[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 76 (Tuesday, April 20, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21177-21178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-8919]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Trade Policy Staff Committee; Request for Public Comment on
Review of Employment Impact of United States-Panama Free Trade
Negotiations
AGENCIES: Office of the United States Trade Representative, Department
of Labor.
ACTION: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) gives notice that the
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the
Department of Labor (Labor) are initiating a review of the impact of
the proposed U.S.-Panama free trade negotiations on United States
employment, including labor markets. This notice seeks written public
comment on potentially significant sectoral or regional employment
impacts (both positive and negative) in the United States as well as
other likely labor market impacts of the FTA.
DATES: USTR and Labor will accept any comments received during the
course of the negotiations of the FTA. However, comments should be
received by noon, May 24, 2004, to be assured of timely consideration
in the preparation of the report.
ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected]. Submissions
by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff
Committee, at (202) 395-6143.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
public comments, contact Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office
of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202)
395-3475. Substantive questions concerning the employment impact review
should be addressed to Jorge Perez-Lopez, Director, Office of
International Economic Affairs, Bureau of International Labor Affairs,
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20210, telephone (202) 693-4883; or William Clatanoff, Assistant U.S.
Trade Representative for Labor, telephone (202) 395-6120.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background Information
On November 18, 2003, in accordance with section 2104(a)(1) of the
Trade Act of 2002, the United States Trade Representative notified the
Congress of the President's intent to enter into negotiations on a free
trade agreement with Panama. The notification letters to the Congress
can be found on the USTR Web site at http://www.ustr.gov/new/fta/
Panama/2003-11-18-notification--letter.pdf. We intend to launch
negotiations the week of April 26, 2004.
In January 2004, the USTR requested the U.S. International Trade
Commission (ITC) provide advice on probable economic effects. The ITC
intends to provide this advice during the month of April 2004, prior to
initiation of the negotiations.
2. Employment Impact Review
Section 2102(c)(5) of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act
of 2002, 19 U.S.C. 3802(c)(5), directs the President to ``review the
impact of future trade agreements on United States employment,
including labor markets, modeled after Executive Order 13141 to the
extent appropriate in establishing procedures and criteria, report to
the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Finance of the Senate on such review, and make that report
available to the public.'' USTR and the Department of Labor will
conduct the employment reviews through the TPSC.
The employment impact review will be based on the following
elements, which are modeled to the extent appropriate after those in
E.O. 13141. The review will be: (1) Written; (2) initiated through a
Federal Register notice soliciting public comment and information on
the employment impact of the FTA in the United States; (3) made
available to the public in draft form for public comment, to the extent
practicable; and (4) made available to the public in final form.
Comments may be submitted on potentially significant sectoral or
regional employment impacts (both positive and negative) in the United
States as well as other likely labor market impacts of the FTA. Persons
submitting comments should provide as much detail as possible in
support of their submissions.
3. Requirements for Submissions
To ensure prompt and full consideration of responses, the TPSC
strongly recommends that interested persons submit comments by
electronic mail to the following e-mail address: [email protected].
Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following subject
line: ``Panama Employment Review.'' Documents should be submitted in
WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting documentation
submitted as spreadsheets is acceptable in Quattro Pro or Excel format.
For any document containing business confidential information submitted
electronically, the file name of the business confidential version
should begin with the characters ``BC-'', and the file name of the
public version should begin with the character ``P-''. The ``P-'' or
``BC-'' should be followed by the name of the submitter. Persons who
make submissions by e-mail should not provide separate cover letters;
information that might appear in a cover letter should be included in
the submission itself. To the extent possible, any attachments to the
submission should be included in the same file as the submission
itself, and not as separate files.
Written comments will be placed in a file open to public inspection
pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, except confidential business information
exempt from public inspection in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6.
Confidential business information submitted in accordance with 15 CFR
2003.6 must be clearly
[[Page 21178]]
marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of each page, including any
cover letter or cover page, and must be accompanied by a non-
confidential summary of the confidential information. All public
documents and non-confidential summaries shall be available for public
inspection in the USTR Reading Room in Room 3 of the Annex of the
Office of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. An
appointment to review the file may be made by calling (202) 395-6186.
The USTR Reading Room is generally open to the public from 10 a.m-12
noon and 1-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments must be scheduled
at least 48 hours in advance.
Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 04-8919 Filed 4-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P