50284 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 156 / Friday, August 12, 2011 / Notices 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Donna Powers, 3700 Robert Ball 

Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, 

Baltimore, MD 21235–6401, (410) 965– 

3558. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: 

Program Nos. 96.001 Social Security— 

Disability Insurance; 96.002 Social 

Security—Retirement Insurance; 96.004 

Social Security—Survivors Insurance) 

Diane K. Braunstein, 

Associate Commissioner, Office of 

International Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20489 Filed 8–11–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4191–02–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Request for Public Comments on 

Interim Review of Eligibility of Cote 

d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger for Benefits 

Under the African Growth and 

Opportunity Act 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The African Growth and 

Opportunity Act Implementation 

Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff 

Committee (the ‘‘Subcommittee’’) is 

requesting written public comments for 

the interim review of the eligibility of 

Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger to 

receive the benefits of the African 

Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). 

The Subcommittee will consider these 

comments in developing 

recommendations on AGOA country 

eligibility for the President. Comments 

received related to the child labor 

criteria may also be considered by the 

Secretary of Labor for the preparation of 

the Department of Labor’s report on 

child labor as required under section 

412(c) of the Trade and Development 

Act of 2000. This notice identifies the 

eligibility criteria that must be 

considered under the AGOA. Cote 

d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger are currently 

ineligible for AGOA benefits. 

DATES: Public comments are due at the 

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative 

(USTR) by noon, Monday, August 29, 

2010. 

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers 

electronic submissions made at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, docket number 

USTR–2011–0009. See ‘‘Requirements 

for Submission,’’ below. If you are 

unable to make a submission at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, please contact 

Laura Newport, Trade Policy Staff 

Committee, at (202) 395–3475 to make 

other arrangements. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

procedural questions, please contact 

Laura Newport, Office of the U.S. Trade 

Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., 

Room F516, Washington, DC 20508, at 

(202) 395–3475. All other questions 

should be directed to Constance 

Hamilton, Deputy Assistant, U.S. Trade 

Representative for Africa, Office of the 

U.S. Trade Representative, at (202) 395– 

9514. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

AGOA (Title I of the Trade and 

Development Act of 2000, Public Law 

106–200) (19 U.S.C. 3721 et seq.), as 

amended, authorizes the President to 

designate sub-Saharan African countries 

as beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

countries eligible for duty-free treatment 

for certain additional products under 

the Generalized System of Preferences 

(GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 

(19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) (the ‘‘1974 

Act’’)), as well as for the preferential 

treatment the AGOA provides for 

certain textile and apparel articles. 

The President may designate a 

country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan 

African country eligible for both the 

additional GSP benefits and the textile 

and apparel benefits of the AGOA for 

countries meeting certain statutory 

requirements intended to prevent 

unlawful transshipment of such articles, 

if he determines that the country meets 

the eligibility criteria set forth in: (1) 

Section 104 of the AGOA; and (2) 

section 502 of the 1974 Act. Currently, 

37 countries are designated as 

beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

countries. Section 506A of the 1974 Act 

provides that the President shall 

monitor and review annually the 

progress of each sub-Saharan African 

country in meeting the foregoing 

eligibility criteria in order to determine 

whether each beneficiary sub-Saharan 

African country should continue to be 

eligible, and whether each sub-Saharan 

African country that is currently not a 

beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

country, should be designated as such a 

country. Section 506A of the 1974 Act 

requires that, if the President 

determines that a beneficiary subSaharan African country is not making 

continual progress in meeting the 

eligibility requirements, he must 

terminate the designation of the country 

as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

country. 

The Subcommittee is seeking public 

comments in connection with an 

interim review of the eligibility of Cote 

d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger for the 

AGOA’s benefits. The Subcommittee 

will consider any such comments in 

developing recommendations on 

country eligibility for the President. 

Comments related to the child labor 

criteria may also be considered by the 

Secretary of Labor in making the 

findings required under section 504 of 

the 1974 Act. The eligibility criteria can 

be found at: 19 U.S.C. 2462 (Section 502 

of the 1974 Act) and 19 U.S.C. 3703 

(Section 104 of AGOA). 

Requirements for Submissions: 

Comments must be submitted in 

English. To ensure the most timely and 

expeditious receipt and consideration of 

petitions, USTR has arranged to accept 

on-line submissions via http:// 

www.regulations.gov. To submit 

petitions via this site, enter docket 

number USTR–2011–0009 on the home 

page and click ‘‘search.’’ The site will 

provide a search-results page listing all 

documents associated with this docket. 

Find a reference to this notice by 

selecting ‘‘notice’’ under ‘‘Document 

Type’’ on search-results page and click 

on the link entitled ‘‘Submit a 

Comment.’’ (For further information on 

using the http://www.regulations,gov 

Web site, please consult the resources 

provided on the Web site by clicking on 

‘‘Help’’ at the top of the home page.) 

The http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site provides the option of making 

submissions by filling in a ‘‘Type 

comment & Upload file’’ field, or by 

attaching a document. USTR prefers 

comments to be submitted as 

attachments. When doing this, it is 

sufficient to type ‘‘See attached’’ in the 

‘‘Type comment & Upload file’’ field. 

Submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or 

Adobe Acrobat (pdf) are preferred. 

Persons wishing to file comments 

containing business confidential 

information must submit both a 

business confidential version and a 

public version. Persons submitting 

business confidential information 

should write ‘‘See attached BC 

comments’’ in the ‘‘Type comment & 

Upload file’’ field. Any page containing 

business confidential information must 

be clearly marked ‘‘Business 

Confidential’’ on the top of that page. 

Persons submitting a business 

confidential comment must also submit 

a separate public version of that 

comment with the business confidential 

information deleted. Persons should 

write ‘‘See attached public version’’ in 

the ‘‘Type comment & Upload file’’ field 

of the public submission. Submissions 

should not attach separate cover letters; 

rather, information that might appear in 

the cover letter should be included in 

the comments you submit. Similarly, to 

the extent possible, please include any 

exhibits, annexes, or other attachments 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 156 / Friday, August 12, 2011 / Notices 50285 

to a submission in the same file as the 

submission itself and not as separate 

files. 

Public versions of all documents 

relating to this review will be available 

for review no later than two weeks after 

the due date at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, docket number 

USTR–2011–0009. 

Donald W. Eiss, 

Acting Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20486 Filed 8–11–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W1–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Fiscal Year 2012 Tariff-Rate Quota 

Allocations for Raw Cane Sugar, 

Refined and Specialty Sugar and 

Sugar-Containing Products 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the United 

States Trade Representative (USTR) is 

providing notice of country-by-country 

allocations of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 

in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quotas 

for imported raw cane sugar, refined 

and specialty sugar and sugarcontaining products. 

DATES: Effective Date: September 1, 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: Inquiries may be mailed or 

delivered to Julie Scott, Office of 

Agricultural Affairs, Office of the United 

States Trade Representative, 600 17th 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie 

Scott, Office of Agricultural Affairs, 

telephone: 202–395–9582 or facsimile: 

202–395–4579. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to Additional U.S. Note 5 to chapter 17 

of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 

the United States (HTS), the United 

States maintains tariff-rate quotas 

(TRQs) for imports of raw cane sugar 

and refined sugar. Pursuant to 

Additional U.S. Note 8 to Chapter 17 of 

the HTS, the United States maintains a 

TRQ for imports of sugar-containing 

products. 

Section 404(d)(3) of the Uruguay 

Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 

3601(d)(3)) authorizes the President to 

allocate the in-quota quantity of a TRQ 

for any agricultural product among 

supplying countries or customs areas. 

The President delegated this authority 

to the United States Trade 

Representative under Presidential 

Proclamation 6763 (60 FR 1007). 

On August 1, 2011, the Secretary of 

Agriculture (Secretary) announced the 

sugar program provisions for fiscal year 

(FY) 2012. The Secretary announced an 

in-quota quantity of the TRQ for raw 

cane sugar for FY 2012 of 1,117,195 

metric tons * raw value (MTRV), which 

is the minimum amount to which the 

United States is committed under the 

World Trade Organization (WTO) 

Uruguay Round Agreements. USTR is 

allocating this quantity (1,117,195 

MTRV) to the following countries in the 

amounts specified below: 

Country 

FY 2012 Raw 

cane sugar 

allocations 

(MTRV) 

Argentina ........................ 46,154 

Australia .......................... 89,087 

Barbados ........................ 7,513 

Belize .............................. 11,807 

Bolivia ............................. 8,587 

Brazil ............................... 155,634 

Colombia ......................... 25,760 

Congo ............................. 7,258 

Costa Rica ...................... 16,100 

Cote d’Ivoire ................... 7,258 

Dominican Republic ........ 188,908 

Ecuador .......................... 11,807 

El Salvador ..................... 27,907 

Fiji ................................... 9,660 

Gabon ............................. 7,258 

Guatemala ...................... 51,520 

Guyana ........................... 12,880 

Haiti ................................. 7,258 

Honduras ........................ 10,733 

India ................................ 8,587 

Jamaica .......................... 11,807 

Madagascar .................... 7,258 

Malawi ............................. 10,733 

Mauritius ......................... 12,880 

Mozambique ................... 13,953 

Nicaragua ....................... 22,540 

Panama .......................... 31,127 

Papua New Guinea ........ 7,258 

Paraguay ........................ 7,258 

Peru ................................ 44,007 

Philippines ...................... 144,901 

South Africa .................... 24,687 

St. Kitts & Nevis ............. 7,258 

Swaziland ....................... 17,174 

Thailand .......................... 15,027 

Trinidad & Tobago .......... 7,513 

Uruguay .......................... 7,258 

Zimbabwe ....................... 12,880 

These allocations are based on the 

countries’ historical shipments to the 

United States and consultations with 

quota-holding countries. The allocations 

of the in-quota quantities of the raw 

cane sugar TRQ to countries that are net 

importers of sugar are conditioned on 

receipt of the appropriate verifications 

of origin, and certificates for quota 

eligibility must accompany imports 

from any country for which an 

allocation has been provided. 

On August 1, 2011, the Secretary also 

announced the establishment of the inquota quantity of the FY 2012 refined 

sugar TRQ at 112,718 MTRV for which 

the sucrose content, by weight in the 

dry state, must have a polarimeter 

reading of 99.5 degrees or more. This 

amount includes the minimum level to 

which the United States is committed 

under the WTO Uruguay Round 

Agreements (22,000 MTRV of which 

1,656 MTRV is reserved for specialty 

sugar) and an additional 90,718 MTRV 

for specialty sugars. Based on 

consultations with quota-holding 

countries, USTR is allocating a total of 

12,050 MTRV of refined sugar to Canada 

and 8,294 MTRV of refined sugar to be 

administered on a first-come, firstserved basis. 

Imports of all specialty sugar will be 

administered on a first-come, firstserved basis in five tranches. The 

Secretary has announced that the total 

in-quota quantity of specialty sugar will 

be the 1,656 MTRV included in the 

WTO minimum plus an additional 

90,718 MTRV. The first tranche of 1,656 

MTRV will open October 12, 2011. All 

types of specialty sugars are eligible for 

entry under this tranche. The second 

tranche of 33,565 MTRV will open on 

October 26, 2011. The third, fourth, and 

fifth tranches of 19,051 MTRV each will 

open on January 11, 2012, April 11, 

2012 and July 11, 2012, respectively. 

The second, third, fourth and fifth 

tranches will be reserved for organic 

sugar and other specialty sugars not 

currently produced commercially in the 

United States or reasonably available 

from domestic sources. 

With respect to the in-quota quantity 

of 64,709 metric tons (MT) of the TRQ 

for imports of certain sugar-containing 

products maintained under Additional 

U.S. Note 8 to chapter 17 of the HTS, 

USTR is allocating 59,250 MT to 

Canada. The remainder, 5,459 MT, of 

the in-quota quantity is available for 

other countries on a first-come, firstserved basis. 

In response to increased tightness in 

the U.S. raw cane sugar market, USDA 

also announced that it will open its raw 

cane sugar TRQs on September 1, 2011, 

a month earlier than the usual entry 

date of October 1. This early entry date 

does not apply to TRQs for refined and 

specialty sugar and sugar-containing 

products. 

* Conversion factor: 1 metric ton = 

1.10231125 short tons. 

Ronald Kirk, 

United States Trade Representative. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20480 Filed 8–11–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W1–P 

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