[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 76 (Thursday, April 19, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23539-23540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9426]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Dispute No. WTO/DS316]
WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Regarding European Communities
and Certain Member States--Measures Affecting Trade in Large Civil
Aircraft--Recourse by the United States to Article 21.5 of the DSU
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative
(``USTR'') is providing notice that on March 30, 2012, the United
States requested establishment of a dispute settlement panel under the
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO
Agreement''). That request may be found at www.wto.org contained in a
document designated as WT/DS316/23. USTR invites written comments from
the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.
DATES: Although USTR will accept any comments received during the
course of the dispute settlement proceedings, comments should be
submitted on or before May 21, 2012 to be assured of timely
consideration by USTR.
ADDRESSES: Public comments should be submitted electronically to
www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2012-007. If you are unable to
provide submissions to www.regulations.gov, please contact Sandy
McKinzy at (202) 395-9483 to arrange for an alternative method of
transmission. If (as explained below) the comment contains confidential
information, then the comment should be submitted by fax only to Sandy
McKinzy at (202) 395-3640.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Willis S. Martyn, Associate General
Counsel, or Frank J. Schweitzer, Associate General Counsel, Office of
the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street NW.,
Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-3150.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 127(b)(1) of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3537(b)(1)) requires that notice and
opportunity for comment be provided after the United States submits or
receives a request for establishment of a WTO dispute settlement panel.
Consistent with this obligation, USTR is providing notice that it has
requested a panel pursuant to the WTO Understanding on Rules and
Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (``DSU'). Once it is
established, the panel will hold its meetings in Geneva, Switzerland,
and could issue a report on its findings and recommendations as soon as
three months after its establishment.
Major Issues Raised by the United States
On June 1, 2011, the Dispute Settlement Body (``DSB'') adopted its
recommendations and rulings in the dispute European Communities and
Certain Member States--Measures Affecting Trade in Large Civil Aircraft
(DS316) (``EC--Large Civil Aircraft''). The DSB ruled that the
following are specific subsidies within the meaning of Articles 1 and 2
of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (``SCM
Agreement'') that caused adverse effects to U.S. interests within the
meaning of Articles 5(c) and 6.3(a), (b), and (c) of that Agreement:
Grants of launch aid/member State financing (``LA/MSF'')
by the European Union (``EU'') member state governments of France,
Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom to Airbus for the A300, A310,
A320, A330, A340, A330-200, A340-500/600, and A380;
The provision of the M[uuml]hlenberger Loch site and the
lengthened Bremen Airport Runway;
Grants by authorities in Germany and Spain for the
construction of manufacturing and assembly facilities in Nordenham,
Germany, and Sevilla, La Rinconada, Toledo, Puerto de Santa Maria, and
Puerto Real, Spain, and by the government of Andalusia and Castilla-La
Mancha to Airbus in Puerto Real, Sevilla, and Illescas (Toledo);
The 1989 acquisition by Kreditanstalt f[uuml]r
Wiederaufbau (``KfW'') of a 20 percent equity interest in Deutsche
Airbus and the 1992 transfer by KfW of its 100 percent equity interest
in Deutsche Airbus to Messerschmitt-B[ouml]lkow-Blohm GmbH (``MBB'');
and
The 1987, 1988, 1992, and 1994 equity infusions to
A[eacute]rospatiale.
The DSB recommended that the EU and certain member States bring
their WTO-inconsistent measures into compliance with their obligations
under the SCM Agreement.
On December 1, 2011, the EU transmitted a document (``EU
Notification'') to the United States and the DSB claiming that the EU
had brought its measures fully into conformity with the DSB
recommendations and rulings. The EU notification included a list of 36
``appropriate steps'' taken by the EU to bring its measures into
conformity with the EU's WTO obligations. Upon review of the
notification, the United States did not agree with the EU's position
that the EU had fully complied with the DSB recommendations and
rulings. Accordingly, the United States requested consultations on
December 9, 2011. The United States and the EU held consultations on
January 13, 2012. The consultations failed to resolve the dispute.
Article 7.8 of the SCM Agreement provides that a Member found to
maintain measures inconsistent with Article 5(c) and 6.3 of the SCM
Agreement ``shall take appropriate steps to remove the adverse effects
or shall withdraw the subsidy.'' The United States considers that the
EU has done neither of these with regard to the measures identified
above. As there is ``disagreement as to the existence or consistency
with a covered agreement of measures taken to comply with the
recommendations and rulings'' of the DSB, the United States is seeking
recourse to Article 21.5 of the DSU.
The United States has requested that the Article 21.5 panel
consider the following matters. With respect to the measures the EU has
identified in the
[[Page 23540]]
EU Notification as the measures taken to comply with the
recommendations and rulings of the DSB for purposes of Article 21.5 of
the DSU, the United States considers that (i) these measures are
insufficient to remove the adverse effects or withdraw the subsidies,
and (ii) certain of these measures taken to comply introduce new
inconsistencies with the SCM Agreement. In addition, French, German,
Spanish, and UK LA/MSF for the A350XWB (i) are measures closely related
to the measures the EU has identified as taken to comply and to the EU
measures the DSB found to be inconsistent with the SCM Agreement and
(ii) replace or continue the LA/MSF for twin-aisle aircraft covered by
the recommendations and rulings of the DSB. The United States considers
these LA/MSF measures for the A350XWB to be inconsistent with the SCM
Agreement.
Additional details are provided in the panel request, which may be
found at www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/DS316/23.
Public Comment: Requirements for Submissions
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning the issues raised in this dispute. Persons may submit public
comments electronically to www.regulations.gov docket number USTR-2012-
0007. If you are unable to provide submissions by www.regulations.gov,
please contact Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-9483 to arrange for an
alternative method of transmission.
To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number
USTR-2012-0007 on the home page and click ``search''. The site will
provide a search-results page listing all documents associated with
this docket. Find a reference to this notice by selecting ``Notice''
under ``Document Type'' on the left side of the search-results page,
and click on the link entitled ``Submit a Comment.'' (For further
information on using the www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult
the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on ``How to Use This
Site'' on the left side of the home page.)
The www.regulations.gov site provides the option of providing
comments by filling in a ``Type Comments'' field, or by attaching a
document using an ``upload file'' field. It is expected that most
comments will be provided in an attached document. If a document is
attached, it is sufficient to type ``See attached'' in the ``Type
Comments'' field.
A person requesting that information contained in a comment
submitted by that person 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.
Confidential business information must be clearly designated as such
and the submission must be marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top
and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page. Any comment
containing business confidential information must be submitted by fax
to Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-3640. A non-confidential summary of the
confidential information must be submitted to www.regulations.gov. The
non-confidential summary will be placed in the docket and open to
public inspection.
Information or advice contained in a comment submitted, other than
business confidential information, may be determined by USTR to be
confidential in accordance with section 135(g)(2) of the Trade Act of
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155(g)(2)). If the submitter believes that information
or advice may qualify as such, the submitter--
(1) Must clearly so designate the information or advice;
(2) Must clearly mark the material as ``SUBMITTED IN CONFIDENCE''
at the top and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page; and
(3) Must provide a non-confidential summary of the information or
advice.
Any comment containing confidential information must be submitted
by fax. A non-confidential summary of the confidential information must
be submitted to www.regulations.gov. The non-confidential summary will
be placed in the docket and open to public inspection.
Pursuant to section 127(e) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19
U.S.C. 3537(e)), USTR will maintain a docket on this dispute settlement
proceeding accessible to the public at www.regulations.gov, docket
number USTR 2012-0007. The public file will include non-confidential
comments received by USTR from the public with respect to the dispute.
If a dispute settlement panel is convened or in the event of an appeal
from such a panel, the U.S. submissions, any non-confidential
submissions, or non-confidential summaries of submissions, received
from other participants in the dispute, will be made available to the
public on USTR's Web site at www.ustr.gov, and the report of the panel,
and, if applicable, the report of the Appellate Body, will be available
on the Web site of the World Trade Organization, www.wto.org. Comments
open to public inspection may be viewed on the www.regulations.gov Web
site.
Bradford Ward,
Acting Assistant United States Trade Representative for Monitoring and
Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2012-9426 Filed 4-18-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W2-P