2014-11613. WTO Agricultural Quantity-Based Safeguard Trigger Levels

AGENCY:

Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

ACTION:

Notice of product coverage and trigger levels for safeguard measures provided for in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture.

SUMMARY:

This notice lists the updated quantity-based trigger levels for products which may be subject to additional import duties under the safeguard provisions of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. This notice also includes the relevant period applicable for the trigger levels on each of the listed products.

DATES:

May 20, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Souleymane Diaby, International Trade Specialist, Import Policies and Export Reporting Division, Office of Trade Programs, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Stop 1021, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-1021; by telephone [phone]; by fax [phone]; or by email [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture provides that additional import duties may be imposed on imports of products subject to tariffication as a result of the Uruguay Round, if certain conditions are met. The agreement permits additional duties to be charged if the price of an individual shipment of imported products falls below the average price for similar goods imported during the years 1986-88 by a specified percentage. It also permits additional duties to be imposed if the volume of imports of an article exceeds the average of the most recent 3 years for which data are available by 5, 10, or 25 percent, depending on the article. These additional duties may not be imposed on quantities for which minimum or current access commitments were made during the Uruguay Round negotiations, and only one type of safeguard, price or quantity, may be applied at any given time to an article.

Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires that the President cause to be published in the Federal Register information regarding the price and quantity safeguards, including the quantity trigger levels, which must be updated annually based upon import levels during the most recent 3 years. The President delegated this duty to the Secretary of Agriculture in Presidential Proclamation No. 6763, dated December 23, 1994, 60 FR 1005 (Jan. 4, 1995). The Secretary of Agriculture further delegated this duty, which lies with the Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service (7 CFR 2.43 (a)(2)). The Annex to this notice contains the updated quantity trigger levels.

Additional information on the products subject to safeguards and the additional duties which may apply can be found in subchapter IV of Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2014) and in the Secretary of Agriculture's Notice of Uruguay Round Agricultural Safeguard Trigger Levels, published in the Federal Register at 60 FR 427 (Jan. 4, 1995).

Notice: As provided in Section 405 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, consistent with Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, the safeguard quantity trigger levels previously notified are superceded by the levels indicated in the Annex to this notice. The definitions of these products were provided in the Notice of Safeguard Action published in the Federal Register, at 60 FR 427 (Jan. 4, 1995).

Issued at Washington, DC, this 25th day of April, 2014.

Suzanne Palmieri,

Acting Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service.

Annex-Quantity-Based Safeguard Trigger

Product	Trigger level	Period
Beef	237,876 mt	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Mutton	5,278 mt	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Cream	129,711 liters	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Evaporated or Condensed Milk	952,925 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Nonfat Dry Milk	482,615 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Dried Whole Milk	3,315,900 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Dried Cream	10,935 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Dried Whey/Buttermilk	41,537 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Butter	6,689,056 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Butter Oil and Butter Substitutes	5,321,260 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Dairy Mixtures	12,688,511 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Blue Cheese	4,499,916 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Cheddar Cheese	8,055,448 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
American-Type Cheese	201,684 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Edam/Gouda Cheese	6,927,820 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Italian-Type Cheese	18,259,276 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Swiss Cheese with Eye Formation	25,055,569 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Gruyere Process Cheese	3,293,010 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Lowfat Cheese	157,337 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
NSPF Cheese	46,496,622 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Peanuts	21,598 mt 20,493 mt	April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014. April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015.
Peanut Butter/Paste	3,789 mt	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Raw Cane Sugar	1,033,635 mt 599,416 mt	October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.
Refined Sugar and Syrups	215,423 mt 198,613 mt	October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.
Blended Syrups	145 mt 60 mt	October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.
Articles Over 65% Sugar	238 mt 269 mt	October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.
Articles Over 10% Sugar	14,942 mt 15,471 mt	October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.
Sweetened Cocoa Powder	124 mt 84 mt	October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.
Chocolate Crumb	8,996,737 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Lowfat Chocolate Crumb	173,391 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Infant Formula Containing Oligosaccharides	380,061 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Mixes and Doughs	178 mt 170 mt	October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.
Mixed Condiments and Seasonings	593 mt 653 mt	October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.
Ice Cream	2,241,098 liters	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Animal Feed Containing Milk	74,236 kilograms	January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.
Short Staple Cotton	2,385,410 kilograms 2,899,397 kilograms	September 20, 2013 to September 19, 2014. September 20, 2014 to September 19, 2015.
Harsh or Rough Cotton	60 kilograms 0 kilograms	August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014. August 1, 2014 to July 31, 2015.
Medium Staple Cotton	57,587 kilograms 57,587 kilograms	August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014. August 1, 2014 to July 31, 2015.
Extra Long Staple Cotton	505,834 kilograms 860,694 kilograms	August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014. August 1, 2014 to July 31, 2015.
Cotton Waste	589,849 kilograms 443,246 kilograms	September 20, 2013 to September 19, 2014. September 20, 2014 to September 19, 2015.
Cotton, Processed, Not Spun	50,873 kilograms 4,035 kilograms	September 20, 2013 to September 19, 2014. September 20, 2014 to September 19, 2015.