[Federal Register: July 9, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 130)]
[Notices]
[Page 37272-37273]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09jy07-105]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of the Russian Federation:
Request for Public Comment
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Request for written submissions from the public.
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SUMMARY: Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C.
2242), requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to
identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of
intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access
to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. (Section
182 is commonly referred to as the ``Special 301'' provisions of the
Trade Act.) In addition, the USTR is required to determine which of
these countries should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries.
Acts, policies or practices that are the basis of a country's
identification as a Priority Foreign Country are normally the subject
of an investigation under the Section 301 provisions of the Trade Act.
On April 27, 2007, USTR announced the results of the 2007 Special
301 Review and stated that an Out-of-Cycle Review of the Russian
Federation (``Russia'') would be conducted this year. Pursuant to this
Out-of-Cycle Review of Russia, USTR requests written submissions from
the public concerning Russia's acts, policies, and practices regarding
the adequacy and effectiveness of Russia's intellectual property
protection and enforcement. In particular, USTR requests that comments
address Russia's implementation of the United States-Russia Bilateral
IPR Agreement of November 19, 2006 (available on USTR's Web site at
http://www.ustr.gov).
DATES: Submissions must be received on or before 10 a.m. on Monday,
August 27, 2007.
ADDRESSES: All comments should be addressed to Jennifer Choe Groves,
Director for Intellectual Property and Innovation and Chair of the
Special 301 Committee, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, and sent (i) electronically, to FR0606@ustr.eop.gov
(please note, ``FR0606'' consists of the numbers ``zero-six-zero-
six,'') with ``Russia Out-of-Cycle Review'' in the subject line, or
(ii) by fax, to (202) 395-9458, with a confirmation copy sent
electronically to the email address above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Choe Groves, Director for
Intellectual Property and Innovation and Chair of the Special 301
Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative at (202)
395-4510.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 182 of the Trade Act,
USTR must identify those countries that deny adequate and effective
protection for intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable
market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property
protection. Those countries that have the most onerous or egregious
acts, policies, or practices and whose acts, policies or practices have
the greatest adverse impact (actual or potential) on relevant U.S.
products are to be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. Acts,
policies or practices that are the basis of a country's designation as
a Priority Foreign Country are normally the subject of an investigation
under the Section 301 provisions of the Trade Act.
USTR may not identify a country as a Priority Foreign Country if it
is entering into good faith negotiations, or making significant
progress in bilateral or multilateral negotiations, to provide adequate
and effective protection of intellectual property rights.
[[Page 37273]]
On April 27, 2007, USTR announced the results of the 2007 Special
301 Review and stated that an Out-of-Cycle Review of Russia would be
conducted this year. Pursuant to this Out-of-Cycle Review of Russia,
USTR requests written submissions from the public concerning Russia's
acts, policies, and practices regarding the adequacy and effectiveness
of Russia's intellectual property protection and enforcement. In
particular, USTR requests that comments address Russia's implementation
of the United States-Russia Bilateral IPR Agreement of November 19,
2006 (available on USTR's Web site at http://www.ustr.gov).
Requirements for comments: Comments should include a description of
experiences with respect to Russia in the field of intellectual
property rights and the effect of Russian IPR acts, policies, and
practices on U.S. industry. Comments should be as detailed as possible
and should provide all necessary information for assessing the effect
of Russia's acts, policies, and practices. Any comments that include
quantitative loss claims should be accompanied by the methodology used
in calculating such estimated losses.
Comments must be in English. No submissions will be accepted via
postal service mail. Documents should be submitted as either
WordPerfect, MS Word, .pdf, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting
documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro
or Excel files. All comments and supporting documentation received by
USTR will be made available to the public through electronic or other
means. A submitter requesting that information contained in a comment
be treated as confidential business information must certify that such
information is business confidential and would not customarily be
released to the public by the submitter. A non-confidential version of
the comment must also be provided. For any document containing business
confidential information, 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. Submissions
should not include 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.
DATES: Submissions must be received on or before 10 a.m. on Monday,
August 27, 2007.
All comments should be addressed to Jennifer Choe Groves, Director
for Intellectual Property and Innovation and Chair of the Special 301
Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative, and sent
(i) electronically, to FR0606@ustr.eop.gov (please note, ``FR0606''
consists of the numbers ``zero-six-zero-six,'') with ``Russia Out-of-
Cycle Review'' in the subject line, or (ii) by fax, to (202) 395-9458,
with a confirmation copy sent electronically to the email address
above.
Public inspection of submissions: (1) Within one business day of
receipt, non-confidential submissions will be placed in a public file
open for inspection at the USTR reading room, Office of the United
States Trade Representative, Annex Building, 1724 F Street, NW., Room
1, Washington, DC. An appointment to review the file must be scheduled
at least 48 hours in advance and may be made by calling Jacqueline
Caldwell at (202) 395-6186. The USTR reading room is open to the public
from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Christopher S. Wilson,
Acting Assistant USTR for Intellectual Property and Innovation.
[FR Doc. E7-13257 Filed 7-6-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W7-P