1220 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 5 / Friday, January 7, 2000 / Notices

Dated: December 22, 1999.

William B. Bader,

Assistant Secretary for Educational and

Cultural Affairs, Department of State.

[FR Doc. 00–407 Filed 1–6–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–08–U

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Request for Comments Concerning

Compliance with Telecommunications

Trade Agreements

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of request for public

comment.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 1377 of

the Omnibus Trade and

Competitiveness Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C.

3106) (Section 1377), the Office of the

United States Trade Representative

(USTR) is reviewing, and requests

comments on: the operation and

effectiveness of—including

implementation of and compliance

with—the World Trade Organization

(WTO) Basic Telecommunications

Agreement; other WTO agreements

affecting market opportunities for

telecommunications products and

services of the United States; the North

American Free Trade Agreement

(NAFTA); and, other

telecommunications trade agreements

with the Asia Pacific Economic

Cooperation (APEC) members, the

European Union (EU), Japan, Korea,

Mexico and Taiwan. The USTR will

conclude the review on March 31, 2000.

DATES: Comments are due by noon on

Tuesday, February 1, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be

submitted to Gloria Blue, Executive

Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee,

ATTN: Section 1377 Comments, Office

of the United States Trade

Representative, 600 17th Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Corbett, Office of Industry (202)

395–9586; or Demetrios Marantis, Office

of the General Counsel (202) 395–3581.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

1377 requires the USTR to review

annually the operation and effectiveness

of all U.S. trade agreements regarding

telecommunications products and

services of the United States that are in

force with respect to the United States.

The purpose of the review is to

determine whether any act, policy, or

practice of a country that has entered

into a telecommunications trade

agreement with the United States is

inconsistent with the terms of such

agreement, or otherwise denies to U.S.

firms, within the context of the terms of

such agreements, mutually

advantageous market opportunities. For

the current review, the USTR seeks

comments on:

(1) Whether any WTO member is

acting in a manner that is inconsistent

with its specific commitments under the

WTO Basic Telecommunications

Agreement or with other WTO

obligations, e.g., the WTO General

Agreement on Trade in Services

(GATS), including the Annex on

Telecommunications, that affect market

opportunities for U.S.

telecommunications products and

services;

(2) What steps to take regarding outof-cycle reviews initiated in 1999 under

Section 1377 regarding compliance by

Germany and Mexico with

telecommunications trade agreements;

(3) Whether Canada or Mexico has

failed to comply with their

commitments under NAFTA;

(4) Whether APEC members, the EU,

Japan, Korea, Mexico or Taiwan have

failed to comply with their

commitments under bilateral

telecommunications agreements with

the United States.

See 63 FR 1140 (January 8, 1998) for

further information concerning the

agreements listed below and USTR

Press Release 99–29 (available at

www.ustr.gov) for the results of the

1998–99 section 1377 review

concerning these agreements.

WTO Agreements

The GATS contains general

obligations that apply to all WTO

members and services and specific

obligations that apply only to services

listed in a member’s schedule of

commitments. As part of the GATS,

WTO members have made both basic

and value-added telecommunications

commitments. Specifically, the Fourth

Protocol to the GATS—generally

referred to as the WTO Basic

Telecommunications Agreement—is the

legal instrument embodying seventy

WTO members’ basic

telecommunications services

commitments under the GATS. The

agreement entered into force on

February 6, 1998, and since that time,

an additional eight WTO members have

made telecommunications services

commitments, some upon their

accession to the WTO. Many members

also took separate commitments in the

area of value-added telecommunications

services as part of the GATS, which

entered into force on January 1, 1995. A

description of each member’s specific

commitments is available on the

Internet at www.wto.org.

Under the WTO Basic

Telecommunications Agreement,

members have made full or qualified

commitments in three specific areas:

market access, national treatment

(including investment), and procompetitive regulatory principles.

Countries that have made full market

access commitments have agreed to

local, long-distance and international

service through any means of network

technology, either on a facilities basis or

through resale of existing network

capacity. Countries making full national

treatment commitments have agreed to

ensure treatment no less favorable to

U.S. services or service suppliers than to

services or service suppliers of the WTO

member making the commitment (e.g.,

U.S. companies can acquire, establish or

hold a significant stake in foreign

telecommunications companies to the

same extent as companies of the WTO

member making the commitment). And

finally, countries have also adopted procompetitive regulatory principles—set

forth in a Reference Paper and

incorporated in the members’

schedules—which commit members to

establish independent regulatory bodies,

guarantee that U.S. companies will be

able to interconnect with networks in

foreign countries at fair prices, maintain

appropriate measures to prevent anticompetitive practices such as crosssubsidization, and mandate

transparency of government regulations

and licensing.

The USTR seeks comment on whether

any WTO member that has undertaken

telecommunications services

commitments under the GATS has

failed to make the necessary legislative

or regulatory changes to implement its

commitments, or permits acts, policies,

or practices in its markets that run

counter to that country’s commitments.

In addition, the USTR seeks comments

on whether any WTO member permits

acts, policies, or practices that are

inconsistent with other WTO

obligations and that affect market

opportunities for telecommunications

products and services of the United

States.

Out of Cycle Reviews Regarding

Germany and Mexico

The USTR seeks comments on what

steps to take regarding out-of-cycle

reviews initiated under Section 1377 in

1999 regarding compliance by Germany

and Mexico with telecommunications

trade.

Germany—1999 out-of-cycle review:

On August 11, 1999, USTR announced

the extension of an out-of-cycle review

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 5 / Friday, January 7, 2000 / Notices 1221

under Section 1377 of Germany’s

compliance with its WTO

telecommunications commitments. The

review, initiated on March 30, 1999,

found that recent German regulatory

decisions did not endorse restrictive

and potentially WTO-inconsistent

proposals made by Deutsche Telekom,

the dominant German

telecommunications carrier and former

German monopoly operator. However,

the review also concluded that those

decisions might not be sufficient to

prevent anti-competitive behavior by

Deutsche Telekom as new

interconnection arrangements

applicable from March 1, 2000 are yet

to be finalized. U.S. carriers have

asserted to the U.S. Government that

Deutsche Telekom’s anti-competitive

behavior continues to impede their

efforts to provide service in Germany.

Under the WTO Basic Telecom

Agreement, Germany committed to

maintain appropriate measures to

prevent anti-competitive behavior. The

German regulatory authority announced

on December 23, 1999, new

arrangements for interconnection prices

and peak and off-peaks timing that will

apply for the next thirteen months (for

additional information concerning this

decision, see www.regtp.de). The USTR

seeks comments on whether the latest

regulatory decision and other recent

steps by the German regulatory

authority are sufficient to meet

Germany’s WTO telecommunications

commitments.

Mexico—1999 out-of-cycle review: On

July 29, 1999, USTR announced the

extension of an out-of-cycle review

under Section 1377 of Mexico’s

compliance with its WTO

telecommunications commitments. The

review, initiated on March 30, 1999,

found that Mexico is undertaking a

consultative policy review and meeting

regularly with U.S.-affiliated and all

other Mexican carriers on international

service and domestic regulatory issues

under study. Interconnection and

dominant carrier regulations in Mexico

have yet to produce lower net domestic

interconnection costs for new entrants;

the Mexican regulatory authority has

not created confidence that Telmex (the

former state-owned monopolist) is not

engaging in anti-competitive crosssubsidization of different telecom

services; and, the Mexican regulatory

authority has yet to identify a universal

service program under which Telmex

would be required to fund universal

service on the same basis as its

competitors. The results of the 1999

policy review are not apparent. The

USTR seeks comments on whether

Mexico is likely to address outstanding

international service and domestic

regulatory issues in a manner consistent

with Mexico’s WTO

telecommunications commitments.

NAFTA and Bilateral Trade Agreements

The USTR seeks comments on the

operation and effectiveness of certain

bilateral trade agreements regarding

telecommunications products and

services, including the NAFTA. The

NAFTA includes market access and

national treatment commitments for

value-added telecommunications

services; and, it includes a national

treatment commitment for conformity

assessment in relation to

telecommunications equipment

standards.

Bilateral agreements include, on a

country-by-country basis:

Canada: NAFTA Chapter 13 and other

telecommunications-related provisions.

Japan: The 1999 Nippon Telegraph

and Telephone (NTT) agreement; the

1994 U.S.-Japan Public Sector

Procurement Agreement on

Telecommunications Products and

Services; and, additional

telecommunications trade agreements

with Japan, including a series of

agreements on: international valueadded network services (IVANS) (1990–

91); open government procurement of

all satellites, except for government

research and development satellites

(1990); network channel terminating

equipment (NCTE) (1990); and cellular

and third-party radio systems (1989)

and cellular radio systems (1994).

Korea: Agreements in the areas of

protection of intellectual property rights

(IPR), type approval of

telecommunications equipment,

transparent standard-setting processes

and non-discriminatory access to Korea

Telecommunications’ procurement of

telecommunications products.

Mexico: NAFTA Chapter 13 and other

telecommunications-related provisions;

and, the 1997 understanding regarding

test data acceptance agreements

between product safety testing

laboratories.

Mutual Recognition Agreements For

Conformity Assessment of

Telecommunications Equipment:

Agreement on mutual recognition for

conformity assessment of

telecommunications equipment with the

EU; and, an agreement among certain

members of APEC.

Taiwan: The October 1999 and

February 1998 agreements on WTO

accession commitments in

telecommunications services; the

February 1998 agreement on

interconnection pricing for provision of

wireless services in Taiwan; and, the

July 1996 agreement on the licensing

and provision of wireless services

through the establishment of a

competitive, transparent and fair

wireless market in Taiwan.

Public Comment: Requirements for

Submissions

USTR requests comments on: the

operation and effectiveness of—

including implementation of and

compliance with—the WTO Basic

Telecommunications Agreement; other

WTO agreements affecting market

opportunities for telecommunications

products and services of the United

States; the NAFTA; and other

telecommunications trade agreements

with APEC members, the EU, Japan,

Korea, Mexico and Taiwan. All

comments must be in English, identify

on the first page of the comments the

telecommunications trade agreement(s)

discussed therein, be addressed to

Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, TPSC,

ATTN: Section 1377 Comments, Office

of the U.S. Trade Representative, and be

submitted in 15 copies by noon on

Tuesday, February 1, 2000.

All comments will be placed in the

USTR Reading Room for inspection

shortly after the filing deadline, except

business confidential information

exempt from public inspection in

accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6.

Confidential information submitted in

accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6, must be

clearly marked ‘‘BUSINESS

CONFIDENTIAL’’ in a contrasting color

ink at the top of each page on each of

15 copies, and must be accompanied by

15 copies of a nonconfidential summary

of the confidential information. The

nonconfidential summary will be placed

in the USTR Public Reading Room.

An appointment to review the

comments may be made by calling

Brenda Webb at (202) 395–6186. The

USTR Reading Room is open to the

public from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon, and

from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday

through Friday, and is located in Room

101.

Frederick L. Montgomery,

Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.

[FR Doc. 00–117 Filed 1–6–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

Agency Information Collection Activity

Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.