E6-9034. WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Regarding United States-Antidumping Measures on Shrimp From Thailand  

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    AGENCY:

    Office of the United States Trade Representative.

    ACTION:

    Notice; request for comments.

    SUMMARY:

    The Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) is providing notice that on April 24, 2006, Thailand requested consultations with the United States under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (“WTO Agreement”) concerning certain issues relating to the imposition of antidumping measures on shrimp from Thailand. That request may be found at http://www.wto.org contained in a document designated as WT/DS343/1. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.

    DATES:

    Although USTR will accept any comments received during the course of the dispute settlement proceedings, comments should be submitted on or before June 30, 2006 to be assured of timely consideration by USTR.

    ADDRESSES:

    Comments should be submitted (i) electronically, to FR0619@ustr.eop.gov, Attn: “Thailand Shrimp Zeroing/Bond Dispute (DS343)” in the subject line, or (ii) by fax, to Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-3640. For documents sent by fax, USTR requests that the submitter provide a confirmation copy to the electronic mail address listed above.

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    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

    Elissa Alben, Assistant General Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-9622.

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    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Section 127(b) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (“URAA”) (19 U.S.C. 3537(b)(1)) requires that notice and opportunity for comment be provided after the United States submits or receives a request for the establishment of a WTO dispute settlement panel. In an effort to provide additional opportunity for comment, USTR is providing notice that consultations have been requested pursuant to the WTO Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (“DSU”). If such consultations should fail to resolve the matter and a dispute settlement panel is established pursuant to the DSU, such panel, which would hold its meetings in Geneva, Start Printed Page 33496Switzerland, would be expected to issue a report on its findings and recommendations within nine months after it is established.

    Major Issues Raised by Thailand

    On August 4, 2004, the Department of Commerce published in the Federal Register notice of its affirmative preliminary less-than-fair-value (“LTFV”) determination in an investigation concerning certain frozen and canned warm water shrimp from Thailand (69 FR 47,100). On December 23, 2004, the Department of Commerce published notice of its affirmative final LTFV determination (69 FR 76,918), and on February 1, 2005, the Department of Commerce published an amended final LTFV determination, along with an antidumping duty order, covering only certain frozen warm water shrimp from Thailand (70 FR 5145). The latter notice contains the final margins of LTFV sales, as provided in section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.

    In its request for consultations, Thailand alleges that the United States “through its use of ‘zeroing' * * * failed to make a fair comparison between the export price and the normal value, and calculated distorted margins of dumping,” and therefore violated Articles 1, 2.1, 2.4, 2.4.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 5.8, 9.2 and 9.3 of the AD Agreement. In addition, Thailand alleges that the United States has imposed on importers a requirement to maintain a continuous entry bond in the amount of the anti-dumping duty margin multiplied by the value of imports of frozen warmwater shrimp imported by the importer in the preceding year, and that the continuous bond requirement and its application to goods subject to the order “constitute specific action against dumping not in accordance with” Article VI:2 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (“GATT 1994”) and its Ad Article, as well as Articles 2, 7.1, 7.2, 7.5, 9.2, and 9.3 of the AD Agreement. Thailand also states that the continuous bond requirement as such and its application to imports of frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand may be inconsistent with Articles I:1, II, III, XI:1 and XIII:1, and may not be justified under Article XX(d), of the GATT 1994.

    Public Comment: Requirements for Submissions

    Interested persons are invited to submit written comments concerning the issues raised in this dispute. Persons may submit their comments either (i) electronically, to FR0619@ustr.eop.gov, Attn: “Thailand Shrimp Zeroing/Bond Dispute (DS343)” in the subject line, or (ii) by fax to Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-3640. For documents sent by fax, USTR requests that the submitter provide a confirmation copy to the electronic mail address listed above.

    USTR encourages the submission of documents in Adobe PDF format, as attachments to an electronic mail. Interested persons who make submissions by electronic mail should not provide separate cover letters; information that might appear in a cover letter should be included in the submission itself. Similarly, to the extent possible, any attachments to the submission should be included in the same file as the submission itself, and not as separate files.

    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 submitter. Confidential business information must be clearly designated as such and the submission must be marked “Business Confidential” at the top and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page.

    Information or advice contained in a comment submitted, other than business confidential information, may be determined by USTR to be confidential in accordance with section 135(g)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155(g)(2)). If the submitter believes that information or advice may qualify as such, the submitter—

    (1) Must clearly so designate the information or advice;

    (2) Must clearly mark the material as “Submitted in Confidence” at the top and bottom of the cover page and each succeeding page; and

    (3) Is encouraged to provide a non-confidential summary of the information or advice.

    Pursuant to section 127(e) of the URAA (19 U.S.C. 3537(e)), USTR will maintain a file on this dispute settlement proceeding, accessible to the public, in the USTR Reading Room, which is located at 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. The public file will include non-confidential comments received by USTR from the public with respect to the dispute; if a dispute settlement panel is convened, the U.S. submissions to that panel, 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 panel; and, if applicable, the report of the Appellate Body. An appointment to review the public file (Docket No. WT/DS-343, Thailand Shrimp Zeroing/Bond Dispute) may be made by calling the USTR Reading Room at (202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room is open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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    Daniel Brinza,

    Assistant United States Trade Representative for Monitoring and Enforcement.

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    [FR Doc. E6-9034 Filed 6-8-06; 8:45 am]

    BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P

Document Information

Published:
06/09/2006
Department:
Trade Representative, Office of United States
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
Notice; request for comments.
Document Number:
E6-9034
Dates:
Although USTR will accept any comments received during the course of the dispute settlement proceedings, comments should be submitted on or before June 30, 2006 to be assured of timely consideration by USTR.
Pages:
33495-33496 (2 pages)
Docket Numbers:
Docket No. WTO/DS343
PDF File:
E6-9034.Pdf