[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 227 (Wednesday, November 25, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73868-73870]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30065]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice of Acceptance of
a Country Practices Petition on Thailand; Notice of Schedule for Public
Comments and a Hearing on Certain Country Practice Reviews
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and request for submissions.
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SUMMARY: The GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee
(TPSC) announces that it has accepted for review a country practices
petition regarding worker rights in Thailand submitted as part of the
GSP Annual Review. This notice sets forth the schedule for public
comments and a public hearing on the newly accepted petition on
Thailand, as well as the ongoing GSP country practice reviews regarding
Ecuador, Fiji, Georgia, Iraq, Niger, and Uzbekistan. This notice also
announces the closure of the country practices review of worker rights
in the Philippines without change to that country's GSP trade benefits.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Aimee Larsen, Director for
GSP, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street
NW., Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-2974 and
the email address is [email protected].
DATES: The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the schedule of
dates for conducting an annual review unless otherwise specified in a
Federal Register notice. The schedule for the review of the country
practices reviews cited above follows.
January 4, 2016: Deadline for submission of pre-hearing briefs and
requests to appear at the January 14-15, 2016 public hearing;
submissions must be received by 5:00 p.m.
January 14-15, 2016: The GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff
Committee (TPSC) will convene a two-day public hearing on the country
practices reviews cited above at 1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC
20508, beginning at 9:30 a.m. each day.
[[Page 73869]]
February 12, 2016: Deadline for submission of post-hearing briefs,
which must be received by 5:00 p.m.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP program provides for the duty-free
importation of designated articles when imported from designated BDCs.
The GSP program is authorized by Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
U.S.C. 2461, et seq.), as amended (the ``1974 Act''), and is
implemented in accordance with Executive Order 11888 of November 24,
1975, as modified by subsequent Executive Orders and Presidential
Proclamations.
Country Practices Reviews
The status of country practices reviews considered as part of the
2015/2016 GSP Annual Review is described in the list of Active and
Closed Country Practices Reviews, which is available on the USTR GSP
Web site at https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/current-review-0. This list
includes previously accepted country practices petitions. Country
practices petitions accepted for review in previous years that continue
to be under review include those regarding Ecuador, Fiji, Georgia,
Indonesia, Iraq, Niger, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), drawing on the advice of the
TPSC, has accepted for review a country practices petition submitted as
part of the 2015/2016 GSP Annual Review on Thailand regarding worker
rights. In addition, the USTR, drawing on the advice of the TPSC, has
decided to close the country practices review case USTR-2013-0006
regarding worker rights in the Philippines in view of progress made by
the government of the Philippines in addressing worker rights issues in
that country.
Notice of Public Hearing
The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC will hold a two-day hearing on
Thursday, January 14 and Friday, January 15, 2016 beginning at 9:30
a.m. each day, for the newly accepted country practices petition
regarding worker rights in Thailand, as well as to receive information
regarding recent developments pertinent to the ongoing country
practices reviews regarding worker rights and/or child labor in Fiji,
Georgia, Iraq, Niger, and Uzbekistan, and arbitral awards in Ecuador.
The hearing will be held at 1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20508
and will be open to the public. A transcript of the hearing will be
made available on http://www.regulations.gov within approximately two
weeks of the hearing.
All interested parties wishing to make an oral presentation at the
hearing must submit, following the ``Requirements for Submissions'' set
out below, the name, address, telephone number, and email address, if
available, of the witness(es) representing their organization by 5
p.m., January 4, 2016. Requests to present oral testimony must be
accompanied by a written brief or summary statement, in English, and
also must be received by 5 p.m., January 4, 2016. Oral testimony before
the GSP Subcommittee will be limited to five-minute presentations that
summarize or supplement information contained in briefs or statements
submitted for the record. Post-hearing briefs or statements will be
accepted if they conform with the regulations cited below and are
submitted, in English, by 5 p.m., February 12, 2016. Parties not
wishing to appear at the public hearing may submit pre-hearing and
post-hearing briefs or comments by the aforementioned deadlines.
The GSP Subcommittee strongly encourages submission of all post-
hearing briefs or statements by the February 12, 2016 deadline in order
to receive timely consideration in the GSP Subcommittee's deliberation
on the subject reviews. However, if there are new developments or
information that parties wish to share with the GSP Subcommittee after
this date, the regulations.gov dockets will remain open. Comments,
letters, or other submissions related to the subject country practices
reviews must be posted to the http://regulations.gov docket in order to
be considered by the GSP Subcommittee.
Requirements for Submissions
All submissions in response to this notice must be submitted in
English by the applicable deadlines set forth in this notice and
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
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/USTR-Regulations-Pertaining-Eligibility-GSP-Program-15-CFR-Part-2007_0.pdf. Any person or party
making a submission is strongly advised to review the GSP regulations
and the GSP Guidebook, available at: https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/GSP%20Guidebook%20October%202015%20Final.pdf.
To ensure their timely and expeditious receipt and consideration,
submissions in response to this notice must be submitted electronically
via http://www.regulations.gov using the appropriate country-specific
docket number(s) listed below.
Fiji (worker rights): USTR-2013-0012;
Ecuador (arbitral awards): USTR-2013-0013;
Georgia (worker rights): USTR-2013-0009;
Iraq (worker rights): USTR-2013-0004;
Niger (worker rights and child labor): USTR-2013-0005;
Thailand (worker rights): USTR-2015-0018;
Uzbekistan (worker rights): USTR-2013-0007.
Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted.
To make a submission using http://www.regulations.gov, enter the
country-specific docket number 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 GSP 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 GSP
country practice review regarding [relevant country]. 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.
[[Page 73870]]
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 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.
Public Viewing of Review Submissions
Submissions in response to this notice, except for information
granted ``business confidential'' status under 15 CFR 2003.6, will be
available for public viewing pursuant to 15 CFR 2007.6 at http://www.regulations.gov upon completion of processing, usually within two
weeks of the relevant due date or date of the submission. Such
submissions may be viewed by entering the country-specific docket
number in the search field at: http://www.regulations.gov.
William D. Jackson,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System
of Preferences, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2015-30065 Filed 11-24-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F6-P