[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 7, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29988-29989]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-13959]
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UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY
22 CFR Part 502
[Rulemaking No. 202]
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Material; World-Wide Free
Flow (Export-Import) of Audio-Visual Materials
AGENCY: United States Information Agency.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Agency is adopting a final rule amending existing
regulations governing the United States Information Agency's
administration of the Agreement for Facilitating the International
Circulation of Visual and Auditory Materials of an Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Character, of 1948, by permitting the issuance
of serial certifications in certain circumstances. The amendment
reinstates into the regulations a provision omitted in a previous
revision of the regulations, and allows for certification of time
sensitive materials in serial format, thus facilitating the free flow
of eligible materials.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 7, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Neila Sheahan, Assistant General
Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Room 700, United States
Information Agency, 301 4th Street SW., Washington, DC 20547, (202)
619-5030.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States Information Agency
implements and administers the Agreement for Facilitating the
International Circulation of Visual and Auditory Materials of an
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Character (``Beirut Agreement''),
enacted by the Third General Session of the United Nations Educational,
Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), in Beirut, Lebanon in
1948, 17 U.S.T. 1578. In order to reconcile the terms of the Beirut
Agreement with recent judicial decisions and statutory requirements,
the Agency published revisions to the regulations covering
implementation of the Agreement, at 59 FR 18963 on April 21, 1994.
Those regulations made changes in the substantive criteria by which the
Agency evaluates the character of audio visual material for
certification, and renumbered the regulations. The regulations,
however, omitted the provision for serial certifications, a practice
followed informally from 1963 and formally incorporated into Agency
regulations in 1984, at 22 CFR 502.6(b)(6). The provision for serial
certifications was not challenged by judicial decisions; nor was its
alteration or elimination required by statute.
On April 18, 1995 the Agency published in 60 FR 19385 a proposed
rule to reinstate the provision for serial certification. It allows for
the certification of otherwise eligible materials that (1) are produced
in series form (e.g. weekly, bi-weekly, monthly), (2) are extremely
time sensitive; and therefore the normal processing of
[[Page 29989]] certification decisions thereon would result in
unreasonable delays and monetary loss to the producer, and (3) samples
are provided and the educational character of the future programs can
be generally described before certification and can be verified by a
post-certification review of the items or through descriptive material
such as a script of the narration. The Agency received one comment on
the proposed amendment to the existing regulations, which agreed that
the amendment was necessary to facilitate the free flow of eligible
information to interested audiences.
Regulatory Analysis and Notices
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 605(5), the Agency certifies that this
rule does not have a significant adverse economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities. This rule is not considered to be
a major rule within the meaning of section 1(b) of Executive Order
12291, nor does this rule have Federalism implications warranting the
preparation of a Federalism Assessment in accordance with Executive
Order 12612.
No additional burden under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35, will result from the promulgation of this rule.
List of Subjects in 22 CFR Part 502
Audiovisual material, Education, Exports, Imports, Trade Agreement.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 22 CFR part 502 is amended
as follows:
PART 502--WORLD-WIDE FREE FLOW OF AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS
1. The authority citation for part 502 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 19 U.S.C. 2051, 22 U.S.C. 1431 et seq;
Pub. L. 102-138, E.O. 11311, 31 FR 13413, 3 CFR 1966-1970 comp.,
page 593.
2. Section 502.2 is amended by adding, in alphabetical order, a
definition for ``serial certification'' to read as follows:
Sec. 502.2 Definitions.
* * * * *
Serial certification--means certification by the Agency of
materials produced in series form and which, for time-sensitive
reasons, cannot be reviewed prior to production; but samples are
provided on application, and the materials are subject to post-
certification review.
* * * * *
3. Section 502.3 is amended by adding new paragraphs (d) and (e) to
read as follows:
Sec. 502.3 Certification and authentication criteria.
* * * * *
(d) The Agency may certify or authenticate materials which have not
been produced at the time of application upon an affirmative
determination that:
(1) The materials will be issued serially,
(2) Representative samples of the serial material have been
provided at the time of application,
(3) Future titles and release dates have been provided to the
Agency at the time of application,
(4) The applicant has affirmed that:
(i) Future released materials in the series will conform to the
substantive criteria for certification delineated at paragraphs (a)
through (c) of this section;
(ii) Such materials will be similar to the representative samples
provided to the Agency on application; and
(iii) The applicant will provide the Agency with copies of the
items themselves or descriptive materials for post-certification
review.
(e) If the Agency determines through a post-certification review
that the materials do not comply with the substantive criteria for
certification delineated at paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section,
the applicant will no longer be eligible for serial certifications.
Ineligibility for serial certifications will not affect an applicant's
eligibility for certification of materials reviewed prior to
production.
Dated: June 1, 1995.
Les Jin,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 95-13959 Filed 6-6-95; 8:45 am]
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