[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 197 (Thursday, October 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61816-61817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25063]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee: Request for Comments From the 
Public Regarding Granting Certain Trade Benefits to Aruba, 
Cura[ccedil]ao, Sint Maarten, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the 
Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. 
Vincent and the Grenadines

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking comments 
from the public on whether Cura[ccedil]ao, Sint Maarten, and the Turks 
and Caicos Islands should be designated as eligible to receive benefits 
under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) as amended by 
the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) (19 U.S.C. 2701 et 
seq.) and whether Aruba, the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, 
St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (``St. 
Vincent'') should be designated as eligible to receive benefits under 
CBTPA. Although Congress identified the Turks and Caicos Islands as 
potentially eligible for benefits in 1983, the Turks and Caicos Islands 
did not request beneficiary status until July 2012. Similarly, although 
the Congress identified the Bahamas, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and 
Nevis and St. Vincent for benefits under CBERA in 1983 and CBTPA in 
2000, these countries did not request benefits under CBTPA until 2012. 
Aruba was designated as a beneficiary country of CBERA benefits 
effective as of January 1, 1986 upon becoming independent of the 
Netherlands Antilles in 1986, and requested CBTPA benefits in October 
2012. As a result of the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 
October of 2010, Cura[ccedil]ao and Sint Maarten became successor 
political entities of the Netherlands Antilles and eligible to receive 
benefits as such. Cura[ccedil]ao and Sint Maarten requested the receipt 
of CBERA and CBTPA benefits in, respectively, July and June of 2012.

DATES: Comments are due no later than midnight, November 9, 2012.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2012-0028 See ``Requirements 
for Submission,'' below. If you are unable to make a submission at 
www.regulations.gov, please contact Don Eiss, Trade Policy Staff 
Committee, at (202) 395-3475 to make other arrangements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
written comments, contact Don Eiss, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, at (202) 395-3475. All other questions should be 
directed to Fran Huegel, Office of the Americas, Office of the United 
States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street NW., Room 523, Washington, 
DC 20508. Her telephone number is (202) 395-6135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested parties are invited to submit 
comments on whether Cura[ccedil]ao, Sint Maarten, and the Turks and 
Caicos Islands meet or fail to satisfy the eligibility criteria 
described in sections 212(b), 212(c), and 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as 
amended, and whether the Bahamas, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and 
Nevis and St. Vincent meet or fail to satisfy the eligibility criteria 
described in section 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA, as amended. Those 
criteria may be accessed at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title19/html/USCODE-2011-title19-chap15.htm and are summarized below.

Eligibility Criteria for Designation as a Beneficiary Under CBERA and 
CBTPA

    After a country, territory or successor political entity identified 
in the statute as a potential beneficiary country requests benefits 
under CBERA and CBTPA, the President must determine whether to 
designate it as a beneficiary under the two programs. The President 
shall consider only the specified countries, territories, or successor 
political entities. In determining whether to designate a country as a 
CBERA beneficiary country, the President must take into account the 
criteria contained in section 212(b) of the CBERA, which include 
whether the country, inter alia: (1) Is a Communist country; (2) has 
nationalized, expropriated or otherwise seized ownership or control of 
property owned by a United States citizen or by a corporation, 
partnership, or association which is 50 percent or more beneficially 
owned by United States citizens, or taken certain steps described in 
the statute that have such an effect, without proper compensation or 
arbitration of the dispute; (3) fails to act in good faith in enforcing 
arbitral awards in favor of United States citizens or a corporation, 
partnership or association which is 50 percent or more beneficially 
owned by United States citizens; (4) affords preferential treatment to 
the products of a developed country, other than the United States, 
which has, or is likely to have, a significant adverse effect on United 
States commerce; (5) owns an entity that engages in the broadcast of 
copyrighted material belonging to United States copyright owners 
without their express consent; (6) is a signatory to a treaty, 
convention, protocol, or other agreement regarding the extradition of 
United States citizens; and (7) has not or is not taking steps to 
afford internationally recognized worker rights (as defined in section 
507(4) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2467(4)) to workers in the 
country.
    The President must also take into account the criteria contained in 
section 212 (c) of the CBERA, which include, inter alia: (1) The 
economic conditions in such country; (2) the extent to which

[[Page 61817]]

such country has assured the United States it will provide equitable 
and reasonable access to the markets and basic commodity resources of 
such country; (3) the degree to which such country follows the accepted 
rules of international trade provided for under the World Trade 
Organization (WTO) Agreement and the multilateral trade agreements; (4) 
the degree to which such country uses export subsidies or imposes 
export performance requirements or local content requirements which 
distort international trade; (5) the degree to which the trade policies 
of such country as they relate to other beneficiary countries are 
contributing to the revitalization of the region; (6) the degree to 
which such country is undertaking self-help measures to promote its own 
economic development; (7) whether or not such country has taken or is 
taking steps to afford to workers in that country internationally 
recognized worker rights; (8) the extent to which such country provides 
under its law adequate and effective means for foreign nationals to 
secure, exercise, and enforce exclusive rights in intellectual 
property; (9) the extent to which such country prohibits its nationals 
from engaging in the broadcast of copyrighted material belonging to 
United States copyright owners without their express consent; (10) and 
the extent to which such country is prepared to cooperate with the 
United States in the administration of the provisions of the CBERA.

Eligibility Criteria for CBTPA Beneficiary Countries

    In determining whether to designate a country as a CBTPA 
beneficiary country, the President must take into account the criteria 
contained in sections 212(b) and (c) of CBERA described above, and 
other appropriate criteria, including the following criteria contained 
in section 213(b)(5)(B) of the CBERA: (1) Whether the beneficiary 
country has demonstrated a commitment to undertake its obligations 
under the WTO Agreement; (2) participates in negotiations toward the 
completion of the Free Trade Area of the Americas or another free trade 
agreement; (3) the extent to which the country provides protection of 
intellectual property rights consistent with or greater than the 
protection afforded under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights described in section 101(d)(15) of the 
Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(15)); (4) the extent to 
which the country provides internationally recognized worker rights; 
(5) whether the country has implemented its commitments to eliminate 
the worst forms of child labor; (6) the extent to which the country has 
met U.S. counter-narcotics certification criteria under the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961; (7) the extent to which the country has taken 
steps to become a party to and implement the Inter-American Convention 
Against Corruption; and (8) the extent to which the country applies 
transparent, nondiscriminatory and competitive procedures in government 
procurement and contributes to efforts in international fora to develop 
and implement rules on transparency in government procurement.
    Additionally, before a country can receive benefits under the 
CBTPA, the President must also determine that the country has satisfied 
the requirements of section 213(b)(4)(A)(ii) of CBERA (19 U.S.C. 
2703(b)(4)(A)(ii)) relating to the implementation of procedures and 
requirements similar to the relevant procedures and requirements under 
chapter 5 of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
    Requirements for Submissions. Persons submitting comments must do 
so in English and must identify (on the first page of the submission) 
the ``CBERA and/or CBTPA Eligibility for [insert names of countries 
upon which you are commenting].'' Written comments must be received by 
November 9, 2012.
    In order to ensure the most timely and expeditious receipt and 
consideration of comments, USTR has arranged to accept on-line 
submissions via www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via 
www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2012-0028 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'' on the left 
side of the search-results page, and click on the link entitled ``Send 
a Comment or Submission.'' (For further information on using the 
www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult the resources provided on 
the Web site by clicking on ``How to Use This Site'' on the left side 
of the home page.)
    The www.regulations.gov Web site provides the option of making 
submissions by filling in a ``General Comments'' field, or by attaching 
a document. We expect that most submissions will be provided in an 
attached document. If a document is attached, it is sufficient to type 
``See attached'' in the ``General Comments'' field.
    Submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) are 
preferred. If an application other than those two is used, please 
identify in your submission the specific application used. For any 
comments submitted electronically containing business confidential 
information, the file name of the business confidential version should 
begin with the characters ``BC'' and must be submitted separately from 
the public version. Any page containing business confidential 
information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top 
of that page. If you file comments containing business confidential 
information you must also submit a public version of the comments under 
a separate submission. The file name of the public version should begin 
with the character ``P''. The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be followed by 
the name of the person or entity submitting the comments. If you submit 
comments that contain no business confidential information, the file 
name should begin with the character ``P'', followed by the name of the 
person or entity submitting the comments. Electronic submissions should 
not attach separate cover letters; rather, information that might 
appear in a cover letter should be included in the comments you submit. 
Similarly, to the extent possible, please include any exhibits, 
annexes, or other attachments to a submission in the same file as the 
submission itself and not as separate files.
    We strongly urge submitters to use electronic filing. If an on-line 
submission is impossible, alternative arrangements must be made with 
Mr. Eiss prior to delivery for the receipt of such submissions. Mr. 
Eiss may be contacted at (202) 395-3475. General information concerning 
the Office of the United States Trade Representative may be obtained by 
accessing its Internet Web site (http://www.ustr.gov).

John Melle,
Assistant United States Trade Representative for the Western 
Hemisphere.
[FR Doc. 2012-25063 Filed 10-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F3-P