[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 211 (Tuesday, November 1, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67531-67533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-28252]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice of Initiation of 
the 2011 Annual GSP Product and Country Practices Review; Deadlines for 
Filing Petitions

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of procedures for submission of petitions from the 
public.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Office of the United States 
Trade Representative (USTR) is prepared to receive petitions to modify 
the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under 
the GSP program and to modify the GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary 
developing countries because of country practices. The deadline for 
submission of country practice petitions for the 2011 Annual Review is 
5 p.m., December 5, 2011. The deadline for submission of product 
petitions, other than those requesting competitive need limitation 
(CNL) waivers, is 5 p.m., December 5, 2011. The deadline for submission 
of petitions requesting CNL waivers is 5 p.m., Friday, December 16, 
2011. Decisions on which of the petitions that are submitted are 
accepted for review will be announced in the Federal Register at later 
dates.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tameka Cooper, GSP Program, Office of 
the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-6971; the fax 
number is (202) 395-9674, and the email address is [email protected].
    Public versions of all documents relating to the 2011 Annual Review 
will be made available for public viewing in docket USTR-2011-0015 at 
http://www.regulations.gov upon completion of processing and no later 
than approximately two weeks after the relevant due date.

I. 2011 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 2011 Annual Review, all petitions to modify the list of articles 
eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP or to review the GSP status 
of any beneficiary developing country must be received by the GSP 
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee no later than December 
5, 2011. Petitions requesting CNL waivers must be received by the GSP 
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee no later than 5 p.m. 
on Friday, December 16, 2011. Petitions submitted after the respective 
deadlines will not be considered for review. Decisions on which 
petitions are accepted for review, along with a schedule for any 
related public hearings, will be announced at a later date.

GSP Product Review Petitions

    Interested parties, including foreign governments, may submit 
petitions to: (1) Designate additional articles as eligible for GSP 
benefits, including to designate articles as eligible for GSP benefits 
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

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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 least-developed 
beneficiary developing countries or AGOA beneficiary sub-Saharan 
African countries); and (4) otherwise modify GSP coverage.
    As specified in 15 CFR 2007.1, all product petitions must include, 
inter alia, a detailed description of the product and the eight-digit 
subheading of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) under which the product is classified.
    As noted above, product petitions requesting CNL waivers for GSP-
eligible articles from beneficiary developing countries that exceed the 
CNLs in 2011 must be received on or before the Friday, December 16, 
2011, deadline described above. Before submitting petitions for CNL 
waivers, prospective petitioners may wish to review the year-to-date 
import trade data for products of interest. This data is available via 
the U.S. International Trade Commission's ``Dataweb'' database at 
http://dataweb.usitc.gov/.

Country Practices Review Petitions

    Any interested party may submit a petition to review the GSP 
eligibility of any beneficiary developing country with respect to any 
of the designation criteria listed in sections 502(b) or 502(c) of the 
Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(b) and (c)). As noted above, such petitions 
are due no later than 5 p.m. on December 5, 2011.

II. Requirements for Submissions

    All submissions for the GSP Annual Review must conform to the GSP 
regulations set forth at 15 CFR part 2007, except as modified below. 
These regulations are reprinted in the ``U.S. Generalized System of 
Preferences Guidebook'' (``GSP Guidebook''), available at: http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2880. The GSP Guidebook also contains general 
instructions on how to submit a GSP petition. Any person or party 
making a submission is strongly advised to review the GSP regulations 
and the GSP Guidebook.
    Submissions in response to this notice must be submitted 
electronically using http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-
2011-0015. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. Submissions 
must be submitted in English to the Chairman of the GSP Subcommittee of 
the Trade Policy Staff Committee by the applicable deadlines set forth 
in this notice. Submissions that do not provide the information 
required by sections 2007.0 and 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.
    To ensure their most timely and expeditious receipt and 
consideration, petitions provided in response to this notice, including 
those containing business confidential information, must be submitted 
online at http://www.regulations.gov. To make a submission using http://www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2011-0015 in the ``Enter 
Keyword or ID'' filed on the home page and click ``go.'' 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'' in the top-middle section of the search-results 
page, and click on the link entitled ``Submit a Comment.'' The http://www.regulations.gov Web site offers the option of providing comments by 
filling in a ``Type Comment'' field or by attaching a document using 
the ``Upload file(s)'' field. 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 submissions will be in the form 
of an attached document. When attaching a document, please type in the 
``Type Comment'' field the relevant eight-digit HTSUS subheading 
number(s) (for product petitions) or the country name (for country 
practice petitions), and indicate on the attachment whether the 
document is a ``Country Practice Review Petition for [Country]'' or 
``Product Review Petition for [HTSUS Subheading Number], [Product 
Name], and (if pertinent) [Country].''
    Submissions must include at the beginning of the submission, or on 
the first page (if an attachment), the following text (in bold and 
underlined): (1) ``2011 GSP Annual Review''; and (2) the eight-digit 
HTSUS subheading number in which the product is classified (for product 
petitions) or the name of the country (for country practice petitions), 
Furthermore, interested parties submitting petitions that request 
action with respect to specific products should also list at the 
beginning of the submission, or on the first page (if an attachment) 
the following information: (1) The requested action; and (2) 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 into http://www.regulations.gov. The 
confirmation should be kept for the submitter's records. USTR is not 
responsible for any delays in a submission due to technical 
difficulties, nor is it able to provide any technical assistance for 
the Web site. 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 at USTR to 
arrange for an alternative method of transmission.

Business Confidential Petitions

    A petitioner requesting that information contained in a petition be 
treated as business confidential information must certify that such 
information is business confidential and provide an explanation as to 
why the information should be protected in accordance with 15 CFR 
2007.7. 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'' field. Anyone submitting a petition 
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.
    Business confidential submissions that are submitted without the 
required markings, or are not accompanied by a properly marked non-
confidential version, as set forth above, might not be accepted or may 
be considered public documents.

III. 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

[[Page 67533]]

http://www.regulations.gov upon completion of processing and no later 
than approximately two weeks after the relevant due date. Such 
submissions may be viewed by entering the docket number USTR-2011-0015 
in the search field at: http://www.regulations.gov.

William D. Jackson,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System 
of Preferences and Chair of the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2011-28252 Filed 10-31-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W2-P