[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 16205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6625]


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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 from the Public 
under the Textile and Apparel Safeguard Provision of the United States-
Korea Free Trade Agreement.
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Type of Request: Emergency submission (new information collection).
    Burden Hours: 56.
    Number of Respondents: 14.
    Average Hours per Response: 4 hours for a Textile and Apparel 
Safeguard Request; and 4 hours for a Comment.
    Needs and Uses: Title III, Subtitle C, Section 331 through Section 
338 of the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act 
(the ``Act'') implements the textile and apparel safeguard provisions, 
provided for in Article 4.1 of the United States-Korea Free Trade 
Agreement (the ``Agreement''), which entered into force on March 15, 
2012. This safeguard mechanism applies when, as a result of the 
reduction or elimination of a customs duty under the Agreement, a 
Korean textile or apparel article is being imported into the United 
States in such increased quantities, in absolute terms or relative to 
the domestic market for that article, and under such conditions as to 
cause serious damage or actual threat thereof to a U.S. industry 
producing a like or directly competitive article. In these 
circumstances, Article 4.1.1(b) permits the United States to (a) 
suspend any further reduction in the rate of duty provided for under 
Annex 2-B of the Agreement in the duty imposed on the article; or (b) 
increase duties on the imported article from Korea to a level that does 
not exceed the lesser of the prevailing U.S. normal trade relations 
(``NTR'')/most-favored-nation (``MFN'') duty rate for the article or 
the U.S. NTR/MFN duty rate in effect on the day before the Agreement 
enters into force.
    The Statement of Administrative Action accompanying the Act 
provides that the Committee for the Implementation of Textile 
Agreements (CITA) will issue procedures for requesting such safeguard 
measures, for making its determinations under Section 332(a) of the 
Act, and for providing relief under Section 332(b) of the Act. CITA 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 in order to determine whether a 
domestic textile or apparel industry is being adversely impacted by 
imports of these products from Korean, thereby allowing CITA to take 
corrective action to protect the viability of the domestic textile or 
apparel industry, subject to section 332(b) of the 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, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0336, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230 or via email at 
[email protected].
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent by April 16, 2012 to Wendy Liberante, 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. 2012-6625 Filed 3-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-FP-P