[Federal Register: August 14, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 157)]
[Notices]
[Page 48657-48658]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14au03-104]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA); Notice Regarding the 2003
Annual Review
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the 2003 Annual Review of the Andean
Trade Preference Act (ATPA). The deadline for the submission of
petitions for the 2003 Annual ATPA Review is September 15, 2003. USTR
will publish a list of petitions filed in response to this announcement
in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Submit petitions by electronic mail (e-mail) to
FR0088@ustr.gov. If unable to submit petitions by e-mail, contact the
Office of the Americas, Office of the United States Trade
Representative (USTR), 600 17th St., NW., Washington, DC 20508, at
(202) 395-5190.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bennett M. Harman, Deputy Assistant
U.S. Trade Representative for Latin America, Office of the Americas,
Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th St., NW.,
Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202) 395-5190 and the
facsimile number is (202) 395-9675.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ATPA (19 U.S.C. 3201-06), as renewed and
amended by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA)
in the Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210), provides for trade benefits
for eligible Andean countries. Consistent with Section 3103(d) of the
ATPDEA, USTR promulgated regulations (15 CFR part 2016) (68 FR 43922)
regarding the review of eligibility of articles and countries for the
benefits of the ATPA as amended. The 2003 Annual ATPA Review is the
first such review to be conducted pursuant to the ATPA regulations.
To qualify for the benefits of the ATPA and ATPDEA, each country
must meet several eligibility criteria, as set forth in sections 203(c)
and (d), and section 204(b)(6)(B) of the ATPA as amended (19 U.S.C.
3202(c), (d); 19 U.S.C. 3203(b)(6)(B)), and as outlined in the Federal
Register notice USTR published to request public comment regarding the
designation of eligible countries as ATPDEA beneficiary countries (67
FR 53379). Under section 203(e) of the ATPA as amended (19 U.S.C.
3202(e)), the President may withdraw or suspend the designation of any
country as a beneficiary country, and may also withdraw, suspend, or
limit preferential treatment for any product of any beneficiary
country, if the President determines that, as a result of changed
circumstances, the country is not meeting the eligibility criteria.
The ATPA regulations provide the schedule of dates for conducting
an annual review, unless otherwise specified by Federal Register
notice. Notice is hereby given that, in order to be considered in the
2003 Annual ATPA Review, all petitions to withdraw or suspend the
designation of a country as an ATPA or ATPDEA beneficiary country, or
to withdraw, suspend, or limit application of preferential treatment to
any article of any ATPA country under the ATPA, or to any
[[Page 48658]]
article of any ATPDEA beneficiary country under section 204(b)(1), (3),
or (4) (19 U.S.C. 3202(b)(1), (3), (4)) of the ATPA, must be received
by the Andean Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee no later
than 5 p.m. EDT on September 15, 2003. Petitioners should consult 15
CFR 2016.0 regarding the content of such petitions.
Petitions must be submitted, in English, to the Andean
Subcommittee, Trade Policy Staff Committee. Petitions will be available
for public inspection by appointment with the staff of the USTR Public
Reading Room, except for information granted ``business confidential''
status pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.6. If the submission contains business
confidential information, a non-confidential version of the submission
must also be submitted that indicates where confidential information
was redacted by inserting asterisks where material was deleted. In
addition, the confidential submission must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS
CONFIDENTIAL'' in large, bold letters at the top and bottom of every
page of the document. The public version that does not contain business
confidential information must be clearly marked either ``PUBLIC
VERSION'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL'' in large, bold letters at the top and
bottom of every page.
In order to facilitate prompt consideration of submissions, USTR
strongly urges and prefers electronic mail (e-mail) submissions in
response to this notice. E-mail submissions should be single copy
transmissions in English, and with the total submission including
attachments should not exceed 50 pages. E-mail submissions should use
the following subject line: ``2003 Annual ATPA Review--Petition.''
Documents must be submitted as either WordPerfect (``.WPD''), MSWord
(``.DOC''), or text (``.TXT'') file. Documents should not be submitted
as electronic image files or contain imbedded images (for example,
``.JPG'', ``PDF'', ``.BMP'', or ``.GIF''), as these type files are
generally excessively large. Supporting documentation submitted as
spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel, pre-formatted for
printing on 8\1/2\ x 11 inch paper. To the extent possible, any data
attachments to the submission should be included in the same file as
the submission itself, and not as separate files.
The file name of any document containing business confidential
information attached to an e-mail transmission 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 person or party submitting the petition.
Submissions by e-mail should not include separate cover letters or
messages in the message area of the e-mail; information that might
appear in any cover letter should be included directly in the
submission. The e-mail address for submissions is FR0088@ustr.gov. Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be
available for review shortly after the due date by appointment in the
USTR Public Reading Room, 1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC.
Availability of documents may be ascertained, and appointments may be
made from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through
Friday, by calling (202) 395-6186.
Bennett M. Harman,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Latin America.
[FR Doc. 03-20791 Filed 8-13-03; 8:45 am]
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