the Tuesday, November 16, 2010 deadline described 
above in order to be considered in the 2010 Annual Review. Public 
versions of these petitions will be made available for public 
inspection at http://www.regulations.gov after the November 16, 2010, 
deadline.

II. Public Comments

Requirements for Submissions

    All submissions for the GSP Product Review must conform to the GSP 
regulations set forth at 15 CFR part 2007, except as modified below. 
These regulations are available on the USTR Web site at http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/gsp-program-inf.
    As specified in 15 CFR 2007.1, all product petitions must include a 
detailed description of the product and the 8-digit subheading of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under which the 
product is classified. Additional information requirements for product 
petitions are also specified in 15 CFR 2007.1. Submissions that do not 
provide the information required by section 2007.1 of the GSP 
regulations will not be accepted for review, except upon a detailed 
showing in the submission that the petitioner made a good faith effort 
to obtain the information required. Any person or party making a 
submission is strongly advised to review the GSP regulations. An 
outline of the information required in product petitions is included in 
the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences Guidebook, available at: 
http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/gsp-program-inf.
    To ensure their timely and expeditious receipt and consideration, 
product petitions provided in response to this notice, with the 
exception of business confidential submissions, must be submitted 
online at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2010-0017. 
Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. Submissions must be 
submitted in English 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-2010-0017 on the home page and click ``go.'' The site will 
list 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.'' The http://www.regulations.gov website 
offers the option of providing comments by filling in a ``General 
Comments'' field or by attaching a document. Submissions 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.
    Given the detailed nature of the information sought by the GSP 
Subcommittee, it is expected that most comments and submissions will be 
provided in an attached document. When attaching a document, type: (1) 
The eight-digit HTSUS subheading number, and (2) ``See attached'' in 
the ``General Comments'' field on the online submission form, and 
indicate on the attachment that the document is a ``Product Review 
Petition'' for [HTSUS Subheading Number], [Product Name], and, if 
pertinent, [Country].
    Petitions submitted in response to this notice must include on the 
first page (if provided in an attachment, or at the beginning of the 
submission, if not provided in an attachment), the following text (in 
bold and underlined): (1) ``2010 GSP Annual Review''; (2) the eight-
digit HTSUS subheading number in which the product is classified (3) 
the requested action; and (4) if applicable, the beneficiary developing 
country.
    Each submitter will receive a submission tracking number upon 
completion of the submissions procedure at http://www.regulations.gov. 
The tracking number will be the submitter's confirmation that the 
submission was received, and it should be kept for the submitter's 
records. USTR is not able to provide technical assistance for the 
website. Documents not submitted in accordance with these instructions 
may not be considered in this review. If unable to provide submissions 
as requested, please contact the GSP Program to arrange for an 
alternative method of transmission.

III. Business Confidential Comments

    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 the submission 
should indicate, via brackets, the specific information that is 
confidential. Additionally, ``Business Confidential'' must be included 
in the ``Type Comment & Upload File'' field. Anyone submitting a 
comment containing business confidential information must also submit 
as a separate submission a non-confidential version of the confidential 
submission, indicating where confidential information has been 
redacted. The non-confidential version will be placed in the docket and 
open to public inspection.

IV. Public Viewing of Review Submissions

    Submissions in response to this notice, except for information 
granted ``business confidential'' status under 15 CFR 2003.6, will be 
available for public viewing pursuant to 15 CFR 2007.6 at http://www.regulations.gov upon completion of processing and no later than 
approximately two weeks after the relevant due date. Petitions 
submitted

[[Page 41276]]

by the August 3, 2010 deadline may be viewed by entering the docket 
number USTR-2010-0017 in the search field at: http://www.regulations.gov.

Seth Vaughn,
Director, GSP Program; Chairman, GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee; Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2010-17221 Filed 7-14-10; 8:45 am]
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