[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52835-52836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-25796]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Concerning Certain Japanese
Measures Affecting Imported Consumer Photographic Film and Paper
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 127(b)(1) of the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3537(b)(1)), the Office of the United States
Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice that a dispute
settlement panel convened under the Agreement Establishing the World
Trade Organization (WTO) at the request of the United States will
examine Japanese government measures affecting the distribution and
sale of imported consumer photographic film and paper. USTR also
invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised
in the dispute.
DATES: Although USTR will accept any comments received during the
course of the dispute settlement proceedings, comments should be
submitted on or before November 1, 1996 in order to be assured of
timely consideration by USTR in preparing its first written submission
to the panel.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to Sybia Harrison, Staff
Assistant, Room 222, Attn: Film and Paper Dispute, Office of the U.S.
Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20508.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joanna McIntosh, Associate General
Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative, 600 17th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-
7203.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At the United States' request, a WTO dispute
settlement panel will examine whether certain Japanese government
measures affecting the distribution and sale of imported consumer
photographic film and paper are consistent with the Government of
Japan's obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
1994 (GATT).
The panel is expected to meet as necessary at the WTO headquarters
in Geneva, Switzerland to examine the dispute. Under normal
circumstances, the panel would be expected to issue a report detailing
its findings and recommendations in six to nine months.
Major Issues Raised by the United States and Legal Basis of
Complaint
The United States has requested that a WTO panel examine whether
the Government of Japan has implemented and maintains laws,
regulations, requirements and measures (collectively ``measures'')
affecting the distribution, offering for sale, and internal sale of
imported consumer photographic film and paper, including:
liberalization countermeasures; distribution measures, such as, but not
limited to, the cabinet decision, administrative guidance, and other
measures listed in the Appendix; the Law Pertaining to the Adjustment
of Business Activities of the Retail Industry for Large Scale Retail
Stores, No. 109 of 1973 (Daiten Ho); Special Measures for the
Adjustment of Retail Business; No. 155 of 1959 (Shocho Ho); the Law
Against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations, No. 134
of 1962; measures regarding dispatched employees pursuant to the Law
Concerning the Prohibition of Private Monopoly and Maintenance of Fair
Trade, No. 54 of 1947; the Law Concerning Enterprise Reform for
Specified Industries, No. 61 of 1995; the Ministry of International
Trade and Industry Establishment Law, No. 275 of 1952; and related
measures.
The United States considers that such measures nullify or impair
benefits accruing to it, within the meaning of Article XXIII: (1)(a),
as a result of the failure of the Government of Japan to carry out its
obligations under Articles III and X of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT). More specifically, Japanese government
measures:
Were implemented and maintained so as to afford protection
to domestic production of consumer photographic film and paper within
the meaning of GATT Article III:1;
Conflict with GATT Article III:4 by affecting the
conditions of competition for the distribution, offering for sale, and
internal sale of consumer photographic film and paper in a manner that
accords less favorable treatment to imported film and paper than to
comparable products of national origin; and
Conflict with GATT Articles X:1 and X:3 because the
measures lack
[[Page 52836]]
transparency in that they were not promptly published and were not
administered in a uniform, impartial and reasonable manner.
In addition, the United States considers that the application of
these measures by the Government of Japan nullifies or impairs, within
the meaning of GATT Article XXIII:(1)(b), the tariff concessions that
the Government of Japan made on black and white and color consumer
photographic film and paper in the Kennedy Round, Tokyo Round, and
Uruguay Round multilateral tariff negotiations.
Appendix
MITI, ``Administrative Guidance To Promote Rationalization of
Distribution System,'' 1966.
Cabinet Decision, ``Liberalization of Foreign Investment,'' June 6,
1967.
MITI Industrial Structure Council Distribution Subcommittee,
``Distribution Systemization,'' 1969 (Tsusanho Koho, Aug. 13 & 14,
1969).
MITI Preparatory Survey, ``The Actual State of Trade Practices in
Photo Film,'' 1969.
MITI, ``Film Trade Normalization Guidelines,'' 1970.
MITI, ``Business Bureau Report on Film Prices,'' 1970.
MITI, ``Basic Plan for Distribution Systemization,'' 1971.
MITI, ``Manual for Systemization of Distribution,'' 1975.
MITI, ``Guidelines for Improving Business Practices,'' 1990.
MITI and the Small and Medium Enterprises Agency, ``Distribution
Vision for the 21st Century,'' 1995 (and earlier versions for the
1970s, 1980s, and 1990s).
Photo Industry Distribution Information Systemization Council
[Kyogikai], ``Comprehensive Manual for Photo Distribution Industry
Distribution Information Systemization,'' 1996 (and 1989, 1990,
1991, and 1992 versions).
Other related measures, including guidelines.
Public Comment: Requirements for Submissions
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning the issues raised in the dispute. Comments must be in
English and provided in fifteen copies. 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 commenter. Confidential business information must be
clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' in a contrasting color ink at
the top of each page of each copy.
A person requesting that information or advice contained in a
comment submitted by that person, other than business confidential
information, be treated as confidential in accordance with section
135(g)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155)--
(1) Must so designate that information or advice;
(2) Must clearly mark the material as ``CONFIDENTIAL'' in a contrasting
color ink at the top of each page of each copy; and
(3) Is encouraged to provide a non-confidential summary of the
information or advice.
Pursuant to section 127(e) of the URAA, USTR will maintain a file
on this dispute settlement proceeding, accessible to the public, in the
USTR Reading Room: Room 101, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, 600 17th Street, N.W., Washington DC 20508. The public
file will include a listing of any comments made to USTR from the
public with respect to the proceeding; the U.S. submissions to the
panel in the proceeding; the submissions, or non-confidential summaries
of submissions, to the panel received from other participants in the
dispute, as well as the report of the dispute settlement panel and, if
applicable, the report of the Appellate Body. An appointment to review
the public file (Docket WTO/D-9, ``U.S.-Japan: Film and Paper''), may
be made by calling Brenda Webb, (202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room
is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.,
Monday through Friday.
Jennifer Hillman,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 96-25796 Filed 10-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P