[Federal Register: July 13, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 133)]
[Notices]
[Page 42077-42078]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13jy04-95]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Identification of Countries Under Section 182 of the Trade Act of
1974: Request for Public Comment
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Request for written submissions from the public.
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SUMMARY: Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C.
2242), requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to
identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of
intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access
to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. Section
182 is commonly referred to as the ``Special 301'' provision in the
Trade Act. In addition, USTR is required to determine which of those
countries should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. On May 3,
2004, USTR announced the results of the 2004 Special 301 review and
stated that an Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) would be conducted in the
summer for Israel. USTR requests written comments from the public
concerning the acts, policies, and practices relevant for this review
under section 182 of the Trade Act.
DATES: Submissions must be received on or before 12 noon on Friday,
August 6, 2004.
ADDRESSES: All comments should be sent to Sybia Harrison, Special
Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, at the following e-mail
address: FR0436@ustr.gov, with ``Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review'' in
the subject line. Please note, only electronic submissions will be
accepted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Peck, Senior Director for
Intellectual Property, (202) 395-6864; or Stanford McCoy, Assistant
General Counsel, (202) 395-3581, Office of the United States Trade
Representative.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 182 of the Trade Act,
USTR must identify those countries that deny adequate and effective
protection for intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable
market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property
protection. Those countries that have the most onerous or egregious
acts, policies, or practices and whose acts, policies, or practices
have the greatest adverse impact (actual or potential) on relevant U.S.
products may be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. Acts,
policies, or practices that are the basis of a country's designation as
a Priority Foreign Country are normally the subject of an investigation
under the section 301 provisions of the Trade Act.
On May 3, 2004, USTR announced the results of the 2004 Special 301
review, including an announcement that an Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR)
would be conducted in the summer for Israel. Additional countries may
also be reviewed as warranted by events.
Requirements for Comments: Comments should include a description of
the problems experienced and the effect of the acts, policies, and
practices on U.S. industry. Comments should be as detailed as possible
and should provide all necessary information for assessing the effect
of the acts, policies, and practices. Any comments that include
quantitative loss claims should be accompanied by the methodology used
in calculating such estimated losses.
Comments must be in English and sent electronically. No submissions
will be accepted via postal service mail. Documents should be submitted
as either WordPerfect, MS Word, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting
documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro
or Excel files. A submitter requesting that information contained in a
comment be treated as confidential business information must certify
that such information is business confidential and would not
customarily be released to the public by the submitter. A non-
confidential version of the comment must also be provided. For any
document containing business confidential information, 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
character ``P-''. The ``P'' or ``BC'' should be followed by the name of
the submitter. Submissions should not include separate cover letters;
information that might appear in a cover letter should be included in
the submission itself. To the extent possible, any attachments to the
submission should be included in the same file as the submission
itself, and not as separate files.
All comments should be sent to Sybia Harrison, Special Assistant to
the Section 301 Committee, at the following e-mail address:
FR0436@ustr.gov, with ``Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review'' in the
subject line. Please note, only electronic submissions will be
accepted.
Public Inspection of Submissions: Within one business day of
receipt, non-confidential submissions will be placed in a public file,
open for inspection at the USTR reading room, Office of the
[[Page 42078]]
United States Trade Representative, Annex Building, 1724 F Street, NW.,
Room 1, Washington, DC. An appointment to review the file must be
scheduled at least 48 hours in advance and may be made by calling
Jacqueline Caldwell at (202) 395-6186. The USTR reading room is open to
the public from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday
through Friday.
Brian Peck,
Senior Director for Intellectual Property.
[FR Doc. 04-15831 Filed 7-12-04; 8:45 am]