99-964. Identification of Countries Under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974: Request for Public Comment

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 10 (Friday, January 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2696-2697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-964]


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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 Tuesday, 
February 16, 1999.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., Room 100, 
Washington, DC 20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claude Burcky, Director for 
Intellectual Property [phone]; Andrew Bowen, 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

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USTR must identify those countries that 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. Acts, 
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 1999, USTR will focus 
special attention on the progress countries have made toward addressing 
three issues of particular concern to the United States: proper and 
timely implementation of the WTO TRIPS Agreement, reducing piracy of 
optical media (music CDs, Video CDs, CD-ROMs, and DVDs), and 
acquisition and use of only legal software by government agencies.
    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 Trade 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, 1999.

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 quantitative 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 Tuesday, 
February 16, 1999.

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,
Assitant USTR for Services, Investment and Intellectual Property.
[FR Doc. 99-964 Filed 1-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M