Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Request for Public Comments on the Possible Withdrawal, Suspension, or Limitation of GSP Benefits with Respect to Bangladesh

AGENCY:

Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

ACTION:

Request for public comments.

SUMMARY:

As part of an ongoing country practice review, the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is considering whether to recommend that duty-free treatment accorded to imports from Bangladesh under the U.S. GSP program be withdrawn, suspended, or limited on the grounds that Bangladesh has not implemented long-standing commitments to the United States to allow its national labor law to be applied in its Export Processing Zones (EPZs). The GSP Subcommittee is seeking public comments on which products of Bangladesh should no longer be eligible for GSP duty-free treatment if the Subcommittee decides to recommend limiting Bangladesh's GSP benefits. All Public comments must be received by May 12, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

GSP Subcommittee, Office of the United States Trade Representative, USTR Annex, 1724 F Street, NW., Room F220, Washington, DC 20508 (Tel. 202-395-6971). Public versions of all documents relating to this review are available for public inspection by appointment in the USTR public reading room (Tel. 202-395-6186).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The GSP program is authorized pursuant to Title V of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (“the Trade Act”) (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.). The GSP program grants duty-free treatment to designated eligible articles that are imported from designated beneficiary developing countries. Once granted, GSP benefits may be withdrawn, suspended, or limited by the President with respect to any country. (19 U.S.C. 2462(d)(1)). Bangladesh is a designated beneficiary developing country under the GSP program. The Annex to this Notice lists currently GSP-eligible tariff items from the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) in which there were imports under GSP from Bangladesh during 2003.

I. Possible Withdrawal, Suspension, or Limitation of GSP Benefits for Bangladesh

The Government of Bangladesh does not provide freedom of association or the right to collective bargaining to workers in its EPZs. Among other commitments, Bangladesh had published a notice on January 1, 2001, stating that it would extend these rights to EPZs as of January 1, 2004. However, Bangladesh has failed to do so. In 1999, the AFL-CIO filed a petition seeking withdrawal or suspension of GSP benefits for Bangladesh. The TPSC accepted the petition for review, sought public comment on the petition, including whether withdrawal or suspension of benefits is warranted, and conducted a public hearing. The review of the petition was continued until this year; and, as a result, the GSP Subcommittee is considering recommending to the TPSC that duty-free treatment under GSP be withdrawn, suspended, or limited for Bangladesh, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 2462(d)(1).

II. Opportunity for Public Comment

The GSP Subcommittee has already received comments on whether to withdraw or suspend GSP benefits for Bangladesh. If the Subcommittee recommends to the TPSC that the President limit GSP benefits for Bangladesh products, rather than withdraw or suspend duty-free treatment entirely, the Subcommittee will recommend a list of products for which duty-free treatment under the GSP program should be withdrawn. This notice solicits comments on which products to include on that list. All Public comments must be received by May 12, 2004.

Requirements for Submissions

All submissions must conform to the GSP regulations set forth at 15 CFR Part 2007, except as modified below. In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions to this notice, USTR strongly urges and prefers electronic e-mail submissions in response to this notice. Hand delivered submissions will not be accepted. These submissions should be single copy transmissions in English with the total submission not to exceed 50 single-spaced standard letter-size pages. E-mail submissions should use the following subject line: “Bangladesh GSP Product Review.” Documents, in English, must be submitted in either of the following formats: WordPerfect (“.WPD”), MSWord (“.DOC”), or text (“.TXT”) files. Documents may not be submitted as electronic image or graphic files or contain imbedded images (for example, “.JPG”, “.PDF”, “.BMP”, or “.GIF”) as these graphic files are generally excessively large and inhibit distribution to the GSP Subcommittee. E-mail submissions containing such files may not be accepted. Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel files, formatted for printing only on 81/2 x 11 inch paper. To the extent possible, any data attachments to the submission should be included in the same file as the submission itself, and not as separate files.

If the submission contains business confidential information, a non-confidential version of the submission must also be submitted that indicates where confidential information was redacted by inserting asterisks where material was deleted. In addition, the confidential submission must be clearly marked “BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL” at the top and bottom of each and every page of the document. The public version, which does not contain business confidential information, must also be clearly marked at the top and bottom of each and every page (either “PUBLIC VERSION” or “NON-CONFIDENTIAL”). Documents that are submitted without any marking might not be accepted or will be considered public documents.

For any document containing business confidential information submitted as an electronic attached file to an e-mail transmission, 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 party (government, company, union, association, etc.) which is making the submission.

E-mail submissions should not include separate cover letters or messages in the message area of the e-mail; information that might appear in any cover letter should be included directly in the attached file containing the submission itself, including identifying information on the sender, including sender's e-mail address. The e-mail address for these submissions is FR0052@USTR.GOV. Documents not submitted in accordance with these instructions might not be considered in this review. If unable to provide submissions by e-mail, please contact the GSP Subcommittee to arrange for an alternative method of transmission.

Information submitted will be subject to public inspection shortly after the relevant due dates by appointment with the staff of the USTR public reading room, except for information submitted and properly marked that is granted “business confidential” status pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.6 and other qualifying information submitted in confidence pursuant to 15 CFR 2007.7. Public versions of all documents relating to this review will be available for review after the relevant due date by appointment in the USTR public reading room, 1724 F Street NW., Washington, DC. Appointments may be made from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, by calling (202) 395-6186.