[Federal Register: August 18, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 159)]
[Notices]
[Page 49440]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18au03-64]
[[Page 49440]]
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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS
Clarification of Procedures for Considering Requests from the
Public for Textile and Apparel Safeguard Actions on Imports from the
People's Republic of China
August 13, 2003.
AGENCY: The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (The
Committee).
ACTION: Clarification of Safeguard Procedures
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SUMMARY: This notice clarifies the notice published in the Federal
Register on May 21, 2003 (see 68 FR 27787) by the Committee for the
Implementation of Textile Agreements (the Committee) of procedures the
Committee will follow in considering requests from the public for
textile and apparel safeguard actions as provided for in the Report of
the Working Party on the Accession of China to the World Trade
Organization (the Accession Agreement).
EFFECTIVE DATE: August 18, 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Dulka, Office of Textiles and
Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 482-4058.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: Section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as
amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as
amended.
Background
The Accession Agreement textile and apparel safeguard allows the
United States and other World Trade Organization Member countries that
believe imports of Chinese origin textile and apparel products are, due
to market disruption, threatening to impede the orderly development of
trade in these products to request consultations with China with a view
to easing or avoiding such market disruption. On May 21, 2003, the
Committee published procedures the Committee will follow in considering
requests from the public for textile and apparel safeguard actions as
provided for in the Accession Agreement in the Federal Register (see 68
FR 27787). Upon further review, the Committee has determined that it is
appropriate to clarify those procedures. Beyond the clarifications
noted below, those procedures remain unchanged.
The Committee has determined that actions taken under Accession
Agreement textile and apparel safeguard on imports from China fall
within the foreign affairs exception to the rulemaking provisions of 5
U.S.C. 553(a)(1), and this notice does not waive that determination.
This notice is not subject to the requirement to provide prior notice
and opportunity for public comment, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1) and
553(b)(A).
Clarifications
As was set forth in the May 21 notice, a request that has been
accepted for consideration, with the exception of information marked
``business confidential'', will be posted by the Department of
Commerce's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) on the Internet
(http://www.otexa.ita.doc.gov), along with the Federal Register notice
in which public comments on the request are solicited. The May 21
notice also provided that a public record on each request will be
maintained, including a non-confidential version of the request that is
being considered, a non-confidential version of any public comment
received with respect to a request, and, in the event consultations
with China are requested, the statement of the reasons and
justifications for such request for consultations subsequent to the
delivery of the statement to China.
OTEXA will maintain an official record for each request on behalf
of the Committee. The official record will include all factual
information, written argument, or other material developed by,
presented to, or obtained by OTEXA regarding the request, as well as
other material provided to the Department of Commerce by other
government agencies for inclusion in the official record. The official
record will include Committee memoranda pertaining to the request,
memoranda of Committee meetings, meetings between OTEXA staff and the
public, determinations, and notices published in the Federal Register.
The official record will contain material which is public, business
confidential, privileged, and classified, but will not include pre-
decisional inter-agency or intra-agency communications. If the
Committee decides it is appropriate to consider materials submitted in
an untimely manner, such materials will be maintained in the official
record. Otherwise, such material will be returned to the submitter and
will not be maintained as part of the official record.
OTEXA will make the official record public except for business
confidential information, privileged information, classified
information, and other information the disclosure of which is
prohibited by U.S. law. Information designated by the submitter as
business confidential will normally be considered to be business
confidential unless it is publicly available. The May 21 notice
requires that a request or comment that contains business confidential
information be accompanied by a non-confidential version in which
business confidential information is summarized or, if necessary,
deleted. The non-confidential version will be included in the public
record. The public record will be available to the public for
inspection and copying in a public reading room located in the
Department of Commerce.
As was set forth in the May 21 notice, in response to a request or
on its own initiative, the Committee will make a determination within
60 calendar days of the close of the comment period as to whether the
Committee will request consultations with China. The Committee will
make this determination in a manner consistent with longstanding
Committee practice in considering textile safeguard actions and the
information described in the May 21, 2003 notice.
James C. Leonard III,
Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.
[FR Doc.03-21034 Filed 8-15-03; 8:45 am]