[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
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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