[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60159-60161]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24456]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket No. USTR-2010-0026]


WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Regarding China--Certain 
Measures Affecting Electronic Payment Services

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative 
(``USTR'') is providing notice that on September 15, 2010, the United 
States requested consultations with the People's Republic of China 
(``China'') under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade 
Organization (``WTO Agreement'') concerning issues relating

[[Page 60160]]

to certain restrictions and requirements maintained by China pertaining 
to electronic payment services for payment card transactions and the 
suppliers of those services. That request may be found at www.wto.org 
contained in a document designated as WT/DS413/1. USTR invites written 
comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

DATES: Although USTR will accept any comments received during the 
course of the dispute settlement proceedings, comments should be 
submitted on or before October 29, 2010 to be assured of timely 
consideration by USTR.

ADDRESSES: Public comments should be submitted electronically to http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2010-0026. If you are unable 
to provide submissions to http://www.regulations.gov, please contact 
Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-9483 to arrange for an alternative method of 
transmission. If (as explained below) the comment contains confidential 
information, then the comment should be submitted by fax only to Sandy 
McKinzy at (202) 395-3640.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank J. Schweitzer, Associate General 
Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-9444.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USTR is providing notice that consultations 
have been requested pursuant to the WTO Understanding on Rules and 
Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (``DSU''). If such 
consultations should fail to resolve the matter and a dispute 
settlement panel is established pursuant to the DSU, such panel, which 
would hold its meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, would be expected to 
issue a report on its findings and recommendations within nine months 
after it is established.

Major Issues Raised by the United States

    On September 15, 2010, the United States requested consultations 
with China concerning issues relating to certain restrictions and 
requirements maintained by China pertaining to electronic payment 
services for payment card transactions and the suppliers of those 
services. Electronic payment services involve the services through 
which transactions involving credit card, debit card, charge card, 
check card, automated teller machine (``ATM'') card, prepaid card, or 
other similar card or money transmission product, are processed and 
through which transfers of funds between institutions participating in 
the transactions are managed and facilitated.
    In the financial services sector, as set out in China's Schedule of 
Specific Commitments on Services annexed to the Protocol on the 
Accession of the People's Republic of China, China undertook both 
market access and national treatment commitments with respect to 
electronic payment services.
    Despite those commitments, China appears to impose market access 
restrictions and requirements on services suppliers of other Members 
seeking to supply electronic payment services in China. It appears that 
China UnionPay (``CUP''), a Chinese entity, is the only entity that 
China permits to supply electronic payment services for payment card 
transactions denominated and paid in renminbi (``RMB'') in China. 
Service suppliers of other Members can only supply these services for 
payment card transactions paid in foreign currency. In addition to 
permitting only CUP to supply electronic payment services for payment 
card transactions in China denominated and paid in RMB, China also 
requires all payment card processing devices at merchant locations to 
be compatible with CUP's system, which gives CUP guaranteed access to 
all merchants in China who accept payment cards. Electronic payment 
services suppliers of other Members or their participating 
institutions, by contrast, must negotiate for access to merchants. In 
addition, China requires that all payment cards, including ``dual 
currency'' cards, issued in China for transactions denominated and paid 
in RMB bear the CUP logo. These and other requirements and restrictions 
maintained by China appear to be inconsistent with China's market 
access commitments and to accord less favorable treatment to electronic 
payment services suppliers of other Members than to Chinese suppliers 
of these services. The United States considers that China therefore 
appears to be acting inconsistently with its obligations under Articles 
XVI and XVII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services.
    In its request for consultation, the United States identified the 
following instruments through which China maintains these measures:
     Measures for the Administration of Bank Card Business by 
the People's Bank of China (Yinfa [1999] 17), issued on 27 January 
1999;
     Circular of the People's Bank of China on Promulgation of 
Opinions on Implementation of Joint Work in Bank Card Interoperability 
in 2001 (Yinfa [2001] 37), issued on 19 February 2001;
     Circular on Uniform Use of CUP Logo and its Holographic 
Label for Anti-counterfeiting by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa 
[2001] 57), issued on 13 March 2001;
     Notice of Circulating the Bank Card Connection Business 
Standard by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa [2001] 76), issued 29 
March 2001;
     Opinions on Bank Card Interoperability Related Work in 
2002 by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa [2002] 94), issued on 5 April 
2002;
     Circular regarding Issues concerning Bank Card 
Interoperability Related Work by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa 
[2002] 272), issued on 29 August 2002;
     Circular on Further Improving Bank Card Interoperability 
Related Work by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa [2003] 129), issued 
on 2 July 2003;
     Announcement of Clearing Arrangements Provided by Banks in 
relation to Individuals' Deposits, Exchanges, Bank Card and Remittance 
in RMB in Hong Kong (PBOC Announcement [2003] 16), issued on 19 
November 2003;
     Circular on Regulating the Administration of Foreign 
Currency Bank Cards by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange 
Circular (Huifa [2004] 66), issued on 30 June 2004;
     Announcement of Clearing Arrangements Provided by Banks in 
relation to Individuals' Deposits, Exchanges, Bank Cards and Remittance 
in RMB in Macao (PBOC Announcement [2004] 8), issued on 3 August 2004;
     Notice of the People's Bank of China concerning Relevant 
Issues on Accepting and Using Renminbi Bank Cards in Border Areas 
(Yinfa [2004] 219), issued on 21 September 2004;
     Circular regarding Issues concerning Individual RMB 
Business Handled by Banks in Mainland China and Banks in Hong Kong and 
Macao by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa [2004] 254), issued on 28 
October 2004;
     Some Opinions of the People's Bank of China, the National 
Reform and Development Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the 
Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry 
of Commerce, the Station Administration of Taxation, China Banking 
Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange 
on Promoting the Development of Bank Card Industry (Yinfa [2005] 103), 
issued 24 April 2005;
     Guiding Opinions of the People's Bank of China on 
Regulating and Promoting the Development of Bank Card Acceptance Market 
(Yinfa [2005] 153), issued on 16 June 2005;

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     Notice of the People's Bank of China on the Relevant 
Issues concerning Strengthening the Administration of Oversea Business 
Acceptance of Bank Cards (Yinfa [2007] 273), issued on 6 August 2007;
     Notice of the China Banking Regulatory Commission on the 
Issues Concerning Wholly Foreign-funded and Chinese-foreign Equity 
Joint Banks in Conducting the Bank Card Business (Yin Jian Fa [2007] 
49), issued 6 June 2007;
     Notice of the People's Bank of China, the China Banking 
Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Public Security and the State 
Administration for Industry and Commerce on Strengthening the Safety 
Management of Bank Cards and Preventing and Combating Bank Card Crimes 
(Yinfa [2009] 142), issued 27 April 2009; and
     The Opinions of the Standing Office of the People's Bank 
of China on the Circular on Strengthening the Safety Management of 
Bankcards and Preventing and Fighting Crimes in Bank Cards by the 
People's Bank of China, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the 
Ministry of Public Security and the State Administration for Industry 
and Commerce (Yinfa [2009] 149), issued 1 August 2009;
     As well as any amendments, related measures, or 
implementing measures.

Public Comment: Requirements for Submissions

    Interested persons are invited to submit written comments 
concerning the issues raised in this dispute. Persons may submit public 
comments electronically to www.regulations.gov docket number USTR-2010-
0026. If you are unable to provide submissions by http://www.regulations.gov, please contact Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-9483 to 
arrange for an alternative method of transmission.
    To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number 
USTR-2010-0026 on the home page and click ``search''. 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 ``Submit a Comment.'' (For further 
information on using the www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult 
the resources provided on the website 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 ``Type Comment and Upload File'' 
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 ``Type Comment and Upload 
File'' 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 
and the submission must be marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top 
and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page. Any comment 
containing business confidential information must be submitted by fax 
to Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-3640. A non-confidential summary of the 
confidential information must be submitted to http://www.regulations.gov. The non-confidential summary will be placed in the 
docket and open to public inspection.
    Information or advice contained in a comment submitted, other than 
business confidential information, may be determined by USTR to be 
confidential in accordance with section 135(g)(2) of the Trade Act of 
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155(g)(2)). If the submitter believes that information 
or advice may qualify as such, the submitter--
    (1) Must clearly so designate the information or advice;
    (2) Must clearly mark the material as ``SUBMITTED IN CONFIDENCE'' 
at the top and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page; and
    (3) Must provide a non-confidential summary of the information or 
advice.
    Any comment containing confidential information must be submitted 
by fax to Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-3640. A non-confidential summary 
of the confidential information must be submitted to http://www.regulations.gov. The non-confidential summary will be placed in the 
docket and open to public inspection.
    USTR will maintain a docket on this dispute settlement proceeding 
accessible to the public. The public file will include non-confidential 
comments received by USTR from the public with respect to the dispute. 
If a dispute settlement panel is convened or in the event of an appeal 
from such a panel, the U.S. submissions, any non-confidential 
submissions, or non-confidential summaries of submissions, received 
from other participants in the dispute, will be made available to the 
public on USTR's Web site at www.ustr.gov, and the report of the panel, 
and, if applicable, the report of the Appellate Body, will be available 
on the web site of the World Trade Organization, http://www.wto.org.
    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 19 U.S.C. 2155(g)(2). 
Comments open to public inspection may be viewed on the http://www.regulations.gov Web site.

Steven F. Fabry,
Assistant United States Trade Representative for Monitoring and 
Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2010-24456 Filed 9-28-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W0-P