[Federal Register: October 7, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 194)]
[Notices]
[Page 60219-60220]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07oc04-85]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Trade Policy Staff Committee; Public Comments for Market Access
Negotiations Under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is requesting written
public comments with respect to the expansion of market access
opportunities in government procurement under the World Trade
Organization Agreement on Government Procurement. The specific
information being sought is described in the background section below.
DATES: Public Comments are due by noon, November 1, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Offices of the U.S. Trade Representative, 600 17th Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20508. Submissions by electronic mail:
FR0446@ustr.gov. 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, 1725 F. Street, NW, Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202)
395-3475. Questions concerning the expansion of market access
opportunities in government procurement should be addressed to Jean
Heilman Grier, Senior Procurement Negotiator, Office of the USTR, (202)
395-5097, or Scott Pietan, Department of Commerce, (202) 482-4337.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Chairman of the TPSC invites written
comments from the public on the expansion of market access
opportunities in government procurement under the World Trade
Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). Comments
should identify specific improvements that are needed in the current
coverage of the Parties to the GPA. Such requests could include the
addition of specific government entities, state-owned enterprises or
other government-related entities, the addition of services covered by
the Agreement, and the removal of existing discriminatory measures or
exclusions.
The Appendices with the current market access commitments or
coverage of each Party can be found on the WTO Web site at http://www.wto.org
under the trade topic ``government procurement,'' with the
details of Parties' market access obligations at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/loose_e.htm
.
1. Background Information
The GPA is a plurilateral agreement that currently applies to 38
Members of the WTO. In addition to the United States, they are: Canada,
European Communities (including its 25 member States: Austria, Belgium,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta,
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, United Kingdom), Hong Kong China, Iceland, Israel, Japan,
Korea, Liechtenstein, Netherlands with respect to Aruba, Norway,
Singapore, and Switzerland. The GPA includes both procedures that all
the Parties are required to follow when they undertake procurements
covered by the GPA and market access obligations in the Appendices to
the Agreement.
The Appendices include for each Party a positive list of the
government entities that are required to comply with the Agreement when
they undertake procurement above specified thresholds, subject to
exclusions of certain goods. The government entities covered by the GPA
include central government entities and government-related enterprises
(such as state-owned enterprises), as well as, for most Parties, sub-
central government entities. The Appendices also include a list of the
services covered by the Party. In addition, the Parties set out
exclusions and discriminatory measures in the Appendices.
The GPA calls for negotiations aimed at increasing market access
opportunities under the Agreement through the greatest possible
extension of coverage of government procurement by the Parties, on the
basis of reciprocity, and the elimination of discriminatory measures
and practices that distort open procurement. The GPA Parties have
agreed to commence bilateral negotiations with the submission of
initial requests to the other Parties for improvements in their
coverage under the GPA by the end of November 2004. Based on the
requests, the Parties will exchange offers in the spring of 2005.
The comments will be considered in developing U.S. positions in the
negotiations, including requests for improvements in the market access
provided by other Parties under the GPA.
2. Requirements for Submissions
In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR
strongly urges and prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in response
to this notice.
Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following
subject line: ``Expansion of Market Access under the WTO/GPA'' followed
by ``Written Comments.'' Documents should be submitted as WordPerfect,
MSWord, or text (.txt) files. Supporting documentation submitted as
spreadsheets are acceptable in Quattro Pro or Excel.
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 characters ``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 submitted in response to this request will be
placed in a file open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5,
except business confidential information exempt from public inspection
in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. Business confidential information
submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6 must be clearly market
``Business Confidential'' at the top of each page, including any cover
letter or cover page, and must be accompanied by a nonconfidential
summary of the confidential information. All public documents and
nonconfidential summaries shall be available for public inspection in
the USTR Reading Room. The USTR Reading Room is open to the public, by
appointment only, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday
through Friday. An appointment to review the file must be scheduled at
least 48 hours in advance
[[Page 60220]]
and may be made by calling (202) 395-6186.
General information concerning the Office of the United States
Trade Representative may be obtained by accessing its Internet Web site
(http://www.ustr.gov).
Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 04-22574 Filed 10-6-04; 8:45 am]