[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 116 (Monday, June 19, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27794-27796]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-12648]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Foreign Agricultural Service


WTO Agricultural Quantity-Based Safeguard Trigger Levels

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of product coverage and trigger levels for safeguard 
measures provided for in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement 
on Agriculture.

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SUMMARY: This notice lists the updated quantity-based trigger levels 
for products which may be subject to additional import duties under the 
safeguard provisions of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. This notice 
also includes the relevant period

[[Page 27795]]

applicable for the trigger levels on each of the listed products.

DATES: June 19, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Souleymane Diaby, Import Policies and 
Export Reporting Division, Office of Trade Programs, Foreign 
Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Stop 1020, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-1020; by telephone (202) 
720-0638; or by fax (202) 720-0876; or by email to 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on 
Agriculture provides that additional import duties may be imposed on 
imports of products subject to tariffication as a result of the Uruguay 
Round, if certain conditions are met. The agreement permits additional 
duties to be charged if the price of an individual shipment of imported 
products falls below the average price for similar goods imported 
during the years 1986-88 by a specified percentage. It also permits 
additional duties to be imposed if the volume of imports of an article 
exceeds the average of the most recent 3 years for which data are 
available by 5, 10, or 25 percent, depending on the article. These 
additional duties may not be imposed on quantities for which minimum or 
current access commitments were made during the Uruguay Round 
negotiations, and only one type of safeguard, price or quantity, may be 
applied at any given time to an article.
    Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires that the 
President cause to be published in the Federal Register information 
regarding the price and quantity safeguards, including the quantity 
trigger levels, which must be updated annually based upon import levels 
during the most recent 3 years. The President delegated this duty to 
the Secretary of Agriculture in Presidential Proclamation No. 6763, 
dated December 23, 1994, 60 FR 1005 (Jan. 4, 1995). The Secretary of 
Agriculture further delegated this duty, which lies with the 
Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service (7 CFR 2.43(a)(2)). 
The Annex to this notice contains the updated quantity trigger levels.
    Additional information on the products subject to safeguards and 
the additional duties which may apply can be found in subchapter IV of 
Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(2017) and in the Secretary of Agriculture's Notice of Uruguay Round 
Agricultural Safeguard Trigger Levels, published in the Federal 
Register at 60 FR 427 (Jan. 4, 1995).
    Notice: As provided in Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements 
Act, consistent with Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, the 
safeguard quantity trigger levels previously notified are superseded by 
the levels indicated in the Annex to this notice. The definitions of 
these products were provided in the Notice of Safeguard Action 
published in the Federal Register, at 60 FR 427 (Jan. 4, 1995).

    Issued at Washington, DC, on May 31, 2017.
Holly Higgins
Acting Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service.

Annex

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                                                          Quantity-based safeguard trigger
              Product              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Trigger level           Units                         Period
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beef..............................         331,166  MT....................  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Mutton............................           3,335  MT....................  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Cream.............................       1,426,324  Liters................  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Evaporated or Condensed Milk......       2,228,725  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Nonfat Dry Milk...................         564,347  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Dried Whole Milk..................       4,493,172  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Dried Cream.......................           8,319  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Dried Whey/Buttermilk.............          19,366  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Butter............................      22,242,567  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Butter Oil and Butter Substitutes.       9,693,967  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Dairy Mixtures....................      26,136,023  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Blue Cheese.......................       5,161,480  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Cheddar Cheese....................      15,484,227  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
American-Type Cheese..............         919,786  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Edam/Gouda Cheese.................       8,779,770  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Italian-Type Cheese...............      21,756,722  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Swiss Cheese with Eye Formation...      30,109,746  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Gruyere Process Cheese............       3,850,662  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
NSPF Cheese.......................      58,444,719  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Lowfat Cheese.....................         281,375  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Peanuts...........................          13,106  MT....................  April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017.
                                            14,577  MT....................  April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018.
Peanut Butter/Paste...............           4,148  MT....................  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Raw Cane Sugar....................         617,282  MT....................  October 1, 2016 to September 30,
                                                                             2017.
                                           723,461  MT....................  October 1, 2017 to September 30,
                                                                             2018.
Refined Sugar and Syrups..........         355,264  MT....................  October 1, 2016 to September 30,
                                                                             2017.
                                           444,126  MT....................  October 1, 2017 to September 30,
                                                                             2018.
Blended Syrups....................             106  MT....................  October 1, 2016 to September 30,
                                                                             2017.
                                               233  MT....................  October 1, 2017 to September 30,
                                                                             2018.
Articles Over 65% Sugar...........             415  MT....................  October 1, 2016 to September 30,
                                                                             2017.
                                               451  MT....................  October 1, 2017 to September 30,
                                                                             2018.
Articles Over 10% Sugar...........          18,930  MT....................  October 1, 2016 to September 30,
                                                                             2017.
                                            15,540  MT....................  October 1, 2017 to September 30,
                                                                             2018.
Sweetened Cocoa Powder............              72  MT....................  October 1, 2016 to September 30,
                                                                             2017.
                                                81  MT....................  October 1, 2017 to September 30,
                                                                             2018.
Chocolate Crumb...................      12,507,343  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Lowfat Chocolate Crumb............         462,186  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Infant Formula Containing                  618,873  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
 Oligosaccharides.                                                           2017.
Mixes and Doughs..................             234  MT....................  October 1, 2016 to September 30,
                                                                             2017.

[[Page 27796]]

 
                                               234  MT....................  October 1, 2017 to September 30,
                                                                             2018.
Mixed Condiments and Seasonings...             894  MT....................  October 1, 2016 to September 30,
                                                                             2017.
                                               692  MT....................  October 1, 2017 to September 30,
                                                                             2018.
Ice Cream.........................       3,206,913  Liters................  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Animal Feed Containing Milk.......       1,010,198  Kilograms.............  January 1, 2017 to December 31,
                                                                             2017.
Short Staple Cotton...............       1,363,307  Kilograms.............  September 20, 2016 to September 19,
                                                                             2017.
                                         3,376,608  Kilograms.............  September 20, 2017 to September 19,
                                                                             2018.
Harsh or Rough Cotton.............              13  Kilograms.............  August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017.
                                                13  Kilograms.............  August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018.
Medium Staple Cotton..............               0  Kilograms.............  August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017.
                                                 0  Kilograms.............  August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018.
Extra Long Staple Cotton..........       1,270,096  Kilograms.............  August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017.
                                         1,219,841  Kilograms.............  August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018.
Cotton Waste......................         925,273  Kilograms.............  September 20, 2016 to September 19,
                                                                             2017.
                                         1,232,012  Kilograms.............  September 20, 2017 to September 19,
                                                                             2018.
Cotton, Processed, Not Spun.......              51  Kilograms.............  September 11, 2016 to September 10,
                                                                             2017.
                                            23,004  Kilograms.............  September 11, 2017 to September 10,
                                                                             2018.
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[FR Doc. 2017-12648 Filed 6-16-17; 8:45 am]
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