00-478. Identification of Countries Under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974: Request for Public Comment

[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 6 (Monday, January 10, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1424-1425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-478]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Identification of Countries Under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 
1974: Request for Public Comment

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for written submissions from the public.

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SUMMARY: Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 
2242), requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to 
identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of 
intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access 
to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. (Section 
182 is commonly referred to as the ``Special 301'' provisions in the 
Trade Act.) In addition, the USTR is required to determine which of 
these countries should be identified as priority foreign countries. 
Acts, policies or practices which are the basis of a country's 
identification as a priority foreign country are normally the subject 
of an investigation under the section 301 provisions of the Trade Act. 
Section 182 of the Trade Act contains a special rule for the 
identification of actions by Canada affecting United States cultural 
industries.
    USTR requests written submissions from the public concerning 
foreign countries' acts, policies, and practices that are relevant to 
the decision whether particular trading partners should be identified 
under section 182 of the Trade Act.

DATES: Submissions must be received on or before 12:00 noon on Friday, 
February 18, 2000.

ADDRESSES: 600 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claude Burcky, Director for 
Intellectual Property [phone]; Donna DiPaolo, Deputy Director 
for Intellectual Property [phone]; or Geralyn S. Ritter, 
Assistant General Counsel [phone], Office of the United States 
Trade Representative.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 182 of the Trade Act, 
the USTR must identify those countries that

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deny adequate and effective protection for intellectual property rights 
or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on 
intellectual property protection. Those countries that have the most 
onerous or egregious acts, policies, or practices and whose acts, 
policies or practices have the greatest adverse impact (actual or 
potential) on relevant U.S. products are to be identified as priority 
foreign countries. Act, policies or practices which are the basis of a 
country's designation as a priority foreign country are normally the 
subject of an investigation under the section 301 provisions of the 
Trade Act.
    USTR may not identify a country as a priority foreign country if it 
is entering into good faith negotiations, or making significant 
progress in bilateral or multilateral negotiations, to provide adequate 
and effective protection of intellectual property rights.
    In identifying countries that deny adequate and effective 
protection of intellectual property rights in 2000, USTR will focus 
special attention on other countries' compliance with their TRIPS 
obligations--many of which came due on January 2000--as well as their 
efforts to reduce piracy of optical media (music CDs, Video CDs, CD-
ROMS, and DVDs) and prevent unauthorized government use of computer 
software.
    Section 182 contains a special rule regarding actions of Canada 
affecting United States cultural industries. The USTR is obligated to 
identify any act, policy or practice of Canada which affects cultural 
industries, is adopted or expanded after December 17, 1992, and is 
actionable under Article 2106 of the North American Free Trade 
Agreement (NAFTA). Any such act, policy or practice so identified shall 
be treated the same as an act, policy or practice which was the basis 
for a country's identification as a priority foreign country under 
section 182(a)(2) of the Trace Act (i.e., such acts, policies or 
practices shall be the subject of a section 301 investigation under the 
``Special 301'' procedures), unless the United States has already taken 
action pursuant to Article 2106 of the NAFTA.
    USTR must make the above-referenced identifications within 30 days 
after publication of the National Trade Estimate (NTE) report, i.e., no 
later than April 30, 2000.

Requirements for Comments

    Comments should include a description of the problems experienced 
and the effect of the acts, policies and practices on U.S. industry. 
Comments should be as detailed as possible and should provide all 
necessary information for assessing the effect of the acts, policies 
and practices. Any comments that include quantitive loss claims should 
be accompanied by the methodology used in calculating such estimated 
losses. Comments must be in English and provided in twenty copies. A 
submitter requesting that information contained in a comment 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 marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' in a contrasting color ink at 
the top of each page of each copy. A non-confidential version of the 
comment must also be provided.
    All comments should be sent to Sybia Harrison, Special Assistant to 
the Section 301 Committee, Room 100A, 600 17th Street, NW, Washington, 
DC 20508, and must be received no later than 12:00 noon on Friday, 
February 18, 2000.

Public Inspection of Submissions

    Within one business day of receipt, non-confidential submissions 
will be placed in a public file, open for inspection at the USTR 
Reading Room, in Room 101, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 600 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC. An appointment to 
review the file may be made by calling Brenda Webb, [phone]. The 
USTR Reading Room is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 12;00 noon 
and from 1:00 p.m. to 4;00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Joseph Papovich,
Assistant USTR for Services, Investment and Intellectual Property.
[FR Doc 00-478 Filed 1-7-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M