[Federal Register: September 4, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 171)]
[Notices]
[Page 52623-52624]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04se03-84]
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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-Dominican Republic 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.-Dominican Republic 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, October 1, 2003, to be assured of timely
consideration in the preparation of the report.
ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: FR096@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, 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,
D.C. 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 August 4, 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 free trade
negotiations with the Dominican Republic. The notification letters to
the Congress can be found on the USTR Web site at http://www.ustr.gov/new/fta/Dr/2003-08-04-notification-house.pdf
and http://www.ustr.gov/new/fta/Dr/2003-08-04-notification-senate.pdf respectively. We intend
to launch negotiations in January 2004.
Through these negotiations we expect to provide for essentially the
same disciplines as those in the Free Trade Agreement we are currently
negotiating with the five members of the Central American Economic
Integration System (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and
Nicaragua) (CAFTA), and to negotiate specific market access commitments
with the Dominican Republic. On August 6, 2003 the USTR requested the
ITC provide advice on probable economic effects. The ITC intends to
provide this advice within four months of its receipt of the request.
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 EO
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
[[Page 52624]]
mail to the following e-mail address: FR096@ustr.gov. Persons making
submissions by e-mail should use the following subject line:
``Dominican Republic 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-
''[chyph] 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 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. 03-22526 Filed 9-3-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P