[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 50 (Thursday, March 14, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16297-16298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05830]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigation No. 332-503]


Earned Import Allowance Program: Evaluation of the Effectiveness 
of the Program for Certain Apparel From the Dominican Republic, Fourth 
Annual Review

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice of opportunity to provide written comments in connection 
with the Commission's fourth annual review.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. International Trade Commission (Commission) has 
announced its schedule, including deadlines for filing written 
submissions, in connection with the preparation of its fourth annual 
review in investigation No. 332-503, Earned Import Allowance Program: 
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Program for Certain Apparel from 
the Dominican Republic, Fourth Annual Review.

DATES: April 12, 2013: Deadline for filing written submissions.
    July 26, 2013: Transmittal of fourth report to House Committee on 
Ways and Means and Senate Committee on Finance.

ADDRESSES: All Commission offices, including the Commission's hearing 
rooms, are located in the United States International Trade Commission 
Building, 500 E Street SW., Washington, DC. All written submissions, 
including requests to appear at the hearing, statements, and briefs, 
should be addressed to the Secretary, United States International Trade 
Commission, 500 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20436. The public record 
for this investigation may be viewed on the Commission's electronic 
docket (EDIS) at http://edis.usitc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project Leader Laura Rodriguez (202-
205-3499 or [email protected]) for information specific to this 
investigation. For information on the legal aspects of this 
investigation, contact William Gearhart of the Commission's Office of 
the General Counsel (202-205-3091 or [email protected]). The 
media should contact Margaret O'Laughlin, Office of External Relations 
(202-205-1819 or [email protected]). Hearing-impaired 
individuals may obtain information on this matter by contacting the 
Commission's TDD terminal at 202-205-1810. General information 
concerning the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its Web 
site (http://www.usitc.gov). Persons with mobility impairments who will 
need special assistance in gaining access to the Commission should 
contact the Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000.
    Background: Section 404 of the Dominican Republic-Central America-
United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (DR-CAFTA Act) 
(19 U.S.C. 4112) required the Secretary of Commerce to establish an 
Earned Import Allowance Program (EIAP) and directed the Commission to 
conduct annual reviews of the program to evaluate its effectiveness and 
make recommendations for improvements. Section 404 of the DR-CAFTA Act 
authorizes certain apparel articles wholly assembled in an eligible 
country to enter the United States free of duty if accompanied by a 
certificate that shows evidence of the purchase of certain U.S. fabric. 
The term ``eligible country'' is defined to mean the Dominican 
Republic. More specifically, the program allows producers (in the 
Dominican Republic) that purchase a certain quantity of qualifying U.S. 
fabric for use in the production of certain bottoms of cotton in the 
Dominican Republic to receive a credit that can be used to ship a 
certain quantity of eligible apparel using third country fabrics from 
the Dominican Republic to the United States free of duty.

[[Page 16298]]

    Section 404(d) directs the Commission to conduct an annual review 
of the program for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of the 
program and making recommendations for improvements. The Commission is 
required to submit its reports containing the results of its reviews to 
the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on 
Finance. The Commission submitted its report on its first annual review 
(USITC Publication 4175) on July 28, 2010, its report on its second 
annual review (USITC Publication 4246) on July 22, 2011, and its report 
on the third annual review (USITC Publication 4175) on July 26, 2012: 
The Commission expects to submit its report on its fourth annual review 
by July 26, 2013.
    The Commission instituted this investigation pursuant to section 
332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930 to facilitate docketing of submissions 
and also to facilitate public access to Commission records through the 
Commission's EDIS electronic records system.
    Submissions: Interested parties are invited to file written 
submissions concerning this fourth annual review. All written 
submissions should be addressed to the Secretary and must conform to 
the provisions of section 201.8 of the Commission's Rules of Practice 
and Procedure (19 CFR 201.8). All written submissions must conform with 
the provisions of section 201.8 of the Commission's Rules of Practice 
and Procedure (19 CFR 201.8). Section 201.8 and the Commission's 
Handbook on Filing Procedures require that interested parties file 
documents electronically on or before the filing deadline and submit 
eight (8) true paper copies by 12:00 p.m. eastern time on the next 
business day. In the event that confidential treatment of a document is 
requested, interested parties must file, at the same time as the eight 
paper copies, at least four (4) additional true paper copies in which 
the confidential information must be deleted (see the following 
paragraph for further information regarding confidential business 
information). Persons with questions regarding electronic filing should 
contact the Secretary (202-205-2000).
    Any submissions that contain confidential business information must 
also conform to the requirements of section 201.6 of the Commission's 
Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 201.6). Section 201.6 of the 
rules requires that the cover of the document and the individual pages 
be clearly marked as to whether they are the ``confidential'' or ``non-
confidential'' version, and that the confidential business information 
is clearly identified by means of brackets. All written submissions, 
except for confidential business information, will be made available 
for inspection by interested parties.
    The Commission intends to publish only a public report in this 
review. Consequently, the report that the Commission sends to the 
committees will not contain any confidential business information. Any 
confidential business information received by the Commission in this 
investigation and used in preparing its report will not be published in 
a manner that would reveal the operations of the firm supplying the 
information.

    Issued: March 8, 2013.

    By order of the Commission.
Lisa R. Barton,
Acting Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013-05830 Filed 3-13-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P