[Federal Register: May 21, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 97)]
[Notices]
[Page 28527-28528]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21my07-81]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the
Initiation of the 2007 Annual GSP Product and Country Eligibility
Practices Review and Change in Deadlines for Filing Certain Petitions
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and solicitation for public petition.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Office of the United States
Trade Representative (USTR) will receive petitions in 2007 to modify
the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under
the GSP program, and to modify the GSP status of certain GSP
beneficiary developing countries because of country practices. This
notice further determines that the deadline for submission of product
petitions, other than those requesting competitive need limitation
(CNL) waivers, and country practice petitions for the 2007 Annual GSP
Product and Country Eligibility Practices Review is 5 p.m., June 22,
2007. The deadline for submission of product petitions requesting CNL
waivers is 5 p.m., November 16, 2007. The list of product petitions and
country practice petitions accepted for review will be announced in the
Federal Register at later dates.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact the GSP Subcommittee of the
Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., Room F-220, Washington, DC 20508.
The telephone number is (202) 395-6971, the facsimile number is (202)
395-9481, and the e-mail address is FR0711@USTR.EOP.GOV. Public
versions of all documents relating to this Review will be available for
examination approximately 30 days after the pertinent 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.
2007 Annual GSP Review
The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007) provide the timetable for
conducting an annual review, unless otherwise specified by Federal
Register notice. Notice is hereby given that, in order to be considered
in the 2007 Annual GSP Product and Country Eligibility Practices
Review, all petitions to modify the list of articles eligible for duty-
free treatment under GSP or to review the GSP status of any beneficiary
developing country, with the exception of petitions requesting CNL
waivers, must be received by the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy
Staff Committee no later than 5 p.m. on June 22, 2007. Petitions
requesting CNL waivers must be received by the GSP Subcommittee of the
Trade Policy Staff Committee no later than 5 p.m. on November 16, 2007
in order to be considered in the 2007 Annual Review. Petitions
submitted after the respective deadlines will not be considered for
review.
Interested parties, including foreign governments, may submit
petitions to: (1) Designate additional articles as eligible for GSP
benefits, including to designate articles as eligible for GSP benefits
only for countries designated as least-developed beneficiary developing
countries, or only for countries designated as beneficiary sub-Saharan
African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA);
(2) withdraw, suspend or limit the application of duty-free treatment
accorded under the GSP with respect to any article, either for all
beneficiary developing countries, least-developed beneficiary
developing countries or beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries, or
for any of these countries individually; (3) waive the ``competitive
need limitations'' for individual beneficiary developing countries with
respect to specific GSP-eligible articles (these limits do not apply to
either least-developed beneficiary developing countries or AGOA
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries); and (4) otherwise modify
GSP coverage.
As specified in 15 CFR 2007.1, all product petitions must include a
detailed description of the product and the subheading of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under which the
product is classified.
Further, product petitions requesting CNL waivers for GSP-eligible
articles from beneficiary developing countries that exceed the CNLs in
2007 must be filed in the 2007 Annual Review. In order to allow
petitioners an opportunity to review additional 2007 U.S. import
statistics, these petitions may be filed after June 22, 2007, but must
be received on or before the November 16, 2007, deadline described
above in order to be considered in the 2007 Annual Review. Copies will
be made available for public inspection after the November 16, 2007,
deadline.
Any person may also submit petitions to review the designation of
any beneficiary developing country, including any least-developed
beneficiary developing country, with respect to any of the designation
criteria listed in sections 502(b) or 502(c) of the Trade Act (19
U.S.C. 2462(b) and (c)) (petitions to review the designation of
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries are considered in the Annual
Review of the AGOA, a separate administrative process not governed by
the GSP regulations). Such petitions must comply with the requirements
of 15 CFR 2007.0(b).
Requirements for Submissions
All such submissions must conform to the GSP regulations set forth
at 15 CFR part 2007, except as modified below. These regulations are
reprinted in the ``U.S. Generalized System of Preferences Guidebook''
(February 2007) (``GSP Guidebook''), available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Trade_Development/Preference_Programs/GSP/asset_upload_file412_8359.pdf
.
Any person or party making a submission is strongly advised to
review the GSP regulations. Submissions that do not provide the
information required by sections 2007.0 and 2007.1 of the GSP
regulations will not be accepted for review, except upon a detailed
showing in the submission that the petitioner made a good faith effort
to obtain the information required. Petitions with respect to waivers
of the ``competitive need limitations'' must meet the information
requirements for product addition requests in section 2007.1(c) of the
GSP regulations. A model petition
[[Page 28528]]
format is available from the GSP Subcommittee and is included in the
GSP Guidebook. Petitioners are requested to use this model petition
format so as to ensure that all information requirements are met.
Furthermore, interested parties submitting petitions that request
action with respect to specific products should list on the first page
of the petition the following information after typing ``2007 Annual
GSP Review'': (1) The requested action; (2) the HTSUS subheading in
which the product is classified; and (3) if applicable, the beneficiary
developing country. Petitions and requests must be submitted, in
English, to the Chairman of the GSP Subcommittee, Trade Policy Staff
Committee. Submissions in response to this notice 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 each and
every page of the document. The public version that does not contain
business confidential information must also be clearly marked in large,
bold letters at the top and bottom of each and every page (either
``PUBLIC VERSION'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL''). Documents that are
submitted without any marking might not be accepted or will be
considered public documents.
In order to facilitate prompt consideration of submissions, USTR
requires electronic mail (e-mail) submissions in response to this
notice. Hand-delivered submissions will not be accepted. E-mail
submissions should be single copy transmissions in English with the
total submission including attachments not to exceed 30 pages in 12-
point type and 3 megabytes as a digital file attached to an e-mail
transmission. Submissions should use the following e-mail subject line:
``2007 Annual GSP Review-Petition.'' Documents must be submitted as
either WordPerfect (``.WPD''), MSWord (``.DOC''), text (``.TXT''), or
Adobe (``PDF'') file. Documents cannot be submitted as electronic image
files or contain embedded images (for example, ``.JPG'', ``.TIF'',
``.BMP'', or ``.GIF''). 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. E-mail submissions
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 attached file containing the
submission itself, including identifying information on the sender,
organization name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address. The
electronic mail address for these submissions is FR0711@USTR.EOP.GOV.
For any document containing business confidential information
submitted as an electronic attached file to an e-mail transmission, in
addition to the proper marking at the top and bottom of each page as
previously specified, 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 person or party
(government, company, union, association, etc.) submitting the
petition.
Documents not submitted in accordance with these instructions may
not be considered in this review.
Marideth Sandler,
Executive Director, GSP Program, Chairman, GSP Subcommittee of the
Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. E7-9756 Filed 5-18-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W7-P