32010 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 106 / Thursday, June 2, 2011 / Notices 

Dated: May 20, 2011. 

Larry Schwartz, 

Director, Policy, Planning and Resources (R/ 

PPR), U.S. Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2011–13705 Filed 6–1–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–10–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice: 7490] 

Certifications Pursuant to Public Law 

That 12 Nations Have Adopted 

Programs To Reduce the Incidental 

Capture of Sea Turtles in Their Shrimp 

Fisheries 

SUMMARY: On April 22, 2011, the 

Department of State certified, pursuant 

to Section 609 of Public Law 101–162, 

that 12 nations have adopted programs 

to reduce the incidental capture of sea 

turtles in their shrimp fisheries 

comparable to the program in effect in 

the United States. The Department also 

certified that the fishing environments 

in 26 other countries and one economy, 

Hong Kong, do not pose a threat of the 

incidental taking of sea turtles protected 

under Section 609. 

DATES: Effective Date: On Publication. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marlene M. Menard, Office of Marine 

Conservation, Bureau of Oceans and 

International Environmental and 

Scientific Affairs, Department of State, 

Washington, DC 20520–7818; telephone: 

(202) 647–5827. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

609 of Public Law 101–162 (‘‘Section 

609’’) prohibits imports of certain 

categories of shrimp unless the 

President certifies to the Congress not 

later than May 1 of each year either: (1) 

that the harvesting nation has adopted 

a program governing the incidental 

capture of sea turtles in its commercial 

shrimp fishery comparable to the 

program in effect in the United States 

and has an incidental take rate 

comparable to that of the United States; 

or (2) that the fishing environment in 

the harvesting nation does not pose a 

threat of the incidental taking of sea 

turtles. The President has delegated the 

authority to make this certification to 

the Department of State (‘‘the 

Department’’). Revised State Department 

guidelines for making the required 

certifications were published in the 

Federal Register on July 2, 1999 (Vol. 

64, No. 130, Public Notice 3086). 

On April 22, 2011, the Department 

certified 12 nations on the basis that 

their sea turtle protection programs are 

comparable to that of the United States: 

Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, 

Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, 

Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, 

and Suriname. 

The Department also certified 26 

shrimp harvesting nations and one 

economy as having fishing 

environments that do not pose a danger 

to sea turtles. Sixteen nations have 

shrimping grounds only in cold waters 

where the risk of taking sea turtles is 

negligible. They are: Argentina, 

Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, 

Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the 

Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, 

Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, 

and Uruguay. Ten nations and one 

economy only harvest shrimp using 

small boats with crews of less than five 

that use manual rather than mechanical 

means to retrieve nets, or catch shrimp 

using other methods that do not 

threaten sea turtles. Use of such smallscale technology does not adversely 

affect sea turtles. The 10 nations and 

one economy are: the Bahamas, Belize, 

China, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, 

Hong Kong, Jamaica, Oman, Peru, Sri 

Lanka, and Venezuela. 

The Department certified Belize this 

year on a different basis than last year. 

Effective December 31, 2010, the 

Government of Belize passed a law 

banning all forms of trawling in its 

waters, including its exclusive 

economic zone. The ban remains in 

effect. As a result, the Department has 

certified Belize as a nation whose 

fishing environment does not pose a 

threat of the incidental taking of sea 

turtles. 

On April 22, 2011, the Department 

decertified Madagascar. In the absence 

of a legitimate constitutional 

government in Madagascar since the 

2009 coup d’e ́tat, relations between the 

United States and the de-facto Malagasy 

authorities have been extremely limited. 

The Department of State and NOAA 

have been unable to conduct a 

Government of Madagascar sea turtle 

protection program verification visit 

since September 2008. Without the 

ability to independently verify whether 

Madagascar has a sea turtle protection 

program comparable to that of the 

United States, the Department is unable 

to certify Madagascar this year. 

The Department of State has 

communicated the certifications under 

Section 609 to the Office of Field 

Operations of U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection. 

In addition, this Federal Register 

Notice confirms that the requirement for 

all DS–2031 forms from uncertified 

nations must be originals and signed by 

the competent domestic fisheries 

authority. This policy change was first 

announced in a Department of State 

media note released on December 21, 

2004. In order for shrimp harvested with 

Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in an 

uncertified nation to be eligible for 

importation into the United States 

under the exemption: ‘‘Shrimp 

harvested by commercial shrimp trawl 

vessels using TEDs comparable in 

effectiveness to those required in the 

United States’’, the Department of State 

must determine in advance that the 

government of the harvesting nation has 

put in place adequate procedures to 

ensure the accurate completion of the 

DS–2031 forms. At this time, the 

Department has made such a 

determination only with respect to 

Australia, Brazil and France. Thus, the 

importation of TED-caught shrimp from 

any other uncertified nation will not be 

allowed. For Brazil, only shrimp 

harvested in the northern shrimp fishery 

are eligible for entry under this 

exemption. For Australia, shrimp 

harvested in the Exmouth Gulf Prawn 

Fishery, the Northern Prawn Fishery, 

the Queensland East Coast Trawl 

Fishery, and the Torres Strait Prawn 

Fishery are eligible for entry under this 

exemption. For France, shrimp 

harvested in the French Guiana 

domestic trawl fishery are eligible for 

entry under this exemption. 

In addition, the Department has 

already made a determination with 

regard to wild-harvest shrimp harvested 

in the Spencer Gulf region in Australia. 

This product may be exported to the 

U.S. using a DS–2031 under the 

exemption for ‘‘shrimp harvested in a 

manner or under circumstances 

determined by the Department of State 

not to pose a threat of the incidental 

taking of sea turtles.’’ An official of the 

Government of Australia still also must 

certify the DS–2031. 

Dated: May 27, 2011. 

David A. Balton, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for 

Oceans and Fisheries. 

[FR Doc. 2011–13702 Filed 6–1–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–09–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 7468] 

Notice of Closed Meeting (With Open 

Session) of the Cultural Property 

Advisory Committee 

There will be a meeting of the 

Cultural Property Advisory Committee 

on Monday, June 27, 2011, from 

approximately 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on 

Tuesday, June 28, 2011, from 

approximately 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the 

U.S. Department of State, Annex 5, 2200 

C Street, NW., Washington, DC. 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 106 / Thursday, June 2, 2011 / Notices 32011 

During its meeting on Monday, June 

27, the Committee will begin its review 

of a proposal to extend the 

Memorandum of Understanding 

Between the Government of the United 

States of America and the Government 

of the Republic of Bolivia Concerning 

the Imposition of Import Restrictions on 

Archaeological Material from the PreColumbian Cultures and Certain 

Ethnological Material from the Colonial 

and Republican Periods of Bolivia 

[Docket No. DOS–2011–0092]. An open 

session to receive oral public comment 

on this proposal to extend will be held 

from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. 

On Tuesday, June 28, the Committee 

will conduct interim reviews of the 

Memorandum of Understanding 

Between the Government of the United 

States of America and the Government 

of the Republic of Guatemala 

Concerning the Imposition of Import 

Restrictions on Archaeological Objects 

and Materials from the Pre-Columbian 

Cultures of Guatemala, and of the 

Agreement Between the Government of 

the United States of America and the 

Government of the Republic of Mali 

Concerning the Imposition of Import 

Restrictions on Archaeological Material 

from Mali from the Paleolithic Era 

(Stone Age) to approximately the MidEighteenth Century. Public comment, 

oral and written, will be invited at a 

time in the future should these MOUs 

be proposed for extension. 

The Committee’s responsibilities are 

carried out in accordance with 

provisions of the Convention on 

Cultural Property Implementation Act 

(19 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq.). The text of 

the Act and the subject MOUs/ 

Agreement, as well as related 

information, may be found at http:// 

exchanges.state.gov/heritage/culprop/ 

html. 

Persons wishing to attend the open 

session should notify the Cultural 

Heritage Center of the Department of 

State at (202) 632–6301 no later than 

June 10, 2011, 5 p.m. (EDT) to arrange 

for admission. Seating is limited. 

Special accommodation needs should 

be specified upon notification of 

attendance. 

Portions of the meeting on June 27 

and 28, will be closed pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B) and 19 U.S.C. 

2605(h), the latter of which stipulates 

that 

‘‘The provisions of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act shall apply to 

the Cultural Property Advisory 

Committee except that the requirements 

of subsections (a) and (b) of section 10 

and 11 of such Act (relating to open 

meetings, public notice, public 

participation, and public availability of 

documents) shall not apply to the 

Committee, whenever and to the extent 

it is determined by the President or his 

designee that the disclosure of matters 

involved in the Committee’s 

proceedings would compromise the 

Government’s negotiation objectives or 

bargaining positions on the negotiations 

of any agreement authorized by this 

title.’’ 

Persons wishing to make an oral 

presentation at the public session on 

June 27 must request to be scheduled 

and must submit a written text of their 

oral comments no later than June 10, 

2011, 5 p.m. (EDT) to allow time for 

distribution to Committee members 

prior to the meeting. Oral comments 

will be limited to allow time for 

questions from members of the 

Committee. All oral and written 

comments must relate specifically to the 

determinations under Section 303(a)(1) 

of the Convention on Cultural Property 

Implementation Act, 19 U.S.C. 2602, 

pursuant to which the Committee must 

make findings. This statute can be found 

at the web site noted above. 

ADDRESSES: All written materials, 

including the written texts of oral 

statements, may be submitted via postal 

mail, commercial delivery, hand 

delivery, or through the eRulemaking 

Portal. If more than three (3) pages, 20 

duplicates of written materials must be 

sent to the address below by commercial 

delivery. Those having access to the 

Internet and wishing to make a 

comment of three or fewer pages 

regarding this Public Notice, may do so 

through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 

(see below). This procedure facilitates 

public participation and implements 

section 206 of the E-Government Act of 

2002, Public Law 107–347, 116 Stat. 

2915. It also supports Secretary of State 

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Greening 

Diplomacy Initiative which aims to 

reduce the State Department’s 

environmental footprint and reduce 

costs. Comments by fax or by e-mail will 

not be accepted. Please submit 

comments once. 

Postal Mail or Commercial Delivery. 

Cultural Heritage Center (ECA/P/C), 

SA–5, Fifth Floor, Department of State, 

Washington, DC 20522–0505. 

• Hand Delivery. Cultural Heritage 

Center (ECA/P/C), Department of State, 

2200 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20037. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal. To 

submit comments electronically, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

on docket number DOS–2011–0092. 

Information on using Regulations.gov, 

including instructions for accessing 

agency documents, submitting 

comments, and viewing the dockets, is 

available on the site under ‘‘How To Use 

This Site.’’ 

Privacy: Comments submitted in 

electronic form will be posted on the 

site http://www.regulations.gov. Because 

the comments will not be edited to 

remove any identifying or contact 

information, the Department of State 

cautions against including any 

information in an electronic submission 

that one does not want publicly 

disclosed (including trade secrets and 

commercial or financial information 

that may be considered privileged or 

confidential pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 

§ 2605(i)(1)). The Department of State 

requests that any party soliciting or 

aggregating comments received from 

other persons for submission to the 

Department of State inform those 

persons that the Department of State 

will not edit their comments to remove 

any identifying or contact information 

and, therefore, they should not include 

any information in their comments that 

they do not want publicly disclosed. 

Dated: May 25, 2011. 

Ann Stock, 

Assistant Secretary for Educational and 

Cultural Affairs, Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2011–13693 Filed 6–1–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice: 7467] 

Memorandum of Understanding 

Between the Government of the United 

States of America and the Government 

of the Republic of Bolivia 

Notice of Proposal to Extend the 

Memorandum of Understanding 

Between the Government of the United 

States of America and the Government 

of the Republic of Bolivia Concerning 

the Imposition of Import Restrictions on 

Archaeological Material from the PreColumbian Cultures and Certain 

Ethnological Material from the Colonial 

and Republican Periods of Bolivia. 

The Government of the Republic of 

Bolivia has informed the Government of 

the United States of its interest in an 

extension of the Memorandum of 

Understanding Between the 

Government of the United States of 

America and the Government of the 

Republic of Bolivia Concerning the 

Imposition of Import Restrictions on 

Archaeological Material from the PreColumbian Cultures and Certain 

Ethnological Material from the Colonial 

and Republican Periods of Bolivia 

(MOU), first entered into in 2001 and 

extended in 2006. 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES