[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1300-1301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00067]
[[Page 1300]]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Request for Public
Comments on the Possible Withdrawal, Suspension, or Limitation of GSP
Benefits With Respect to Bangladesh
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and solicitation of public comment.
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SUMMARY: As part of an ongoing country practice review, the GSP
Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is considering
whether to recommend that duty-free treatment accorded to imports from
Bangladesh under the GSP program be withdrawn, suspended, or limited on
the grounds that Bangladesh is not taking steps to afford to workers in
Bangladesh internationally recognized worker rights, specifically the
right of association and the right to organize and bargain
collectively. The GSP Subcommittee is seeking public comments on the
effect of a withdrawal, suspension, or limitation of GSP benefits on
products imported into the United States from Bangladesh.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Marin Weaver, Director for
GSP, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street
NW., Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-9618 and
the email address is [email protected].
DATES: Final date for comments is January 31, 2013.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP program is authorized pursuant to
Title V of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.).
The GSP program grants duty-free treatment to designated eligible
articles that are imported from designated beneficiary developing
countries. Once granted, GSP benefits may be withdrawn, suspended, or
limited by the President with respect to any article or with respect to
any country (19 U.S.C. 2462(d)(1)). In making this determination, the
President must consider several factors, one of which is whether a
beneficiary country ``has taken or is taking steps to afford to workers
in that country (including any designated zone in that country)
internationally recognized worker rights'' (19 U.S.C. 2462(c)(7)).
Bangladesh is a designated beneficiary developing country under the GSP
program, as well as a least-developed beneficiary developing country.
Possible Withdrawal, Suspension, or Limitation of GSP Benefits for
Bangladesh
In 2007, the GSP Subcommittee accepted for review a GSP country
practice petition submitted by the AFL-CIO seeking the removal of GSP
benefits for Bangladesh based on the country's non-compliance with the
GSP statutory eligibility criteria related to worker rights. The GSP
Subcommittee held public hearings on the petition in October 2007,
April 2009, and January 2012, and also invited public comments on the
petition on several occasions. The original petition and other
information related to the review of Bangladesh are available for
public viewing on www.regulations.gov in docket USTR-2012-0036.
Based on the most recent available information, including updated
reports from the AFL-CIO, the GSP Subcommittee believes that the lack
of progress by the government of Bangladesh in addressing worker rights
issues in the country warrants consideration of possible withdrawal,
suspension, or limitation of Bangladesh's trade benefits under GSP. By
statute, any change in Bangladesh's trade benefits under GSP would
require the President to make a determination.
In 2011, U.S. imports from Bangladesh under GSP totaled $26.3
million. Among the leading GSP imports from Bangladesh were tobacco
products, sports equipment, china kitchenware, and plastic articles. A
full list of U.S. imports from Bangladesh under GSP may be found in the
www.regulations.gov docket cited above.
Opportunity for Public Comment; Requirements for Submissions
This notice invites public comments on the effect of a possible
withdrawal, suspension, or limitation of GSP benefits on products
imported into the United States from Bangladesh. The GSP Subcommittee
may also convene a public hearing to receive testimony on this topic.
If so, the date of that hearing and related instructions will be
announced in the Federal Register.
Requirements for Submissions
All submissions in response to this notice must conform to the GSP
regulations set forth at 15 CFR part 2007, except as modified below.
These regulations are available on the USTR Web site at http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/gsp-program-inf.
All submissions in response to this notice must be submitted
electronically via http://www.regulations.gov, using docket number
USTR-2012-0036. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted.
Submissions must be submitted in English to the Chairman of the GSP
Subcommittee of the TPSC by the applicable deadlines set forth in this
notice. To make a submission using http://www.regulations.gov, enter
docket number USTR-2012-0036 in the ``Search for'' field 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'' in the
``Filter Results by'' section on the left side of the screen and click
on the link entitled ``Comment Now.'' The http://www.regulations.gov
Web site offers the option of providing comments by filling in a ``Type
Comment'' field or by attaching a document using the ``Upload file(s)''
field. The Subcommittee prefers that submissions be provided in an
attached document. At the beginning of the submission, or on the first
page (if an attachment), please note that the submission is in response
to this Federal Register notice and provides comments on the possible
withdrawal, suspension, or limitation of GSP benefits for Bangladesh.
Submissions should not exceed 30 single-spaced, standard letter-size
pages in 12-point type, including attachments. Any data attachments to
the submission should be included in the same file as the submission
itself, and not as separate files.
Each submitter will receive a submission tracking number upon
completion of the submissions procedure at http://www.regulations.gov.
The tracking number will be the submitter's confirmation that the
submission was received into http://www.regulations.gov. The
confirmation should be kept for the submitter's records. USTR is not
able to provide technical assistance for the Web site. Documents not
submitted in accordance with these instructions may not be considered
in this review. If an interested party is unable to provide submissions
as requested, please contact the GSP Program at USTR to arrange for an
alternative method of transmission.
Business Confidential Submissions
An interested party requesting that information contained in a
submission be treated as business confidential 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
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be clearly designated as such. The submission must be marked ``BUSINESS
CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top and bottom of the cover page and each
succeeding page, and the submission should indicate, via brackets, the
specific information that is confidential. Additionally, ``Business
Confidential'' must be included in the ``Type Comment'' field. For any
submission containing business confidential information, a non-
confidential version must be submitted separately (i.e., not as part of
the same submission with the confidential version), indicating where
confidential information has been redacted. The non-confidential
version will be placed in the docket and open to public inspection.
William D. Jackson,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System
of Preferences, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2013-00067 Filed 1-7-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F3-P