[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 238 (Monday, December 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77299-77300]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31829]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice of Review of 
Certain Pending Country Practice Petitions

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for submissions and notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: As part of past GSP annual reviews, the Office of the United 
States Trade Representative (USTR) accepted for review petitions to 
modify the GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary developing countries 
because of country practices. This notice announces the schedule for 
submissions and a public hearing on the ongoing reviews of outstanding 
country practice petitions related to concerns about internationally 
recognized worker rights and/or child labor in Bangladesh, Niger, 
Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan. In addition, the hearing will 
include testimony on a country practice petition related to the 
Republic of Georgia. (See 76 FR 67530.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tameka Cooper, GSP Program, Office of 
the United States Trade Representative, 1724 F Street NW., Room F-214, 
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].

DATES: The GSP regulations (15 CFR Part 2007) provide the schedule of 
dates for conducting an annual review unless otherwise specified in a 
notice published in the Federal Register. The schedule for the review 
of the country practice petitions cited above follows.
    January 10, 2012: Due date for submission of pre-hearing briefs and 
requests to appear at the GSP Subcommittee Public Hearing; must be 
submitted by 5 p.m.
    January 24, 2012: GSP Subcommittee Public Hearing on the the 
subject country practice petitions, to be held at 1724 F Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20508, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
    February 14, 2012: Due date for submission of post-hearing briefs 
and comments from the public.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP program provides for the duty-free 
importation of eligible articles when imported from designated 
beneficiary developing countries. The GSP program is authorized by 
Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461, et seq.), as amended, 
and is implemented in accordance with Executive Order 11888 of November 
24, 1975, as modified by subsequent Executive Orders and Presidential 
Proclamations.

Notice of Public Hearing

    A hearing will be held by the GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC on 
Tuesday, January 24, 2012, for the country practice petitions described 
above beginning at 9:30 a.m. at 1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC 
20508. The hearing will be open to the public, and a transcript of the 
hearing will be made available for public inspection or can be 
purchased from the reporting company. No electronic media coverage or 
recording devices will be allowed.
    All interested parties wishing to make an oral presentation at the 
hearing must submit, following the ``Requirements for Submissions'' set 
out below, the name, address, telephone number, facsimile number, and 
email address, if available, of the witness(es) representing their

[[Page 77300]]

organization to William D. Jackson, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade 
Representative for GSP, by 5 p.m., January 10, 2012. Requests to 
present oral testimony must be accompanied by a written brief or 
statement, in English. Oral testimony before the GSP Subcommittee will 
be limited to five-minute presentations that summarize or supplement 
information contained in briefs or statements submitted for the record. 
Post-hearing briefs or statements will be accepted if they conform with 
the regulations cited below and are submitted, in English, by 5 p.m., 
February 14, 2012. Parties not wishing to appear at the public hearing 
may submit pre-hearing briefs or comments, in English, by 5 p.m., 
January 10, 2012, and post-hearing written briefs or comments, in 
English, by 5 p.m., February 14, 2012.

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 available on the USTR Web site at http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/gsp-program-inf. Any person or party 
making a submission is strongly advised to review the GSP regulations 
and the GSP Guidebook, available at: http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2880.
    To ensure their timely and expeditious receipt and consideration, 
submissions in response to this notice must be submitted online at 
http://www.regulations.gov. Hand-delivered submissions will not be 
accepted. Submissions must be submitted in English by the applicable 
deadlines set forth in this notice.
    To make a submission using http://www.regulations.gov, enter docket 
number USTR-2011-0015 in the ``Enter Keyword or ID'' field 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'' 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. Given the detailed nature of the information sought by the GSP 
Subcommittee, it is preferred that submissions be provided in an 
attached document. When attaching a document, type (1) 2011 GSP Annual 
Review; (2) the country and case number of the subject petition; (3) 
``See attached'' in the ``Type Comment'' field on the online submission 
form, and indicate on the attachment whether the document is, as 
appropriate, ``Written Comments,'' ``Notice of Intent to Testify,'' 
``Pre-hearing brief,'' or a ``Post-hearing brief.'' The case number and 
country name can be found in the document ``2011 Annual Review List of 
Country Practice Petitions under Review,'' which can be found on the 
USTR Web site at http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/current-review-4. 
Submissions should not 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.
    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 
able to provide 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 Submissions

    A person seeking to request that information contained in a 
submission from that person be treated as business confidential 
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'' field. Any submission containing business 
confidential information must be accompanied by a separate 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.

Public Viewing of Review Submissions

    Submissions in response to this notice, except for information 
granted ``business confidential'' status under 15 CFR Sec.  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. 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. 2011-31829 Filed 12-9-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W9-P