[Federal Register: Thursday, July 14, 2005 (Vol 70,
No 134)]
[Notices]
[Page 40685-40686]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[waisaccessgpogov]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Foreign
Agricultural
Service
WTO Agricultural Safeguard Trigger
Levels
AGENCY: Foreign
Agricultural
Service, USDA
ACTION: Notice of product coverage and trigger levels for safeguard
measures provided for in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement
on Agriculture
SUMMARY: This notice lists the updated quantity trigger levels for products, which may be subject to additional import duties under the safeguard provisions of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture Beginning this year, the method of determining these triggers has been modified to exclude trade from countries that are not subject to WTO safeguards This notice also includes the relevant period applicable for the trigger levels on each of the listed products
EFFECTIVE DATE: August 14, 2005
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles R Bertsch, Multilateral Trade Negotiations Division, Foreign Agricultural Service, room 5524--South Building, US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250-1022, telephone at (202) 720-6278, or e-mail charles.bertsch@usda.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture provides that additional import duties may be imposed on imports of products subject to tarriffication as a result of the Uruguay Round if certain conditions are met The agreement permits additional duties to be charged if the price of an individual shipment of imported products falls below the average price for similar goods imported during the years 1986-88 by a specified percentage It also permits additional duties to be imposed if the volume of imports of an article exceeds the average of the most recent 3 years for which data are available by 5, 10, or 25 percent, depending on the article These additional duties may not be imposed on quantities for which minimum or current access commitments were made during the Uruguay Round negotiations, and only one type of safeguard, price or quantity, may be applied at any given time to an article
Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires that the President cause to be published in the Federal Register information regarding the price and quantity safeguards, including the quantity trigger levels, which must be updated annually based upon import levels during the most recent 3 years The President delegated this duty to the Secretary of Agriculture in Presidential Proclamation No 6763, Quantity Based Safeguard Trigger dated December 23, 1994 The Secretary of Agriculture further delegated the duty to the Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service (7 CFR 243(a)(2)) The Annex to this notice contains the updated quantity trigger levels
Beginning this year a change has been made in the method for calculating these trigger levels In previous years imports from all sources were included in the three year average used as the basis of the safeguard triggers After consulting with the US Trade Representative's Office, it was determined that it is more appropriate to exclude from these calculations imports from countries that are not subject to the WTO safeguard duties The following countries are not subject to those duties as a result of Free Trade Agreements: Canada, Mexico, Jordan, Singapore, Chile and Australia
Additional information on the products subject to safeguards and the additional duties which may apply can be found in subchapter IV of Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and in the Secretary of Agriculture's Notice of Safeguard Action, published in the Federal Register at 60 FR 427, January 4, 1995
Notice: As provided in section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, consistent with Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture, the safeguard quantity trigger levels previously notified are superceded by the levels indicated in the Annex to this notice
Dated: Issued at Washington, DC this 28 day of June, 2005 A Ellen Terpstra, Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, Annex
The definitions of these products were provided in the Notice of Safeguard
Action published in the Federal Register, at 60 FR 427, January 4, 1995
ANNEX—QUANTITY-BASED SAFEGUARD TRIGGER
Product |
Trigger level |
Period |
---|---|---|
Beef | 358,015 mt | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Mutton | 2,105 mt | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Cream | 5,074,624 liters | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Evaporated or Condensed Milk | 5,956,000 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Nonfat Dry Milk | 2,060,875 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Dried Whole Milk | 4,186,708 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Dried Cream | 28,042 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Dried Whey/Buttermilk | 185,042 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Butter | 12,278,292 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Butter Oil and Butter Substitutes | 7,294,708 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Dairy Mixtures | 31,026,208 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Blue Cheese | 4,685,625 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Cheddar Cheese | 12,127,708 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Edam/Gouda Cheese | 6,660,467 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Italian-Type Cheese | 22,661,375 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Swiss Cheese with Eye Formation | 35,579,750 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Gruyere Process Cheese | 8,484,500 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Lowfat Cheese | 4,227,750 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
NSPF Cheese | 54,338,417 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Peanuts | 56,596 mt | April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006 |
Peanut Butter Paste | 2,841 mt | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Raw Cane Sugar | 1,297,851 mt | October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005 |
1,096,324 | October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006 | |
Refined Sugar and Syrups | 95,785 mt | October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005 |
36,661 mt | October 1,2005 to September 30, 2006 | |
Blended Syrups | 8 mt | October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005 |
59 mt | October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006 | |
Articles Over 65% Sugar | 23 mt | October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005 |
170 mt | October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006 | |
Articles Over 10% Sugar | 80,886 mt | October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005 |
12,067 mt | October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006 | |
Sweetened Cocoa Powder | 531 mt | October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005 |
660 mt | October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006 | |
Chocolate Crumb | 9,239,208 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Lowfat Chocolate Crumb | 127,708 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Infant Formula Containing Oligosaccharides | 22,708 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Mixes and Doughs | 6,757 mt | October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005 |
78 mt | October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006 | |
Mixed Condiments and Seasonings | 402 mt | October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005 |
98 mt | October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006 | |
Ice Cream | 795,143 liters | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Animal Feed Containing Milk | 254,958 kilograms | January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 |
Short Staple Cotton | 94,717 kilograms | September 20, 2004 to September 19, 2005 |
20,042 kilograms | September 20, 2005 to September 19, 2006 | |
Harsh or Rough Cotton | 0 mt | August 1, 2004 to July 31, 2005 |
0 mt | August 1, 2005 to July 31, 2006 | |
Medium Staple Cotton | 485,971 kilograms | August 1, 2004 to July 31, 2005 |
1,571,375 kilograms | August 1, 2005 to July 31, 2006 | |
Extra Long Staple Cotton | 8,982,620 kilograms | August 1, 2004 to July 31, 2005 |
9,736,417 kilograms | August 1, 2005 to July 31, 2006 | |
Cotton Waste | 0 kilograms | September 20, 2004 to September 19, 2005 |
5,125 kilograms | September 20, 2005 to September 19, 2006 | |
Cotton, Processed Not Spun | 5,343 kilograms | September 11, 2004 to September 10, 2005 |
80,208 kilograms | September 11, 2005 to September 10, 2006 |
Last modified: Monday, July 18, 2005 AM |