[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1300-1301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00067]



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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Request for Public 
Comments on the Possible Withdrawal, Suspension, or Limitation of GSP 
Benefits With Respect to Bangladesh

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and solicitation of public comment.

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SUMMARY: As part of an ongoing country practice review, the GSP 
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is considering 
whether to recommend that duty-free treatment accorded to imports from 
Bangladesh under the GSP program be withdrawn, suspended, or limited on 
the grounds that Bangladesh is not taking steps to afford to workers in 
Bangladesh internationally recognized worker rights, specifically the 
right of association and the right to organize and bargain 
collectively. The GSP Subcommittee is seeking public comments on the 
effect of a withdrawal, suspension, or limitation of GSP benefits on 
products imported into the United States from Bangladesh.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Marin Weaver, Director for 
GSP, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street 
NW., Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-9618 and 
the email address is [email protected].

DATES: Final date for comments is January 31, 2013.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP program is authorized pursuant to 
Title V of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.). 
The GSP program grants duty-free treatment to designated eligible 
articles that are imported from designated beneficiary developing 
countries. Once granted, GSP benefits may be withdrawn, suspended, or 
limited by the President with respect to any article or with respect to 
any country (19 U.S.C. 2462(d)(1)). In making this determination, the 
President must consider several factors, one of which is whether a 
beneficiary country ``has taken or is taking steps to afford to workers 
in that country (including any designated zone in that country) 
internationally recognized worker rights'' (19 U.S.C. 2462(c)(7)). 
Bangladesh is a designated beneficiary developing country under the GSP 
program, as well as a least-developed beneficiary developing country.

Possible Withdrawal, Suspension, or Limitation of GSP Benefits for 
Bangladesh

    In 2007, the GSP Subcommittee accepted for review a GSP country 
practice petition submitted by the AFL-CIO seeking the removal of GSP 
benefits for Bangladesh based on the country's non-compliance with the 
GSP statutory eligibility criteria related to worker rights. The GSP 
Subcommittee held public hearings on the petition in October 2007, 
April 2009, and January 2012, and also invited public comments on the 
petition on several occasions. The original petition and other 
information related to the review of Bangladesh are available for 
public viewing on www.regulations.gov in docket USTR-2012-0036.
    Based on the most recent available information, including updated 
reports from the AFL-CIO, the GSP Subcommittee believes that the lack 
of progress by the government of Bangladesh in addressing worker rights 
issues in the country warrants consideration of possible withdrawal, 
suspension, or limitation of Bangladesh's trade benefits under GSP. By 
statute, any change in Bangladesh's trade benefits under GSP would 
require the President to make a determination.
    In 2011, U.S. imports from Bangladesh under GSP totaled $26.3 
million. Among the leading GSP imports from Bangladesh were tobacco 
products, sports equipment, china kitchenware, and plastic articles. A 
full list of U.S. imports from Bangladesh under GSP may be found in the 
www.regulations.gov docket cited above.

Opportunity for Public Comment; Requirements for Submissions

    This notice invites public comments on the effect of a possible 
withdrawal, suspension, or limitation of GSP benefits on products 
imported into the United States from Bangladesh. The GSP Subcommittee 
may also convene a public hearing to receive testimony on this topic. 
If so, the date of that hearing and related instructions will be 
announced in the Federal Register.

Requirements for Submissions

    All submissions in response to this notice 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.
    All submissions in response to this notice must be submitted 
electronically via http://www.regulations.gov, using docket number 
USTR-2012-0036. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. 
Submissions must be submitted in English to the Chairman of the GSP 
Subcommittee of the TPSC by the applicable deadlines set forth in this 
notice. To make a submission using http://www.regulations.gov, enter 
docket number USTR-2012-0036 in the ``Search for'' 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 
``Filter Results by'' section on the left side of the screen and click 
on the link entitled ``Comment Now.'' 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. The Subcommittee prefers that submissions be provided in an 
attached document. At the beginning of the submission, or on the first 
page (if an attachment), please note that the submission is in response 
to this Federal Register notice and provides comments on the possible 
withdrawal, suspension, or limitation of GSP benefits for Bangladesh. 
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 an interested party is unable to provide submissions 
as requested, please contact the GSP Program at USTR to arrange for an 
alternative method of transmission.

Business Confidential Submissions

    An interested party requesting that information contained in a 
submission 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

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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. For any 
submission containing business confidential information, a non-
confidential version must be submitted separately (i.e., not as part of 
the same submission with the confidential version), indicating where 
confidential information has been redacted. The non-confidential 
version will be placed in the docket and open to public inspection.

William D. Jackson,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System 
of Preferences, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2013-00067 Filed 1-7-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F3-P