[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 156 (Friday, August 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50284-50285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20486]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Request for Public Comments on Interim Review of Eligibility of 
Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger for Benefits Under the African Growth 
and Opportunity Act

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The African Growth and Opportunity Act Implementation 
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (the ``Subcommittee'') 
is requesting written public comments for the interim review of the 
eligibility of Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger to receive the benefits 
of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Subcommittee will 
consider these comments in developing recommendations on AGOA country 
eligibility for the President. Comments received related to the child 
labor criteria may also be considered by the Secretary of Labor for the 
preparation of the Department of Labor's report on child labor as 
required under section 412(c) of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. 
This notice identifies the eligibility criteria that must be considered 
under the AGOA. Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger are currently 
ineligible for AGOA benefits.

DATES: Public comments are due at the Office of the U.S. Trade 
Representative (USTR) by noon, Monday, August 29, 2010.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2011-0009. See ``Requirements 
for Submission,'' below. If you are unable to make a submission at 
http://www.regulations.gov, please contact Laura Newport, Trade Policy 
Staff Committee, at (202) 395-3475 to make other arrangements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions, please 
contact Laura Newport, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, 600 
17th Street, NW., Room F516, Washington, DC 20508, at (202) 395-3475. 
All other questions should be directed to Constance Hamilton, Deputy 
Assistant, U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, Office of the U.S. 
Trade Representative, at (202) 395-9514.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AGOA (Title I of the Trade and 
Development Act of 2000, Public Law 106-200) (19 U.S.C. 3721 et seq.), 
as amended, authorizes the President to designate sub-Saharan African 
countries as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries eligible for 
duty-free treatment for certain additional products under the 
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act of 
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) (the ``1974 Act'')), as well as for the 
preferential treatment the AGOA provides for certain textile and 
apparel articles.
    The President may designate a country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African country eligible for both the additional GSP benefits and the 
textile and apparel benefits of the AGOA for countries meeting certain 
statutory requirements intended to prevent unlawful transshipment of 
such articles, if he determines that the country meets the eligibility 
criteria set forth in: (1) Section 104 of the AGOA; and (2) section 502 
of the 1974 Act. Currently, 37 countries are designated as beneficiary 
sub-Saharan African countries. Section 506A of the 1974 Act provides 
that the President shall monitor and review annually the progress of 
each sub-Saharan African country in meeting the foregoing eligibility 
criteria in order to determine whether each beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African country should continue to be eligible, and whether each sub-
Saharan African country that is currently not a beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African country, should be designated as such a country. Section 506A 
of the 1974 Act requires that, if the President determines that a 
beneficiary sub-Saharan African country is not making continual 
progress in meeting the eligibility requirements, he must terminate the 
designation of the country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African 
country.
    The Subcommittee is seeking public comments in connection with an 
interim review of the eligibility of Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger 
for the AGOA's benefits. The Subcommittee will consider any such 
comments in developing recommendations on country eligibility for the 
President. Comments related to the child labor criteria may also be 
considered by the Secretary of Labor in making the findings required 
under section 504 of the 1974 Act. The eligibility criteria can be 
found at: 19 U.S.C. 2462 (Section 502 of the 1974 Act) and 19 U.S.C. 
3703 (Section 104 of AGOA).
    Requirements for Submissions: Comments must be submitted in 
English. To ensure the most timely and expeditious receipt and 
consideration of petitions, USTR has arranged to accept on-line 
submissions via http://www.regulations.gov. To submit petitions via 
this site, enter docket number USTR-2011-0009 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 search-
results page and click on the link entitled ``Submit a Comment.'' (For 
further information on using the http://www.regulations,gov Web site, 
please consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on 
``Help'' at the top of the home page.)
    The http://www.regulations.gov Web site provides the option of 
making submissions by filling in a ``Type comment & Upload file'' 
field, or by attaching a document. USTR prefers comments to be 
submitted as attachments. When doing this, it is sufficient to type 
``See attached'' in the ``Type comment & Upload file'' field. 
Submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (pdf) are 
preferred.
    Persons wishing to file comments containing business confidential 
information must submit both a business confidential version and a 
public version. Persons submitting business confidential information 
should write ``See attached BC comments'' in the ``Type comment & 
Upload file'' field. Any page containing business confidential 
information must be clearly marked ``Business Confidential'' on the top 
of that page. Persons submitting a business confidential comment must 
also submit a separate public version of that comment with the business 
confidential information deleted. Persons should write ``See attached 
public version'' in the ``Type comment & Upload file'' field of the 
public submission. Submissions should not attach separate cover 
letters; rather, information that might appear in the cover letter 
should be included in the comments you submit. Similarly, to the extent 
possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments

[[Page 50285]]

to a submission in the same file as the submission itself and not as 
separate files.
    Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be 
available for review no later than two weeks after the due date at 
http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2011-0009.

Donald W. Eiss,
Acting Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 2011-20486 Filed 8-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W1-P