[Federal Register: February 1, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 20)]
[Notices]
[Page 5118-5119]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01fe10-98]
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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION
[Docket No. 1210-5]
Possible Modifications to the International Harmonized System
Nomenclature
AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.
ACTION: Request for proposals to amend the international Harmonized
System.
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SUMMARY: The Commission is requesting proposals from interested persons
and agencies to amend the international Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System (Harmonized System) in connection with
the Fifth Review Cycle of the World Customs Organization (WCO), with a
view to keeping the Harmonized System current with changes in
technology and trade patterns. The proposals will be reviewed by the
Commission, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Department
of Commerce (Bureau of the Census) for potential submission by the U.S.
Government to the WCO in Brussels, Belgium.
DATES: November 1, 2010: Deadline for submissions.
ADDRESSES: All Commission offices are located in the United States
International Trade Commission Building, 500 E Street, SW., Washington,
DC. All written submissions should be addressed to the Secretary,
United States International Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20436. The public record for this collection of
proposals may be viewed on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at
http://www.usitc.gov/secretary/edis.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Beck, Director, Office of Tariff
Affairs and Trade Agreements (202-205-2603, fax 202-205-2616,
david.beck@usitc.gov). The media should contact Margaret O'Laughlin,
Office of External Affairs (202-205-1819,
margaret.olaughlin@usitc.gov). Hearing impaired individuals may obtain
information on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal
at 202-205-1810. General information concerning the Commission may also
be obtained by accessing its Internet Web site (http://www.usitc.gov).
Persons with mobility impairments who will need special assistance in
gaining access to the Commission should contact the Office of the
Secretary at 202-205-2000.
Background: Section 1210 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness
Act of 1988 (the 1988 Act) (19 U.S.C. 3010) designates the Commission,
the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Department of
Commerce, subject to the policy direction of the Office of U.S. Trade
Representative, as the principal agencies responsible for formulating
U.S. Government positions on technical and procedural issues and in
representing the U.S. Government in activities of the World Customs
Organization (WCO) relating to the International Convention on the
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, informally known as
the Harmonized System (HS). The U.S. Trade Representative subsequently
designated the Commission to lead the U.S. delegation to the HS Review
Sub-Committee (RSC), which is responsible for considering amendments to
the HS in order to keep the HS current with changes in technology and
patterns of international trade (see 53 FR 45646, Nov. 10, 1988).
Through this notice the Commission is seeking proposals to amend
the HS in connection with the Fifth Review Cycle of the HS Review Sub-
Committee of the WCO. Proposals received will be made a part of the
Commission's record keeping system and available for public inspection
(with the exception of any confidential business information) through
the Commission's record files and through the Commission's electronic
docket (EDIS). The Commission has designated this notice as number five
in the series and is in the process of adding available notices and
submissions from the four prior instances in which it requested such
proposals under section 1210 of the 1988 Act.
By way of further background, shortly after implementation of the
international Harmonized System (HS) in 1988, the WCO's HS Review Sub-
Committee (RSC) began a series of systematic reviews of the HS. Four
such reviews have been completed, resulting in WCO Recommendations that
countries using the HS update their national tariffs to reflect
international amendments. The Fifth Review Cycle has begun, with a view
to examining proposals to amend the HS, for inclusion in a WCO
Recommendation to be issued in June 2014 and targeted implementation of
amendments on January 1, 2017.
The HS was established by an international convention, which, inter
alia, provides that the HS should be kept up to date in light of
changes in technology and patterns of international trade. The HS
Nomenclature, which is maintained by the WCO, provides a uniform
structural basis for the customs tariffs and statistical nomenclatures
of all major trading countries of the world, including the United
States.
An up-to-date copy of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTS), which incorporates the international HS in its overall
structure, can be found on the Commission's Web site (http://
www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/bychapter/index.htm). Hard copies and electronic
copies on CD can be found at many of the 1,400 Federal Depository
Libraries located throughout the United States and its territories;
further information about these locations can be found at http://
www.gpoaccess.gov/fdlp.html or by contacting GPO Access at the
Government Printing Office, 866-512-1800.
The international HS comprises the broadest levels of categories in
the HTS, that is, the General Rules for the Interpretation of the
Nomenclature, Section and Chapter titles, Section and Chapter legal
notes, and heading and subheading texts to the 6-digit level of detail.
Additional U.S. Notes, further subdivisions (8-digit subheadings and
10-digit statistical annotations) and statistical notes, as well as the
entirety of chapters 98 and 99 and several appendixes, are national
legal and statistical detail added for the administration of the U.S.
tariff and statistical programs and are not part of the international
HS review process that is the subject of this notice.
[[Page 5119]]
Request for Proposals: The Commission is seeking proposals for
specific modifications to the international Harmonized System
(including the rules of interpretation, section and chapter notes, and
the texts of 4-digit headings and 6-digit subheadings) that will
further the goals set out by the HS Convention. No proposals for
changes to U.S. national-level provisions (including Additional U.S.
Notes, 8-digit subheadings, 10-digit statistical annotations, and rates
of duty) will be considered by the Commission as part of this review.
Interested parties, associations, and government agencies should submit
specific language for proposed amendments to the HS, together with
appropriate descriptive comments and, to the extent available, relevant
trade data.
As part of this review, the Commission particularly invites
proposals concerning the following matters:
The deletion of HS headings or subheadings with low trade
volume,
The separate identification of new products important in
international trade, and/or
The simplification of the HS, e.g., by the elimination of
classification provisions that are difficult to administer.
As indicated above, no proposals for changes to national-level
provisions (including Additional U.S. Notes, U.S. 8-digit subheadings,
statistical annotations, and rates of duty) will be considered by the
Commission as part of this review. The changes in the international HS
that will result from this Fifth Review Cycle of the WCO are not
intended to affect tariff rates.
Proposals received will be considered by the interagency U.S.
delegation to the WCO's HS Review Sub-Committee. Should the WCO later
make recommendations as part the Fifth Review Cycle, the Commission
will undertake a review and make recommendations to the President in
accordance with section 1205 of the 1988 Act. The Commission will
publish a notice and seek the views of interested parties in connection
with any such review.
This notice does not solicit proposals for changes to the HS
Explanatory Notes, which are maintained by the WCO. However, requests
for changes to the Explanatory Notes (not arising from proposed legal
amendments to the HS) may be sent by a WCO member administration
directly to the WCO's Harmonized System Committee (the parent committee
to the RSC) at any time; government and private sector parties
interested in such action should contact the Commission (see contacts
above) or the following contacts at U.S. Customs and Border Protection:
Myles B. Harmon, Director, Commercial & Trade Facilitation Division,
202-325-0060, or Gail Hamill, Chief, Tariff Classification & Marking
Branch, 202-325-0010.
Written Submissions: Interested persons and agencies are invited to
submit written proposals, which should be addressed to the Secretary
and received no later than November 1, 2010. Submissions should be
marked with a reference to ``Docket No. 1210-5''. All written
submissions must conform with the provisions of section 201.8 of the
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 201.8). Section
201.8 requires that a signed original (or a copy so designated) and
fourteen (14) copies of each document be filed. In the event that
confidential treatment of a document is requested, at least four (4)
additional copies must be filed, in which the confidential information
must be deleted (see the following paragraph for further information
regarding confidential business information). The Commission's rules
authorize filing submissions with the Secretary by facsimile or
electronic means only to the extent permitted by section 201.8 of the
rules (see Handbook for Electronic Filing Procedures, http://
www.usitc.gov/secretary/fed_reg_notices/rules/documents/handbook_
on_electronic_filing.pdf). Persons with questions regarding
electronic filing should contact the Secretary (202-205-2000).
Any submissions that contain confidential business information must
also conform with the requirements of section 201.6 of the Commission's
Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 201.6). Section 201.6 of the
rules requires that the cover of the document and the individual pages
be clearly marked as to whether they are the ``confidential'' or ``non-
confidential'' version, and that the confidential business information
be clearly identified by means of brackets. All written submissions,
except for confidential business information, will be made available
for inspection by interested parties. Confidential business information
received in the proposals may be made available to Customs and Census
during the examination of these proposals. The Commission will not
otherwise publish or release any confidential business information
received, nor release it to other government agencies or other persons.
By order of the Commission.
Issued: January 26, 2010.
Marilyn R. Abbott,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2010-1913 Filed 1-29-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P