[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 232 (Monday, December 3, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71668-71669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-29046]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), as Amended: Notice Regarding 
the 2012 Annual Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 
received no new petitions in September 2012 to review certain practices 
in a beneficiary developing country to determine whether such country 
is in compliance with the ATPA eligibility criteria. USTR received 
updates related to one matter that is currently under review. This 
notice specifies the status of the petitions filed in prior years that 
have remained under review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bennett M. Harman, Deputy Assistant 
U.S. Trade Representative for Latin America, at (202) 395-9446.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ATPA (19 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.), as 
renewed and amended by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication 
Act of 2002 (ATPDEA) in the Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210) and the 
``Act to Extend the Andean Trade Preference Act (Pub. L. 110-436), 
provides trade

[[Page 71669]]

benefits for eligible Andean countries. Pursuant to section 3103(d) of 
the ATPDEA, USTR promulgated regulations (15 CFR part 2016) (68 FR 
43922) regarding the review of eligibility of countries for the 
benefits of the ATPA, as amended. The 2012 Annual ATPA Review is the 
eighth such review to be conducted pursuant to the ATPA regulations.
    In a Federal Register notice dated August 10, 2012, USTR initiated 
the 2012 ATPA Annual Review and announced a deadline of September 17, 
2012 for the filing of petitions (77 FR 47910). Chevron submitted 
information updating the petition it originally filed in 2004, which 
remains under review. Several U.S. business associations made 
submissions which referenced the matter already under review in the 
Chevron case but which did not contain specific information concerning 
other potential violations of eligibility criteria. Several other 
interested parties made submissions supporting the program which were 
not within the scope of the eligibility review.
    Following is the list of all petitions from prior years that will 
remain under review through July 31, 2013, which is the period that the 
ATPA is in effect:

Ecuador--Human Rights Watch
Ecuador--U.S./Labor Education in the Americas Project
Ecuador--Chevron Texaco.

Douglas Bell,
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Trade Policy and Economics.
[FR Doc. 2012-29046 Filed 11-30-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F3-P