[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16204-16205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6624]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce has submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for 
collection of information under the emergency provisions of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    Agency: International Trade Administration (ITA).
    Title: Interim Procedures for Considering Requests under the 
Commercial Availability Provision of the United States-Korea Free Trade 
Agreement.
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Type of Request: Emergency submission (new information collection).
    Burden Hours: 89.
    Number of Respondents: 16.
    Average Hours per Response: 8 hours for Request for Commercial 
Availability Determination; 2 hours for Response to a Request; and 1 
hour for Rebuttal.
    Needs and Uses: The United States and Korea negotiated the U.S.-
Korea Free Trade Agreement (the ``Agreement''), which entered into 
force on March 15, 2012. Subject to the rules of origin in Annex 4-A of 
the Agreement, pursuant to the provisions of the Agreement, textile and 
apparel articles must contain fiber, yarn, and fabric produced in Korea 
or the United States to receive duty-free tariff treatment. Appendix 4-
B-1 of the Agreement will contain a list of specific fiber, yarn, or 
fabric that either importing Party determined, based on information 
supplied by interested entities, that the fiber, yarn, or fabric is not 
available in commercial quantities in a timely manner in its territory, 
or if no interested entity objects to the request. Textile and apparel 
articles containing these fibers, yarns, or fabrics would also be 
entitled to duty-free or preferential duty treatment despite not being 
produced in Korea or the United States.
    The list of commercially unavailable fibers, yarns, and fabrics may 
be changed pursuant to the commercial availability provision in Chapter 
4, Annex 4-B, Paragraphs 1-13 of the Agreement. Under this provision, 
interested entities from the United States or Korea have the right to 
request that a specific fiber, yarn, or fabric be added to, or removed 
from, the list of commercially unavailable fibers, yarns, and fabrics 
in Appendix 4-B-1.
    Section 202(o)(3) of the Act provides that the President may modify 
the list of fibers, yarns and fabrics in Appendix 4-B-1 by determining 
whether additional fibers, yarns, or fabrics are not available in 
commercial quantities in a timely manner in the United States, and that 
the President will issue procedures governing the submission of 
requests and providing an opportunity for interested entities to submit 
comments. The President delegated the responsibility for publishing the 
procedures and administering commercial availability requests to the 
Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), which 
issues procedures and acts on requests through the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA). OTEXA was unable to 
publish these procedures earlier and is requesting an emergency review 
of the information collection and procedures from the Office of 
Management and Budget.
    CITA must collect information about fiber, yarn or fabric technical 
specifications and the production capabilities of U.S. textile 
producers to determine whether certain fibers, yarns, or fabrics are 
available in commercial quantities in a timely manner in the United 
States, subject to Section 202(o)(3) of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade 
Agreement Implementation Act.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    OMB Desk Officer: Wendy Liberante, (202) 395-3647.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Jennifer Jessup, Department Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0336, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 or via the Internet at 
[email protected].
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent by April 16, 2012 to Wendy Liberante,

[[Page 16205]]

OMB Desk Officer, Fax number (202) 395-5167 or via the Internet at 
[email protected].

    Dated: March 14, 2012.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-6624 Filed 3-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-FP-P