[Federal Register: January 18, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 13)]
[Notices]
[Page 3495-3496]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18ja08-90]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the
Initiation of Child Labor Review in the Production of Certain GSP-
Eligible Hand-Loomed or Hand-Hooked Carpets
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The 2004 Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act
(H.R. 1047) (the ``2004 Act''), as approved by Congress, authorized the
President to designate seven tariff lines relating to carpets
(5702.51.20 (now 5702.50.20), 5702.91.30, 5702.92.00 (now 5702.92.10),
5702.99.10 (now 5702.99.05), 5703.10.00 (now 5703.10.20), 5703.20.10,
and 5703.30.00 (now 5703.30.20)) as eligible for duty-free treatment
under the GSP program. These tariff lines cover certain hand-loomed or
hand-hooked carpets and other textile floor coverings made of wool,
cotton, fine animal hair, or man-made textile materials. Pursuant to
the authorization in the 2004 Act, the President designated these seven
tariff lines as eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program.
The GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is
conducting a triennial review of whether each beneficiary country is
taking steps to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, including the
use of bonded child labor, in the production of such carpets imported
under the U.S. GSP program. If sufficient steps are not underway, the
TPSC will recommend to the President changes in GSP coverage that would
eliminate from duty-free treatment under the GSP program those carpets
found to be made with the worst forms of child labor.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC,
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), 1724 F Street,
NW., Room F-220, Washington, DC 20508. The telephone number is (202)
395-6971.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In connection with the President's
designation of seven carpet tariff lines as GSP eligible articles, the
GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC is reviewing whether each beneficiary
country that supplies the identified hand-loomed or hand-hooked carpets
under the GSP program is taking sufficient steps to eliminate the worst
forms of child labor, including the use of bonded child labor, in the
production of these items. The top suppliers of these carpet tariff
lines under the GSP program to the United States in 2006 (the most
recent year for which full-year data are available) were: India,
Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Pakastan, Egypt, Turkey, South
Africa, and Nepal.
Upon a finding during the review that a country is not taking steps
to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, including the use of
bonded child labor, in production of certain hand-loomed or hand-hooked
carpets imported under the U.S. GSP Program, the TPSC will recommend
changes in the GSP coverage that would eliminate those carpets from
duty-free treatment under the GSP program. The review will be repeated
at three-year intervals.
For purposes of this review, the term ``worst forms of child
labor'' means (19 U.S.C. 2467(6)) (A) All forms of slavery or practices
similar to slavery, such as the sale or trafficking of children, debt
bondage and serfdom, or forced or compulsory labor, including forced or
compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
(B) The use, procuring, or offering of a child for prostitution,
for the production of pornography or for pornographic purposes;
(C) The use, procuring, or offering of a child for illicit
activities in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs;
and
(D) Work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is
carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of
children.
The work referred to in subparagraph (D) shall be determined by the
laws, regulations, or competent authority of the beneficiary developing
country involved.
Opportunities for Public Comment and Inspection of Comments: The
GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC invites comments for this review.
Submissions should comply with 15 CFR Part 2007, except as modified
below. All
[[Page 3496]]
submissions should identify the subject article(s) in terms of the
country and the eight-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States subheading number. The deadline for submission is February 15,
2008.
Requirements for Submissions: In order to facilitate prompt
processing of submissions, USTR requires electronic e-mail submissions
in response to this notice. Hand-delivered submissions will not be
accepted. These submissions should be single-copy transmissions in
English, and including attachments, with the total submission not to
exceed 25 single-spaced standard letter-size pages in 12-point type and
three megabytes as sent as a digital file attached to an e-mail
transmission. E-mail submissions should use the following subject line:
``Child Labor Review in the Production of Certain GSP-Eligible Hand-
loomed or Hand-hooked Carpet Lines'' followed by the country and the
eight-digit HTSUS subheading number. Documents must be submitted in
English in one of the following formats: WordPerfect (.WPD), Adobe
(.PDF), MSWord (.DOC), or text (.TXT) files. Documents cannot be
submitted as electronic image files or contain embedded images, e.g.,
``.JPG'', ``.TIF'', ``.BMP'', or ``.GIF''. Supporting documentation
submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Excel files, 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.
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'' at the top
and bottom of each page of the document. The non-confidential version
must also be clearly marked at the top and bottom of each page (either
``PUBLIC VERSION'' or ``NON-CONFIDENTIAL''). Documents that are
submitted without any marking might not be accepted or will be
considered public documents.
For any document containing business confidential information
submitted as an electronic attached file to an e-mail transmission, 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 party (government, company, union,
association, etc.) which is making the submission.
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 the sender's name,
organization name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. The e-
mail address for these submissions is FR0081@USTR.EOP.GOV. (Note: The
letters ``FR'' in the e-mail address are followed by the number, zero,
not a letter. Documents not submitted in accordance with these
instructions might not be considered in this review. If unable to
provide submissions by e-mail, please contact the GSP Subcommittee to
arrange for an alternative method of transmission.)
Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be
available for review approximately two weeks after the relevant due
date by appointment in the USTR public reading room, 1724 F Street,
NW., Washington, DC. 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.
Marideth Sandler
Executive Director, Generalized System of Preferences, Office of the
U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. E8-905 Filed 1-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W8-P