[Federal Register: June 29, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 125)]
[Notices]
[Page 37129-37130]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29jn06-85]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the
Initiation of the 2006 Annual GSP Product and Country Eligibility
Practices Review and Change in Deadlines for Filing Certain Petitions
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 2006 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 submission of product
petitions, other than those requesting competitive need limitation
(CNL) waivers, and country practice petitions for the 2006 Annual GSP
Product and Country Eligibility Practices Review is 5 p.m., July 20,
2006. The deadline for submission of product petitions requesting CNL
waivers is 5 p.m., November 17, 2006. The list of product petitions and
country practice petitions accepted for review will be announced in the
Federal Register at later dates.
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, the facsimile number is (202)
395-9481, and the e-mail address is FR0618@USTR.GOV. Public versions of
all documents relating to this Review will be available for examination
approximately 30 days after the pertinent 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. to 4 p.m., Monday through
Friday, by calling (202) 395-6186.
2006 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 2006 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, with the exception of petitions
requesting CNL waivers, must be received by the GSP Subcommittee of the
Trade Policy Staff Committee no later than 5 p.m. on July 20, 2006.
Petitions requesting CNL waivers must be received by the GSP
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee no later than 5 p.m.
on November 17, 2006 in order to be considered in the 2006 Annual
Review. Petitions submitted after the respective deadlines will not be
considered for review.
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. Product petitions requesting CNL waivers for
GSP-eligible articles from beneficiary developing countries that exceed
the CNLs in 2006 must be filed in the 2006 Annual Review. In order to
allow petitioners an opportunity to review additional 2006 export data,
these petitions may be filed after June 30, 2006, but must be received
on or before the November 17, 2006, deadline described above in order
to be considered in the 2006 Annual Review. Copies will be made
available for public inspection after the November 17, 2006, deadline.
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).
[[Page 37130]]
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)'' (May 2006) (``GSP Guidebook''), available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Trade_Development/Preference_Programs/GSP/asset_upload_file890_8359.pdf
.
Any person or party making a submission is strongly advised to
review the GSP regulations. Submissions that do not provide the
information required by sections 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 section 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 ``2006 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. 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
requires 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 30 pages in 12-
point type and 3 megabytes as a digital file attached to an e-mail
transmission. Submissions should use the following e-mail subject line:
``2006 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. The
electronic mail address for these submissions is FR0618@USTR.GOV.
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.
Documents not submitted in accordance with the GSP regulations as
modified by these instructions will not be considered in this review.
Marideth Sandler,
Executive Director GSP, Chairman, GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy
Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 06-5827 Filed 6-28-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P