[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 239 (Monday, December 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77319-77321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31430]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
Request for Public Input on Sectoral Dialogues To Inform Work on
Standards Cooperation Under the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial
Dialogue
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: With this notice, the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC), on
behalf of the Administration, is seeking public input to identify
priority sectors in which the United States and India will pursue
cooperative dialogues under the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial
Dialogue (S&CD) to address standards-related trade barriers. The aim of
the cooperative dialogues is for the private sector to produce concrete
recommendations for the U.S. and Indian governments on breaking down
barriers related to standards, regulatory, and conformity assessment
practices to increase bilateral trade. Stakeholder input will be used
by the USDOC, in consultation with its interagency partners, to
identify those sectors where cooperative work will yield the most
benefits for bilateral trade from a U.S. perspective. The USDOC will
also use stakeholder input to seek agreement from its Indian government
counterparts on the sectors in which to begin cooperative work.
Criteria for selection include: The nature of the existing
standards-related barriers in the sector (medical devices, ICT
products, oil and gas, etc.), including whether the standards related
measures that are affecting bilateral trade are subject to regulatory
discretion or have limited potential for adjustment due to legislated
mandates; the relative
[[Page 77320]]
estimated trade impact of eliminating the standards-related barriers in
the sector; and whether private sector representatives from the
sector--both U.S. and Indian--are committed to leading a cooperative
dialogue to produce concrete recommendations for the U.S. and Indian
governments on breaking down barriers in the sector. Selection will
also take into account the willingness of U.S. and Indian regulators to
become involved in this targeted work, as well as if another bilateral
forum relevant to the suggested issue already exists.
In order for a sector to be considered, stakeholder input must
identify private-sector leaders from the United States and India that
have mutually agreed to coordinate and lead a cooperative dialogue
among stakeholders in the sector from both the United States and India
to develop recommendations for the U.S. and Indian governments on
breaking down standards-related barriers in their sector. Confirmation
of such agreement is encouraged. See additional requirements for
submissions in the contents below.
The private sector cooperative dialogue leaders from the selected
priority sectors are expected to begin work as early as possible in
2016 and to report their preliminary recommendations to the U.S. and
Indian governments at the next meeting of the U.S.-India S&CD, expected
to take place in India in mid-2016. At the discretion of the U.S. and
Indian private sector cooperative dialogue leads, U.S. and Indian
government officials will be available to provide information to
facilitate the development of private sector recommendations. Selection
of future priority sectors will be evaluated on the basis of the
performance of the cooperative dialogues in the initially selected
priority sectors.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Boyles, Manager, Emerging
Issues, Office of Standards and Investment Policy, International Trade
Administration, by telephone at (202) 482-1935 (this is not a toll-free
number) or email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In January 2015, President Obama and Prime
Minister Modi decided to elevate the bilateral commercial and economic
partnership by establishing the first-ever U.S.-India Strategic and
Commercial Dialogue (S&CD) which was held in Washington, DC on
September 22, 2015. The S&CD is the signature, annual forum for policy
discussions between the United States Government and the Government of
India. The United States and Indian Governments are using this vehicle
to advance their shared priorities of generating economic growth,
creating jobs, and strengthening the middle class. U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker co-
chaired the dialogue with their Indian counterparts, Minister of
External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Commerce and Industry
Nirmala Sitharaman.
Below are highlights of work agreed to on standards cooperation at
the September 22, 2015 S&CD:
Standards Cooperation: The United States and India are working
together to participate in the development of international standards
and technical regulations to boost trade and help reduce administrative
and logistical burdens, which disproportionately affect small and
medium sized enterprises. The United States and India will engage their
respective industries to identify up to two sectors where standards and
conformity assessment-focused cooperative dialogues could lead to
mutual benefit and increased trade. To support the removal of barriers
that impact the global supply chain, the United States and India will
exchange best practices for the operation of national Enquiry Points
under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Technical Barriers to
Trade and will explore opportunities for more cooperation on reference
standards between India's National Physical Laboratories (NPL) and the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The United
States and India announced a private sector-led collaboration to update
a bilateral standards portal, which facilitates the sharing of
information to improve industry understanding of market access
requirements in both countries.
Request For Public Input: Submissions relevant to this request for
public input should be submitted no later than 60 days after the date
of this notice and can be submitted online or in writing.
Written submissions should be directed to Michael Boyles, Office of
Standards and Investment Policy, Industry and Analysis, U.S. Department
of Commerce, Room 22025, 14th and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington,
DC 20230.
Online submissions should be submitted using http://www.regulations.gov.
In order to ensure the timely receipt and consideration of
comments, ITA strongly encourages commenters to make online submissions
using http://www.regulations.gov. Comments should be submitted under
ITA-2015-0005. To find this docket, enter the docket number in the
``Enter Keyword or ID'' Window at the http://www.regulations.gov home
page and click ``Search.'' The site will provide a search-results page
listing all documents associated with the docket number. Find a
reference to this notice by selecting ``Notice'' under ``Document
Type'' on the search-results page, and click on the link entitled
``Comment now!'' The http://www.regulations.gov Web site provides the
option of making submissions by filling in a comments field, or by
attaching a document. ITA prefers submissions to be provided in an
attached document. (For further information on using http://www.regulations.gov, please consult the resources provided on the Web
site by clicking on the ``Help'' tab.)
All comments and recommendations submitted in response to this
notice will be made available to the public so should not include any
privileged or confidential business information. The file name should
begin with the character ``P'' (signifying that the comments contain no
privileged or confidential business information and can be posted
publicly), followed by the name of the person or entity submitting the
comments. Written submissions should include an original and five (5)
copies.
Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic
submissions; rather, include any information that might appear in a
cover letter in the comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent
possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in
the same file as the submission itself, not as separate files.
Required Content for Submissions: USDOC seeks public input on the
sectors that would benefit most from focused engagement by U.S. and
Indian private-sector leaders and government representatives under the
S&CD to address trade barriers related to standards, regulatory, and
conformity assessment practices to increase bilateral trade. Criteria
for selection include: The nature of the existing standards-related
barriers in the sector (medical devices, ICT products, oil and gas,
etc.), including whether the standards related measures that are
affecting bilateral trade are subject to regulatory discretion or have
limited potential for adjustment due to legislated mandates; the
relative estimated trade impact of eliminating the standards-related
barriers in the sector; and whether private sector representatives from
the sector--both U.S. and Indian--are committed to leading a
cooperative dialogue to
[[Page 77321]]
produce concrete recommendations for the U.S. and Indian governments on
breaking down the barriers in the sector. Selection will also take into
account the willingness of U.S. and Indian regulators to become
involved in this targeted work.
Submissions should include: A description of the main standards-
related barrier(s) affecting U.S.-India trade in the sector (e.g., lack
of transparency by U.S. and/or Indian officials in developing standards
and/or regulations affecting the sector; U.S. and Indian officials
applying different standards or technical regulations to products or
services in the sector; testing or other requirements that are
difficult to meet; and/or requirements being applied by U.S. and/or
Indian officials only when products or services in the sector are
imported from the other's market), including whether the areas involved
are subject to regulatory discretion or have limited potential for
adjustment due to legislated mandates; the relative estimated trade
impact of eliminating the standards-related barriers in the sector; and
data on bilateral trade in the sector for at least three years to help
evaluate trade trends.
Submissions must identify private-sector leaders from the United
States and India that have mutually agreed to coordinate and lead a
cooperative dialogue among stakeholders in the sector from both the
United States and India to develop recommendations for the U.S. and
Indian governments on breaking down standards-related barriers in their
sector. Confirmation of such agreement is encouraged. No U.S.
Government funding will be provided for these activities.
Additionally, submissions should provide information on current and
previous efforts to address standards-related barriers to bilateral
trade in the sector, including under other government-to-government
initiatives, to help evaluate the potential for liberalization of
barriers identified. Submissions should also provide information, if
known, about the U.S. and Indian government authorities, in particular
regulators, whose actions impact the sector, and who would need to be
involved in implementing the recommendations that the private sector
leads will develop under a U.S.-India cooperative dialogue on the
subject sector. Before finalizing priority sector selection, U.S. and
Indian government S&CD leads will confirm that their respective
relevant regulators support targeted work in the sector. Additional
information also is welcome that would help USDOC and its interagency
partners evaluate prospects for growth in bilateral trade in the
sector, if this work is undertaken.
Dated: December 4, 2015.
Chris Rosettie,
Director, Office of Standards and Investment Policy, International
Trade Administration.
[FR Doc. 2015-31430 Filed 12-11-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P