[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 148 (Thursday, July 31, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44783-44785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17574]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning
China's Compliance With WTO Commitments
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Request for comments and notice of public hearing concerning
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China's compliance with its WTO commitments.
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SUMMARY: The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will
convene a public hearing and seek public comment to assist the Office
of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the preparation of
its annual report to the Congress on China's compliance with the
commitments made in connection with its accession to the World Trade
Organization (WTO).
DATES: Persons wishing to testify at the hearing must provide written
notification of their intention, as well as a copy of their testimony,
by noon, Thursday, September 18, 2008. Written comments are due by
noon, Monday, September 22, 2008. A hearing will be held in Washington,
DC, on Thursday, October 2, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected].
Submissions by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade
Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, (202) 395-6143. The public is strongly encouraged to
submit documents electronically rather than by facsimile. (See
requirements for submissions below.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
written comments or participation in the public hearing, contact Gloria
Blue, (202) 395-3475. All other questions should be directed to
Terrence J. McCartin, Deputy Assistant United States Trade
Representative for China Enforcement, (202) 395-3900, or Claire E.
Reade, Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement, (202) 395-9625.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
China became a Member of the WTO on December 11, 2001. In
accordance with section 421 of the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000
(Pub. L. 106-286), USTR is required to submit, by December 11 of each
year, a report to Congress on China's compliance with commitments made
in connection with its accession to the WTO, including both
multilateral commitments and any bilateral commitments made to the
United States. In accordance with section 421, and to assist it in
preparing this year's report, the TPSC is hereby soliciting public
comment. Last year's report is available on USTR's Internet Web site
(at http://www.ustr.gov/World_Regions/North_Asia/China/Section_Index.html).
The terms of China's accession to the WTO are contained in the
Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China (including
its annexes) (Protocol), the Report of the Working Party on the
Accession of China (Working Party Report), and the WTO agreements. The
Protocol and Working Party Report can be found on the Department of
Commerce Web page, http://www.mac.doc.gov/China/WTOAccessionPackage.htm, or on the WTO Web site, http://docsonline.wto.org (document symbols: WT/L/432, WT/MIN(01)/3, WT/
MIN(01)/3/Add.1, WT/MIN(01)/3/Add.2).
2. Public Comment and Hearing
USTR invites written comments and/or oral testimony of interested
persons on China's compliance with commitments made in connection with
its accession to the WTO, including, but not limited to, commitments in
the following areas: (a) Trading rights; (b) import regulation (e.g.,
tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas, import licenses); (c) export
regulation; (d) internal policies affecting trade (e.g., subsidies,
standards and technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary
measures, government procurement, trade-related investment measures,
taxes and charges levied on imports and exports); (e) intellectual
property rights (including intellectual property rights enforcement);
(f) services; (g) rule of law issues (e.g., transparency, judicial
review, uniform administration of laws and regulations) and status of
legal reform; and (h) other WTO commitments. In addition, given the
Administration's view that China should be held accountable as a full
participant in, and beneficiary of, the international trading system
(see ``U.S.-China Trade Relations: Entering a New Phase of Greater
Accountability and Enforcement,'' issued by USTR in February 2006,
http://www.ustr.gov/World_Regions/North_Asia/China/2006_Top-to-Bottom_Review/Section_Index.html), USTR requests that interested
persons also specifically identify unresolved compliance issues that
warrant review and evaluation by USTR's China Enforcement Task Force.
Written comments must be received no later than noon, Monday,
September 22, 2008.
A hearing will be held on Thursday, October 2, 2008, in Room 1,
1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. If necessary, the hearing
will continue on the next day.
Persons wishing to testify orally at the hearing must provide
written notification of their intention by noon, Thursday, September
18, 2008. The notification should include: (1) The name, address, and
telephone number of the person presenting the testimony; and (2) a
short (one or two paragraph) summary of the presentation, including the
commitments at issue and, as applicable, the product(s) (with HTSUS
numbers), service sector(s), or other subjects to be discussed. A copy
of the testimony must accompany the notification. Remarks at the
hearing should be limited to no more than five minutes to allow for
possible questions from the TPSC.
All documents should be submitted in accordance with the
instructions in section 3 below.
3. Requirements for Submissions
In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR
strongly urges and prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in response
to this notice. In the event that an e-mail submission is impossible,
submissions should be made by facsimile.
Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following
subject line: ``China WTO'' followed by (as appropriate) ``Written
Comments,'' ``Notice of Testimony,'' or ``Testimony.'' Documents should
be submitted as either Adobe PDF, WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT)
files. Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets is acceptable
as Quattro Pro or Excel. For any document containing business
confidential information submitted electronically, 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 submitter. Persons who make submissions by e-mail should not
provide separate cover letters; information that might appear in a
cover letter should be included in the submission itself. Similarly, 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.
Written comments, notices of testimony, and testimony will be
placed in a file open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5,
except for confidential business information exempt from public
inspection in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. Confidential business
information submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6 must be clearly
marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of each page, including any
cover letter or cover page, and must be accompanied by a
nonconfidential summary of the confidential information. All public
documents and nonconfidential summaries shall be available for public
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inspection in the USTR Reading Room. The USTR Reading Room is open to
the public, by appointment only, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to
4 p.m., Monday through Friday. An appointment to review the file may be
made by calling (202) 395-6186. Appointments must be scheduled at least
48 hours in advance.
General information concerning USTR may be obtained by accessing
its Internet Web site (http://www.ustr.gov).
Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. E8-17574 Filed 7-30-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W8-P