[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7229-7230]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-2977]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC); Request for Comments
Concerning Foreign Government Discrimination in Procurement
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice of request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice requests written submissions from the public
concerning discrimination against U.S. products and services by foreign
governments in their procurement practices. This information will be
used in compiling the annual report on government procurement specified
by Section 305 of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (Trade Agreements
Act), as amended by Title VII of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness
Act of 1988 and Title III, Section 341 of the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act of 1994 (19 U.S.C. 2515).
Section 305 of the Trade Agreements Act requires the President to
submit an annual report on the extent to which foreign countries
discriminate against U.S. products or services in making government
procurement. Section 341 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act specifies
that the report also contain information about countries which employ
nontransparent procurement procedures or fail to maintain effective
prohibitions on bribery and other corrupt practices. Specifically, the
President is required to identify any countries that:
(a) Are signatories to the GATT Agreement on Government Procurement
(Agreement) and are not in compliance with the requirements of the
Agreement;
(b) Are signatories to the Agreement; are in compliance with the
Agreement, but maintain a significant and persistent pattern or
practice of discrimination in the government procurement of products or
services from the United States not covered by the Agreement, which
results in identifiable harm to U.S. business; and whose products or
services are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government; or
(c) Are not Signatories to the Agreement and maintain a significant
and persistent pattern or practice of discrimination in government
procurement of products or services from the United States, which
results in identifiable harm to U.S. business, and whose products or
services are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government; or
(d) Are not Signatories to the Agreement and fail to apply
transparent and competitive procedures to its government procurement
equivalent to those in the Agreement and whose products and services
are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government; or
(e) Are not Signatories to the Agreement and fail to maintain and
enforce effective prohibitions on bribery and other corrupt practices
in connection with government procurement and whose products and
services are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government.
The functions vested in the President under Section 305 of the
Trade Agreements Act were delegated to the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) pursuant to Section 4-101 of Executive Order
12661 (54 FR 779).
DATES: Submissions containing the information described below must be
received on or before March 1, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted to the Executive Secretary, Trade
Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, 600 17th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506, and must
include not less than twenty (20) copies. Submissions will be available
for public inspection by appointment with the staff of the USTR Public
Reading Room, except for information granted ``business confidential''
status pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.6. Any business confidential material
must be clearly marked as such at the top of the cover page or letter
and each succeeding page and must be accompanied by a nonconfidential
summary.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elena Bryan (202-395-5097) or Mark
Linscott (202-395-3063), Office of GATT Affairs, or Laura B. Sherman
(202-395-3150), Office of the General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative, 600 17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20506.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 305 of the Trade Agreements Act
requires an annual report to be submitted no later than April 30, 1995
to the appropriate Committees of the House of Representatives and the
Senate. The USTR is required to request consultations with any
countries identified in the report to remedy the procurement practices
cited in the report.
USTR invites submissions from interested parties concerning foreign
government procurement practices that should be considered in
developing the annual report. Pursuant to Section 305(d)(5) of the
Trade Agreements Act, submissions are sought from any interested
parties in the United States and in countries that are signatories to
the Agreement, as well as in other foreign countries whose products or
services are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government.
Each submission should provide, in order, the following general
information: (1) The party submitting the information; (2) the foreign
country or countries that are the subject of the submission and the
entities of each subject country's government whose practices are being
cited, and (3) the U.S. products or services that are affected by the
non-compliance or discrimination.
Each submission should also provide specific information on the
particular [[Page 7230]] problem: (1) Non-compliance with the GATT
Agreement on Government Procurement; (2) the type of discrimination
encountered, including information regarding the date and nature of
affected procurement(s); (3) policies or practices which are
discriminatory, not transparent or anti-competitive (where possible,
include copies of discriminatory laws, policies or regulations), and
(4) the extent to which the problem has impeded the ability of U.S.
suppliers to participate in procurements on terms comparable to those
available to suppliers of the country in question when they are seeking
to sell goods or services to the U.S. Government; (5) examples of
failure to maintain and enforce effective prohibitions on bribery and
other corrupt practices in connection with government procurement.
Finally, each submission should: (1) If applicable, identify
provisions of the GATT Government Procurement Agreement which are not
being observed by the country identified or describe how the country
identified has maintained a significant and persistent pattern or
practice of discrimination in government procurement of non-Code-
Covered goods or services; (2) identify the specific impact of the
discriminatory policy or practice on U.S. businesses (including an
estimate of the value of market opportunities lost and, if any, the
cost of preparing bids which are rejected during the course of a
procurement evaluation for discriminatory reasons), and (3) describe
the extent to which the products or services of the country identified
are acquired in significant amounts by the U.S. Government.
Frederick L. Montgomery,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 95-2977 Filed 2-6-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P
