[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-4612]
[Federal Register: February 28, 1994]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Notice of USTR Determination of Violation of Trade Agreement
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Affirmative Determination under section 1377 of the Omnibus
Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 of a Violation of a Trade
Agreement by Japan.
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SUMMARY: Section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of
1988 (19 U.S.C. 3106) requires the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to
review annually the operation and effectiveness of each
telecommunications trade agreement in force between the United States
and another country or countries, and to determine whether any act,
policy, or practice of the foreign country that entered into the
agreement (1) is not in compliance with the terms of the agreement, or
(2) otherwise denies, within the context of the agreement, mutually
advantageous market opportunities to U.S. telecommunications products
and services.
Pursuant to section 1377, USTR has determined that certain
practices of Japan with respect to cellular telephone products and
services are not in compliance with Japan's commitments under a June
28, 1989 agreement on third party radio and cellular telecommunications
equipment. Section 1377 requires this affirmative determination to be
treated as an affirmative determination under section 304(a)(1)(A) of
the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2414(a)(1)(A)).
Accordingly, USTR will request the section 301 Committee to recommend
what action, if any, should be taken under section 301 (19 U.S.C.
2411). USTR will publish notice of any proposed action and will provide
an opportunity for interested persons to present views.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning this affirmative
determination should be directed to David Long, Office of Industry
Affairs, (202) 395-6160, or Laura B. Sherman, Office of the General
Counsel, (202) 395-3150, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, 600 Seventh Street, NW., Washington, DC 20506.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This determination is the second affirmative
determination under section 1377 on this issue. In the first
determination, made on April 28, 1989 (54 FR 19624), USTR found that,
for the reasons cited below, Japan was not in compliance with
agreements on third party radio and cellular telecommunications
equipment encompassed in a series of letters and joint communications
between the United States and Japan pursuant to the ``MOSS'' (Market-
Oriented Sector-Selective) discussions that took place between 1985 and
1987.
Specifically, USTR found that the Japanese Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications (MPT) had declined to license the operation in the
Tokyo and Nagoya area of a cellular telephone system based on U.S.
technology. This system was licensed in the rest of Japan, but
subscribers to the system could not use their cellular telephones in
the Tokyo-Nagoya area, i.e. they could not ``roam'' into Tokyo-Nagoya.
Users of competing Japanese-technology cellular systems could ``roam''
throughout the country. USTR determined that the failure to approve
operation of a U.S. technology-based system in the Tokyo-Nagoya area
was inconsistent with the MOSS agreements, in which the Government of
Japan committed to take measures with respect to roaming in Tokyo-
Nagoya by users of the U.S. technology-based system.
Following that determination, consultations led to the June 28,
1989 third party radio and cellular agreement that is the subject of
this determination. In the 1989 agreement, the Government of Japan
committed to measures to enable users of the U.S. technology-based
system to roam in the Tokyo-Nagoya region. In the agreement, Japan
reaffirmed its commitment to the principle of ``comparable market
access.''
In its review of the 1989 agreement, USTR found the following. To
install the U.S. technology-based system in the Tokyo-Nagoya region,
MPT selected, notwithstanding concerns expressed by USTR and U.S.
industry, a company that operates a competing system in the Tokyo-
Nagoya area using Japanese technology. This company has substantially
delayed installing the U.S. technology-based system in Tokyo. Nearly
five years after the 1989 agreement, and nine years after the MOSS
discussions began, the new system covers only 40 percent of the Tokyo-
Nagoya area. As a result, because users of the U.S. technology-based
system still are unable to roam throughout Tokyo-Nagoya, the U.S.
technology-based system does not have comparable market access with the
Japanese systems, which offer full geographic coverage.
USTR has consulted with other executive agencies and the private
sector during this review, and has had discussions with the Japanese
Government regarding this agreement on more than seven occasions
between July, 1993 and February 15, 1994.
As a result of this review, USTR has determined that MPT's failure
to ensure full coverage for the U.S. technology-based system in the
Tokyo-Nagoya area nearly five years after the 1989 third party radio
and cellular agreement is inconsistent with the terms of that
agreement, and denies, within the context of the terms of that
agreement, mutually advantageous market opportunities in Japan for
telecommunications products and services of the United States.
Irving Williamson,
Chairman, Section 301 Committee.
[FR Doc. 94-4612 Filed 2-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M