[Federal Register: May 9, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 88)]
[Notices]
[Page 24460-24462]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09my05-93]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the
Initiation of the 2005 Annual GSP Product and Country Eligibility
Practices Review
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and solicitation for public petition.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Office of the United States
Trade Representative (USTR) will receive petitions in 2005 to modify
the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under
the GSP program, and to modify the GSP status of certain GSP
beneficiary developing countries because of country practices. This
notice further determines that the deadline for submissions of
petitions for the 2005 Annual GSP Product and Country Eligibility
Practices Review is 5 PM, June 15, 2005. The list of product petitions
and country practice petitions accepted for review will be announced in
the Federal Register at a later date.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact the GSP Subcommittee of the
Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, 1724 F Street, NW, Room F-220, Washington, DC 20508.
The telephone number is (202) 395-6971 and the facsimile number is
(202) 395-9481.
2005 Annual GSP Review
The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the schedule of
dates for conducting an annual review, unless otherwise specified by
Federal Register notice. Notice is hereby given that, in order to be
considered in the 2005 Annual GSP Product and Country Eligibility
Practices Review, all petitions to modify the list of articles eligible
for duty-free treatment under GSP or to review the GSP status of any
beneficiary developing country must be received by the GSP Subcommittee
of the Trade Policy Staff Committee no later than 5 p.m. on June 15,
2005. Petitions submitted after the deadline will not be considered for
review.
[[Page 24461]]
Interested parties, including foreign governments, may submit
petitions to: (1) Designate additional articles as eligible for GSP
benefits, including to designate articles as eligible for GSP benefits
only for countries designated as least-developed beneficiary developing
countries, or only for countries designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan
African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA);
(2) withdraw, suspend or limit the application of duty-free treatment
accorded under the GSP with respect to any article, either for all
beneficiary developing countries, least-developed beneficiary
developing countries or beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries, or
for any of these countries individually; (3) waive the ``competitive
need limitations'' for individual beneficiary developing countries with
respect to specific GSP-eligible articles (these limits do not apply to
either least-developed beneficiary developing countries or beneficiary
sub-Saharan African countries); and (4) otherwise modify GSP coverage.
As specified in 15 CFR 2007.1, all product petitions must include a
detailed description of the product and the subheading of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under which the
product is classified.
Any person may also submit petitions to review the designation of
any beneficiary developing country, including any least-developed
beneficiary developing country, with respect to any of the designation
criteria listed in sections 502(b) or 502(c) of the Trade Act (19
U.S.C. 2462(b) and (c)) (petitions to review the designation of
beneficiary Sub-Saharan African countries are considered in the Annual
Review of the AGOA, a separate administrative process not governed by
the GSP regulations). Such petitions must comply with the requirements
of 15 CFR 2007.0(b).
Requirements for Submissions
All such submissions must conform to the GSP regulations set forth
at 15 CFR part 2007, except as modified below. These regulations are
reprinted in ``A Guide to the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences
(GSP)'' (August 1991) (``GSP Guidebook''), available at http://www.ustr.gov
.
Any person or party making a submission is strongly advised to
review the GSP regulations. Submissions that do not provide the
information required by Sec. Sec. 2007.0 and 2007.1 of the GSP
regulations will not be accepted for review, except upon a detailed
showing in the submission that the petitioner made a good faith effort
to obtain the information required. Petitions with respect to waivers
of the ``competitive need limitations'' must meet the information
requirements for product addition requests in Sec. 2007.1(c) of the
GSP regulations. A model petition format is available from the GSP
Subcommittee and is included in the GSP Guidebook. Petitioners are
requested to use this model petition format so as to ensure that all
information requirements are met. Furthermore, interested parties
submitting petitions that request action with respect to specific
products should list on the first page of the petition the following
information after typing ``2005 Annual GSP Review'': (1) The requested
action; (2) the HTSUS subheading in which the product is classified;
and (3) if applicable, the beneficiary developing country. Petitions
and requests must be submitted, in English, to the Chairman of the GSP
Subcommittee, Trade Policy Staff Committee, and must be received no
later than June 15, 2005. Submissions in response to this notice will
be available for public inspection by appointment with the staff of the
USTR Public Reading Room, except for information granted ``business
confidential'' status pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.6. If the submission
contains business confidential information, a non-confidential version
of the submission must also be submitted that indicates where
confidential information was redacted by inserting asterisks where
material was deleted. In addition, the confidential submission must be
clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' in large, bold letters at the
top and bottom of each and every page of the document. The public
version that does not contain business confidential information must
also be clearly marked in large, bold letters at the top and bottom of
each and every page (either ``PUBLIC VERSION'' or ``NON-
CONFIDENTIAL''). Documents that are submitted without any marking might
not be accepted or will be considered public documents.
In order to facilitate prompt consideration of submissions, USTR
strongly urges and prefers electronic mail (e-mail) submissions in
response to this notice. Hand-delivered submissions will not be
accepted. E-mail submissions should be single copy transmissions in
English with the total submission including attachments not to exceed
50 pages in 12-point type and 3 megabytes as a digital file attached to
an e-mail transmission. E-mail submissions should use the following
subject line: ``2005 Annual GSP Review-Petition.'' Documents must be
submitted as either WordPerfect (``.WPD''), MSWord (``.DOC''), or text
(``.TXT'') file. Documents cannot be submitted as electronic image
files or contain imbedded images (for example, ``.JPG'', ``.TIF'',
``.PDF'', ``.BMP'', or ``.GIF'') as these type files are generally
excessively large. E-mail submissions containing such files will not be
accepted. Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets are
acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel, pre-formatted for printing on 8\1/
2\ x 11 inch paper. To the extent possible, any data attachments to the
submission should be included in the same file as the submission
itself, and not as separate files. E-mail submissions should not
include separate cover letters or messages in the message area of the
e-mail; information that might appear in any cover letter should be
included directly in the attached file containing the submission
itself, including identifying information on the sender, including
sender's e-mail address.
For any document containing business confidential information
submitted as an electronic attached file to an e-mail transmission, in
addition to the proper marking at the top and bottom of each page as
previously specified, the file name of the business confidential
version should begin with the characters ``BC-'', and the file name of
the public version should begin with the characters ``P-''. The ``P-''
or ``BC-'' should be followed by the name of the person or party
(government, company, union, association, etc.) submitting the
petition. Submissions by e-mail should not include separate cover
letters or messages in the message area of the e-mail; information that
might appear in any cover letter should be included directly in the
attached file containing the submission itself. The electronic mail
address for these submissions is FR0441@USTR.GOV.
Documents not submitted in accordance with the GSP regulations as
modified by these instructions might not be considered in this review.
Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be
available for review approximately 30 days after the due date by
appointment in the USTR Public Reading Room, 1724 F Street NW,
Washington, DC. Availability of documents may be ascertained, and
appointments may be made from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m.
[[Page 24462]]
to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, by calling (202) 395-6186.
H.J. Rosenbaum,
Acting Executive Director GSP; Acting Chairman, GSP Subcommittee of the
Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 05-9237 Filed 5-6-05; 8:45 am]