[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45580-45581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17186]
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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
China's compliance with its WTO commitments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR)
requests comments on China's compliance with the commitments it made in
connection with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). In
addition, the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will conduct a public
hearing concerning China's compliance with these commitments.
DATES: Written comments are due by noon, Tuesday, September 10, 2002. A
hearing will be held in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, September 18,
2002. Persons wishing to testify orally at the hearing must provide
written notification of their intention, as well as a copy of their
testimony, by noon, Thursday, September 5, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Submissions by mail or express delivery: Gloria Blue,
Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, ATTN: China WTO,
Office of the United States Trade Representative, 1724 F Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20508.
Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected] (written comments);
and [email protected] (notice of testimony and testimony). See
requirements for submissions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
public comment or the public hearing, contact Gloria Blue, (202) 395-
3475. All other questions should be directed to Terrence J. McCartin,
Director of Monitoring and Enforcement for China, (202) 395-3900, or
David Weller, Assistant General Counsel, (202) 395-3581.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
China formally 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), the 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 the report, USTR is hereby soliciting public comment.
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 Agreement. The
Protocol and Working Party Report can be found on the Department of
Commerce webpage, http://www.mac.doc.gov/China/WTOAccessionPackage.htm,
or on the WTO website, 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, trade-related investment measures, taxes and charges levied
on imports and exports); (e) intellectual property rights (including
intellectual property enforcement); (f)
[[Page 45581]]
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. Persons submitting written
comments should list one or more of these categories on the first page
of the comments, in order to identify the commitments discussed
therein.
Written comments must be received no later than noon, Tuesday,
September 10, 2002. Comments may be submitted by mail, express delivery
service, or e-mail (to [email protected]). It is strongly recommended
that comments submitted by mail or express delivery service also be
sent by e-mail.
A hearing will be held on Wednesday, September 18, 2002, 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 5,
2002. Requests should be made by e-mail (to [email protected]). 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. Notifications
must be accompanied by a copy of the testimony. Remarks at the hearing
should be limited to no more than five minutes to allow for possible
questions from the Chairman and the interagency panel.
All documents should be submitted in accordance with the
instructions in section 3 below.
3. Requirements for Submissions
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 WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files.
Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets are 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.
Persons submitting written comments by mail or express delivery
service should provide 20 copies.
Written comments, notices of testimony, and testimony will be
placed in a file open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5,
except 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 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.
Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 02-17186 Filed 7-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P