07-1423. WTO Agricultural Safeguard Trigger Levels

AGENCY:

Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA.

ACTION:

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

SUMMARY:

This notice lists the updated quantity 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:

Effective Date: March 23, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lana Bennett, Import and Trade Support Programs Division, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Stop 1047, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-1047, telephone at [phone], or e-mail [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 the duty to the Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service (7 CFR 2.43(a)(2) (2007)). 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 (2007) 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 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 Uruguay Round Agricultural Safeguard Trigger Levels, published in the Federal Register at 60 FR 427, (Jan. 4, 1995).

Dated: March 15, 2007.

Michael W. Yost,

Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service.

Annex

Quantity-Based Safeguard Trigger

Product	Trigger level	Period
Beef	469,450 mt	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Mutton	2,919 mt	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Cream	3,005,322 liters	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Evaporated or Condensed Milk	6,890,725 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Nonfat Dry Milk	585,072 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Dried Whole Milk	3,872,863 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Dried Cream	22,149 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Dried Whey/Buttermilk	48,044 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Butter	11,501,939 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Butter Oil and Butter Substitutes	8,426,033 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Dairy Mixtures	52,446,272 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Blue Cheese	5,151,516 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Cheddar Cheese	12,656,523 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
American-Type Cheese	12,208,739 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Edam/Gouda Cheese	8,526,313 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Italian-Type Cheese	23,435,224 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Swiss Cheese with Eye Formation	33,850,685 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Gruyere Process Cheese	7,783,826 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Lowfat Cheese	2,554,432 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
NSPF Cheese	55,415,198 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Peanuts	15,699 mt	April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007.
	15,634 mt	April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008.
Peanut Butter/Paste	3,738 mt	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Raw Cane Sugar	1,172,199 mt	October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007.
	1,411,011 mt	October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008.
Refined Sugar and Syrups	73,889 mt	October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007.
	158,544 mt	October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008.
Blended Syrups	36 mt	October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007.
	29 mt	October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008.
Articles Over 65% Sugar	358 mt	October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007.
	593 mt	October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008.
Articles Over 10% Sugar	18,297 mt	October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007.
	17,655 mt	October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008.
Sweetened Cocoa Powder	1,008 mt	October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007.
	1,083 mt	October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008.
Chocolate Crumb	8,391,217 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Lowfat Chocolate Crumb	274,366 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Infant Formula Containing Oligosaccharides	33,896 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Mixes and Doughs	101 mt	October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007.
	111 mt	October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008.
Mixed Condiments and Seasonings	0 mt	October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007.
	0 mt	October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008.
Ice Cream	1,700,229 liters	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Animal Feed Containing Milk	71,519 kilograms	January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Short Staple Cotton	29,945 kilograms	September 20, 2006 to September 19, 2007.
	128,095 kilograms	September 20, 2007 to September 19, 2008.
Harsh or Rough Cotton	0 kilograms	August 1, 2006 to July 31, 2007.
	0 kilograms	August 1, 2007 to July 31, 2008.
Medium Staple Cotton	2,361,931 kilograms	August 1, 2006 to July 31, 2007.
	2,113,814 kilograms	August 1, 2007 to July 31, 2008.
Extra Long Staple Cotton	8,109,615 kilograms	August 1, 2006 to July 31, 2007.
	7,045,601 kilograms	August 1, 2007 to July 31, 2008.
Cotton Waste	7,692 kilograms	September 20, 2006 to September 19, 2007.
	5,128 kilograms	September 20, 2007 to September 19, 2008.
Cotton, Processed, Not Spun	26,833 kilograms	September 11, 2006 to September 10, 2007.
	19,473 kilograms	September 11, 2007 to September 10, 2008.