[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60159-60161]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24456]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket No. USTR-2010-0026]
WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Regarding China--Certain
Measures Affecting Electronic Payment Services
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative
(``USTR'') is providing notice that on September 15, 2010, the United
States requested consultations with the People's Republic of China
(``China'') under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade
Organization (``WTO Agreement'') concerning issues relating
[[Page 60160]]
to certain restrictions and requirements maintained by China pertaining
to electronic payment services for payment card transactions and the
suppliers of those services. That request may be found at www.wto.org
contained in a document designated as WT/DS413/1. USTR invites written
comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.
DATES: Although USTR will accept any comments received during the
course of the dispute settlement proceedings, comments should be
submitted on or before October 29, 2010 to be assured of timely
consideration by USTR.
ADDRESSES: Public comments should be submitted electronically to http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2010-0026. If you are unable
to provide submissions to http://www.regulations.gov, please contact
Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-9483 to arrange for an alternative method of
transmission. If (as explained below) the comment contains confidential
information, then the comment should be submitted by fax only to Sandy
McKinzy at (202) 395-3640.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank J. Schweitzer, Associate General
Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-9444.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USTR is providing notice that consultations
have been requested pursuant to the WTO Understanding on Rules and
Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (``DSU''). If such
consultations should fail to resolve the matter and a dispute
settlement panel is established pursuant to the DSU, such panel, which
would hold its meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, would be expected to
issue a report on its findings and recommendations within nine months
after it is established.
Major Issues Raised by the United States
On September 15, 2010, the United States requested consultations
with China concerning issues relating to certain restrictions and
requirements maintained by China pertaining to electronic payment
services for payment card transactions and the suppliers of those
services. Electronic payment services involve the services through
which transactions involving credit card, debit card, charge card,
check card, automated teller machine (``ATM'') card, prepaid card, or
other similar card or money transmission product, are processed and
through which transfers of funds between institutions participating in
the transactions are managed and facilitated.
In the financial services sector, as set out in China's Schedule of
Specific Commitments on Services annexed to the Protocol on the
Accession of the People's Republic of China, China undertook both
market access and national treatment commitments with respect to
electronic payment services.
Despite those commitments, China appears to impose market access
restrictions and requirements on services suppliers of other Members
seeking to supply electronic payment services in China. It appears that
China UnionPay (``CUP''), a Chinese entity, is the only entity that
China permits to supply electronic payment services for payment card
transactions denominated and paid in renminbi (``RMB'') in China.
Service suppliers of other Members can only supply these services for
payment card transactions paid in foreign currency. In addition to
permitting only CUP to supply electronic payment services for payment
card transactions in China denominated and paid in RMB, China also
requires all payment card processing devices at merchant locations to
be compatible with CUP's system, which gives CUP guaranteed access to
all merchants in China who accept payment cards. Electronic payment
services suppliers of other Members or their participating
institutions, by contrast, must negotiate for access to merchants. In
addition, China requires that all payment cards, including ``dual
currency'' cards, issued in China for transactions denominated and paid
in RMB bear the CUP logo. These and other requirements and restrictions
maintained by China appear to be inconsistent with China's market
access commitments and to accord less favorable treatment to electronic
payment services suppliers of other Members than to Chinese suppliers
of these services. The United States considers that China therefore
appears to be acting inconsistently with its obligations under Articles
XVI and XVII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services.
In its request for consultation, the United States identified the
following instruments through which China maintains these measures:
Measures for the Administration of Bank Card Business by
the People's Bank of China (Yinfa [1999] 17), issued on 27 January
1999;
Circular of the People's Bank of China on Promulgation of
Opinions on Implementation of Joint Work in Bank Card Interoperability
in 2001 (Yinfa [2001] 37), issued on 19 February 2001;
Circular on Uniform Use of CUP Logo and its Holographic
Label for Anti-counterfeiting by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa
[2001] 57), issued on 13 March 2001;
Notice of Circulating the Bank Card Connection Business
Standard by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa [2001] 76), issued 29
March 2001;
Opinions on Bank Card Interoperability Related Work in
2002 by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa [2002] 94), issued on 5 April
2002;
Circular regarding Issues concerning Bank Card
Interoperability Related Work by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa
[2002] 272), issued on 29 August 2002;
Circular on Further Improving Bank Card Interoperability
Related Work by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa [2003] 129), issued
on 2 July 2003;
Announcement of Clearing Arrangements Provided by Banks in
relation to Individuals' Deposits, Exchanges, Bank Card and Remittance
in RMB in Hong Kong (PBOC Announcement [2003] 16), issued on 19
November 2003;
Circular on Regulating the Administration of Foreign
Currency Bank Cards by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange
Circular (Huifa [2004] 66), issued on 30 June 2004;
Announcement of Clearing Arrangements Provided by Banks in
relation to Individuals' Deposits, Exchanges, Bank Cards and Remittance
in RMB in Macao (PBOC Announcement [2004] 8), issued on 3 August 2004;
Notice of the People's Bank of China concerning Relevant
Issues on Accepting and Using Renminbi Bank Cards in Border Areas
(Yinfa [2004] 219), issued on 21 September 2004;
Circular regarding Issues concerning Individual RMB
Business Handled by Banks in Mainland China and Banks in Hong Kong and
Macao by the People's Bank of China (Yinfa [2004] 254), issued on 28
October 2004;
Some Opinions of the People's Bank of China, the National
Reform and Development Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the
Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry
of Commerce, the Station Administration of Taxation, China Banking
Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange
on Promoting the Development of Bank Card Industry (Yinfa [2005] 103),
issued 24 April 2005;
Guiding Opinions of the People's Bank of China on
Regulating and Promoting the Development of Bank Card Acceptance Market
(Yinfa [2005] 153), issued on 16 June 2005;
[[Page 60161]]
Notice of the People's Bank of China on the Relevant
Issues concerning Strengthening the Administration of Oversea Business
Acceptance of Bank Cards (Yinfa [2007] 273), issued on 6 August 2007;
Notice of the China Banking Regulatory Commission on the
Issues Concerning Wholly Foreign-funded and Chinese-foreign Equity
Joint Banks in Conducting the Bank Card Business (Yin Jian Fa [2007]
49), issued 6 June 2007;
Notice of the People's Bank of China, the China Banking
Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Public Security and the State
Administration for Industry and Commerce on Strengthening the Safety
Management of Bank Cards and Preventing and Combating Bank Card Crimes
(Yinfa [2009] 142), issued 27 April 2009; and
The Opinions of the Standing Office of the People's Bank
of China on the Circular on Strengthening the Safety Management of
Bankcards and Preventing and Fighting Crimes in Bank Cards by the
People's Bank of China, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the
Ministry of Public Security and the State Administration for Industry
and Commerce (Yinfa [2009] 149), issued 1 August 2009;
As well as any amendments, related measures, or
implementing measures.
Public Comment: Requirements for Submissions
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning the issues raised in this dispute. Persons may submit public
comments electronically to www.regulations.gov docket number USTR-2010-
0026. If you are unable to provide submissions by http://www.regulations.gov, please contact Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-9483 to
arrange for an alternative method of transmission.
To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number
USTR-2010-0026 on the home page and click ``search''. The site will
provide a search-results page listing all documents associated with
this docket. Find a reference to this notice by selecting ``Notice''
under ``Document Type'' on the left side of the search-results page,
and click on the link entitled ``Submit a Comment.'' (For further
information on using the www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult
the resources provided on the website by clicking on ``How to Use This
Site'' on the left side of the home page.)
The http://www.regulations.gov site provides the option of
providing comments by filling in a ``Type Comment and Upload File''
field, or by attaching a document. It is expected that most comments
will be provided in an attached document. If a document is attached, it
is sufficient to type ``See attached'' in the ``Type Comment and Upload
File'' field.
A person requesting that information contained in a comment
submitted by that person be treated as confidential business
information must certify that such information is business confidential
and would not customarily be released to the public by the submitter.
Confidential business information must be clearly designated as such
and the submission must be marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top
and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page. Any comment
containing business confidential information must be submitted by fax
to Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-3640. A non-confidential summary of the
confidential information must be submitted to http://www.regulations.gov. The non-confidential summary will be placed in the
docket and open to public inspection.
Information or advice contained in a comment submitted, other than
business confidential information, may be determined by USTR to be
confidential in accordance with section 135(g)(2) of the Trade Act of
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155(g)(2)). If the submitter believes that information
or advice may qualify as such, the submitter--
(1) Must clearly so designate the information or advice;
(2) Must clearly mark the material as ``SUBMITTED IN CONFIDENCE''
at the top and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page; and
(3) Must provide a non-confidential summary of the information or
advice.
Any comment containing confidential information must be submitted
by fax to Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-3640. A non-confidential summary
of the confidential information must be submitted to http://www.regulations.gov. The non-confidential summary will be placed in the
docket and open to public inspection.
USTR will maintain a docket on this dispute settlement proceeding
accessible to the public. The public file will include non-confidential
comments received by USTR from the public with respect to the dispute.
If a dispute settlement panel is convened or in the event of an appeal
from such a panel, the U.S. submissions, any non-confidential
submissions, or non-confidential summaries of submissions, received
from other participants in the dispute, will be made available to the
public on USTR's Web site at www.ustr.gov, and the report of the panel,
and, if applicable, the report of the Appellate Body, will be available
on the web site of the World Trade Organization, http://www.wto.org.
Comments will be placed in the docket and open to public inspection
pursuant to 15 CFR 2006.13, except confidential business information
exempt from public inspection in accordance with 19 U.S.C. 2155(g)(2).
Comments open to public inspection may be viewed on the http://www.regulations.gov Web site.
Steven F. Fabry,
Assistant United States Trade Representative for Monitoring and
Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2010-24456 Filed 9-28-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W0-P