[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9746-9747]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03752]


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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, Sixth 
Annual Review

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice of opportunity to provide written comments in connection 
with the Commission's sixth 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 sixth 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, Sixth Annual Review.

DATES: 
    April 10, 2015: Deadline for filing written submissions.
    July 24, 2015: Transmittal of sixth 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 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    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 to produce certain cotton bottoms 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.
    Section 404(d) directs the Commission to conduct an annual review 
of the program to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and make 
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. Copies 
of the Commission's first five annual reviews are available on the 
Commission's Web site at www.usitc.gov, including the fifth annual 
review, which was published on July 25, 2014 (ITC Publication 4476). 
The Commission expects to submit its report on its sixth annual review 
by July 24, 2015.
    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.
    Written Submissions: Interested parties are invited to file written 
submissions concerning this sixth annual review. All written 
submissions should be addressed to the Secretary, and all such 
submissions should be received no later than 5:15 p.m., April 10, 2015. 
All written submissions must

[[Page 9747]]

conform to 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. If 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.
    Summaries of Written Submissions: The Commission intends to publish 
summaries of the positions of interested persons in an appendix to its 
report. Persons wishing to have a summary of their position included in 
the appendix should include a summary with their written submission. 
The summary may not exceed 500 words, should be in MSWord format or a 
format that can be easily converted to MSWord, and should not include 
any confidential business information. The summary will be published as 
provided if it meets these requirements and is germane to the subject 
matter of the investigation. In the appendix the Commission will 
identify the name of the organization furnishing the summary, and will 
include a link to the Commission's Electronic Document Information 
System (EDIS) where the full written submission can be found.

    By order of the Commission.

    Issued: February 19, 2015.
William R. Bishop,
Supervisory Hearings and Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-03752 Filed 2-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P