[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52102-52104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18253]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2022-0011]


Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning 
Russia's Implementation of Its WTO Commitments

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for comments and notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will seek 
public comment to assist the Office of the United States Trade 
Representative (USTR) in the preparation of its annual report to 
Congress on Russia's implementation of its obligations as a Member of 
the World Trade Organization (WTO). This notice includes the schedule 
for the submission of comments to the TPSC for the Russia Report and a 
virtual public hearing.

DATES: 
    September 21, 2022 (Wednesday) at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for 
submission of written comments for the 2022 Russia WTO implementation 
report and requests to testify.
    October 4, 2022, (Tuesday) at 9:00 a.m. EDT: Virtual public 
hearing.

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments in section III below. The docket 
number is

[[Page 52103]]

USTR-2022-0011. For alternatives to online submissions, please contact 
Spencer Smith at [email protected] or (202) 395-2974 in 
advance of the relevant deadline.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
written comments, contact Spencer Smith Spencer Smith at 
[email protected] or (202) 395-2974. Direct all other 
questions to Betsy Hafner, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative 
for Russia and Eurasia at [email protected] or (202) 395-
9124.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Russia became a Member of the WTO on August 22, 2012, and on 
December 21, 2012, following the termination of the application of the 
Jackson-Vanik amendment to Russia and the extension of permanent normal 
trade relations to the products of Russia, the United States and Russia 
both filed letters with the WTO withdrawing their notices of non-
application and consenting to have the WTO Agreement apply between 
them. In accordance with Section 201(a) of the Russia and Moldova 
Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability 
Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-208), USTR is required to submit annually a 
report to Congress on the extent to which Russia is implementing the 
WTO Agreement, including the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary 
and Phytosanitary Measures and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights. The report also must assess Russia's 
progress on acceding to and implementing the Information Technology 
Agreement (ITA) and the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). In 
addition, to the extent that USTR finds that Russia is not implementing 
fully any WTO agreement or is not making adequate progress in acceding 
to the ITA or the GPA, USTR must describe in the report the actions it 
plans to take to encourage Russia to improve its implementation and/or 
increase its accession efforts. In accordance with Section 201(a), and 
to assist it in preparing this year's report, the TPSC is hereby 
soliciting public comments.
    The terms of Russia's accession to the WTO are contained in the 
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization and the 
Protocol on the Accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO 
(including its annexes) (Protocol). The Report of the Working Party on 
the Accession of the Russian Federation (Working Party Report) provides 
detail and context to the commitments listed in the Protocol. You can 
find the Protocol and Working Party Report on USTR's website at https://ustr.gov/node/5887 or on the WTO website at http://docsonline.wto.org 
(document symbols: WT/ACC/RUS/70, WT/MIN(11)/2, WT/MIN(11)/24, WT/L/
839, WT/ACC/RUS/70/Add.1, WT/MIN(11)/2/Add.1, WT/ACC/RUS/70/Add.2, and 
WT/MIN(11)/2/Add.1.)

II. Public Participation

    USTR invites public comments and/or oral testimony on Russia's 
implementation of its WTO commitments according to the schedule set out 
in the DATES section above. Written comments and/or oral testimony of 
interested persons should address Russia's implementation of the 
commitments made in connection with its accession to the WTO, 
including, but not limited to, commitments in the following areas:

    a. Import regulation (e.g., tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas, 
import licenses).
    b. Export regulation.
    c. Subsidies.
    d. Standards and technical regulations.
    e. Sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
    f. Trade-related investment measures (including local content 
requirements).
    g. Taxes and charges levied on imports and exports.
    h. Other internal policies affecting trade.
    i. Intellectual property rights (including intellectual property 
rights enforcement).
    j. Services.
    k. Government procurement.
    l. Rule of law issues (e.g., transparency, judicial review, 
uniform administration of laws and regulations).
    m. Other WTO commitments.

    USTR requests small businesses (generally defined by the Small 
Business Administration as firms with fewer than 500 employees) or 
organizations representing small business members that submit comments 
to self-identify as such, so that we may be aware of issues of 
particular interest to small businesses.
    The TPSC will convene a virtual public hearing via Zoom on Tuesday, 
October 4, 2022, beginning at 9:00 a.m. EDT. Persons wishing to observe 
the public hearing will find a link on USTR's web page for Russia on 
the day of the hearing at https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/russia-and-eurasia/russia.
    Persons wishing to testify at the hearing must provide written 
notification of their intention to testify no later than September 21, 
2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT, as noted above in DATES section. Remarks at the 
hearing will be limited to no more than 5 minutes to allow for possible 
questions from the TPSC. Because the hearing will be public, testimony 
should not include any business confidential information (BCI). USTR 
will provide a link in advance of the virtual hearing to persons 
wishing to testify.

III. Requirements for Submissions

    Persons submitting written comments must do so in English and must 
identify on the first page of the submission `Comments Regarding 
Russia's Implementation of its WTO Commitments.' The submission 
deadline is September 21, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. USTR strongly 
encourages commenters to make online submissions, using 
regulations.gov. To submit comments via regulations.gov, enter docket 
number USTR-2022-0011 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 and click on the link 
entitled `Comment.' For further information on using regulations.gov, 
please consult the resources provided on the website by clicking on 
`How to Use Regulations.gov' on the bottom of the home page.
    Regulations.gov allows users to submit comments by filling in a 
`type comment' field, or by attaching a document using the `upload 
file' field. USTR prefers that you provide submissions in an attached 
document and, in such cases, that you write `see attached' in the `type 
comment' field, on the online submission form.
    USTR prefers submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat 
(.pdf). If you use an application other than those two, please indicate 
the name of the application in the 'type comment' field. At the 
beginning of the submission, include the following text: (1) 2022 
Russia WTO Implementation Report; (2) your organization's name; and (3) 
whether the document is a comment or an answer to a TPSC question. 
Written comments should not exceed 30 single-spaced, standard letter-
size pages in 12-point type, including attachments. Please do not 
attach separate cover letters to electronic submissions; rather, 
include any information that might appear in a cover letter in the 
comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent possible, please include 
any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in the same file as the 
submission itself, not as separate files.

IV. Business Confidential Submissions

    An interested party requesting that USTR treat information 
contained in a submission as BCI must certify that the information is 
business confidential. For

[[Page 52104]]

any comments submitted electronically containing BCI, the file name of 
the business confidential version should begin with the characters 
`BCI.' You must clearly mark any page containing BCI with `BUSINESS 
CONFIDENTIAL' at the top of that page. Filers of submissions containing 
BCI also must submit a public version of their comments that USTR will 
place in the docket for public inspection. The file name of the public 
version should begin with the character `P.' Follow the `BCI' and `P' 
with the name of the person or entity submitting the comments.
    As noted, USTR strongly urges that you file submissions through 
Regulations.gov. You must make any alternative arrangements with 
Spencer Smith at [email protected] or (202) 395-2974 in 
advance of the deadline.
    USTR will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except 
properly designated BCI. You can view comments at Regulations.gov by 
entering docket number USTR-2022-0011 in the search field on the home 
page. General information concerning USTR is available at https://www.ustr.gov.

William Shpiece,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States 
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2022-18253 Filed 8-23-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F2-P