[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52100-52101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20774]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning
Russia's Implementation of Its WTO Obligations
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Request for comments and notice of public hearing concerning
Russia's implementation of Its obligations as a Member of the World
Trade Organization (WTO).
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SUMMARY: The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will
convene a public hearing and seek public comment to assist the Office
of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the preparation of
its annual report to Congress on Russia's implementation of its
obligations as a Member of the WTO.
DATES: Written comments are due by 11:59 p.m., Friday, September 26,
2014. Persons wishing to testify orally at the hearing must provide
written notification of their intention, as well as a summary of their
testimony, by 11:59 p.m., Friday, September 26, 2014. The hearing will
be held on Friday, October 10, 2014, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in Rooms 1
& 2, 1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20508.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and notifications of intent to testify
should be submitted electronically via the Internet at
www.regulations.gov. If you are unable to provide submissions at
www.regulations.gov, please contact Yvonne Jamison, TPSC, at (202) 395-
3475, to arrange for an alternative method of transmission.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
written comments, please contact Yvonne Jamison at (202) 395-3475. All
other questions regarding this notice should be directed to Betsy
Hafner, Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for Russia
and Eurasia, at (202) 395-9124.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
Russia became a Member of the WTO on August 22, 2012, and on
December 21, 2012, following the termination of the application of the
Jackson-Vanik amendment to Russia and the extension of permanent normal
trade relations to the products of Russia, the United States and Russia
both filed letters with the WTO withdrawing their notices of non-
application and consenting to have the WTO Agreement apply between
them. In accordance with section 201(a) of the Russia and Moldova
Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitskiy Rule of Law Accountability
Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-208), USTR is required to submit, by December
21 of each year, a report to Congress on the extent to which Russia is
implementing the WTO Agreement, including the Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the Agreement on
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. The Report must
also assess Russia's progress on acceding to the Information Technology
Agreement (ITA) and the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). In
addition, to the extent that USTR finds that Russia is not implementing
fully the WTO Agreement or is not making adequate progress in acceding
to the ITA or the GPA, USTR must describe in the report the actions it
plans to take to encourage Russia to improve its implementation and/or
increase its accession efforts. In accordance with section 201(a), and
to assist it in preparing this year's report, the TPSC is hereby
soliciting public comment.
The terms of Russia's accession to the WTO are contained in the
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization and the
Protocol on the Accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO
(including its annexes) (Protocol). The Report of the Working Party on
the Accession of the Russian Federation (Working Party Report) provides
detail and context to the commitments listed in the Protocol. The
Protocol and Working Party Report can be found on USTR's Web page,
http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/3224 or on the WTO Web site,
http://docsonline.wto.org (document symbols: WT/ACC/RUS/70, WT/MIN(11)/
2, WT/MIN(11)/24, WT/L/839, and WT/ACC/RUS/70/Add.1, WT/ACC/RUS/70/
Add.2.
2. Public Comment and Hearing
USTR invites written comments and/or oral testimony of interested
persons on Russia's implementation of the commitments made in
connection with its accession to the WTO, including, but not limited
to, commitments in the following areas: (a) Import regulation (e.g.,
tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas, import licenses); (b) export
regulation; (c) subsidies; (d) standards and technical regulations; (e)
sanitary and phytosanitary measures; (f) trade-related investment
measures; (g) taxes and charges levied on imports and exports; (h)
other internal policies affecting trade; (i) intellectual property
rights (including intellectual property rights enforcement); (j)
services; (k) rule of law issues (e.g., transparency, judicial review,
uniform administration of laws and regulations); and (l) other WTO
commitments.
Written comments must be received no later than 11:59 p.m., Friday,
September 26, 2014.
A hearing will be held on Friday, October 10, 2014, in Rooms 1 & 2,
1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20508. Persons wishing to testify at
the hearing must provide written notification of their intention by
11:59 p.m., September 26, 2014. The intent to testify notification must
be made in the ``Type Comment'' field under docket number USTR-2014-
0016 on the www.regulations.gov Web site and should include the name,
address and telephone number of the person presenting the testimony. A
summary of the testimony should be attached by using the ``Upload
File'' field. The name of the file should also include who will be
presenting the testimony. Remarks at the hearing should be limited to
no
[[Page 52101]]
more than five minutes to allow for possible questions from the TPSC.
3. Requirements for Submissions
Persons submitting a notification of intent to testify and/or
written comments must do so in English and must identify (on the first
page of the submission) ``Russia's WTO Implementation.'' In order to be
assured of consideration, comments should be submitted by 11:59 p.m.,
September 26, 2014.
In order to ensure the timely receipt and consideration of
comments, USTR strongly encourages commenters to make on-line
submissions, using the www.regulations.gov Web site. To submit comments
via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2014-0016 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 and click on the link entitled ``Comment Now!'' (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 Web site allows users to provide comments
by filling in a ``Type Comment'' field, or by attaching a document
using an ``Upload File'' field. USTR prefers that comments be provided
in an attached document. If a document is attached, it is sufficient to
type ``See attached'' in the ``Type Comment'' field. USTR prefers
submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If the
submission is in an application other than those two, please indicate
the name of the application in the ``Type Comment'' field.
For any comments submitted electronically containing business
confidential information, the file name of the business confidential
version should begin with the characters ``BC''. Any page containing
business confidential information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS
CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page. Filers of submissions
containing business confidential information must also submit a public
version of their comments. The file name of the public version should
begin with the character ``P''. The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be followed
by the name of the person or entity submitting the comments or reply
comments. Filers submitting comments containing no business
confidential information should name their file using the name of the
person or entity submitting the comments.
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.
As noted, USTR strongly urges submitters to file comments through
www.regulations.gov, if at all possible. Any alternative arrangements
must be made with Yvonne Jamison in advance of transmitting a comment.
Ms. Jamison should be contacted at (202) 395-3475. General information
concerning USTR is available at www.ustr.gov. Comments will be placed
in the docket and open to public inspection, except business
confidential information. Comments may be viewed on the
www.regulations.gov Web site by entering the relevant docket number in
the search field on the home page.
Douglas M. Bell,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 2014-20774 Filed 8-29-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F4-P