[Federal Register: October 3, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 192)]
[Notices]
[Page 57503]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03oc03-134]
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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'' provisions in the
Trade Act. In addition, USTR is required to determine which of those
countries should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. On May 1,
2003, USTR announced the results of the 2003 Special 301 review and
stated that an Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) would be conducted in the fall
for the Republic of Korea. 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 Monday,
October 27, 2003.
ADDRESSES: All comments should be sent to Sybia Harrison, Special
Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, at the following e-mail address: FR0100@USTR.GOV, with ``Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review'' in
the subject line. Please not, only electronic submissions will be
accepted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Wu, Director for Intellectual
Property, (202) 395-6864; or Victoria Espinel, Associate General
Counsel, (202) 395-7305, 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 1, 2003, USTR announced the results of the 2003 Special 301
review, including an announcement that an Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR)
would be conducted in the fall for the Republic of Korea. Additional
countries may also be reviewed as a result of the comments received
pursuant to this notice, or 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 act, policies, and practice. 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
comments be treated as confidential business information must certify
that information is business confidential and would not customarily be
released to the public by the submitter. A non-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 ``B''
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: FR0100@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 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 Harry Simpson
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.
Mark Wu,
Director for Intellectual Property.
[FR Doc. 03-25057 Filed 10-2-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M