Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 111 / Thursday, June 8, 2000 / Notices 36501

Major Issues Raised by the United

States

On February 13, 1998, Brazil

established under Decree No. 2.498/98

and other related statutes and

regulations a system to verify the

declared values of imported goods. In

practice, however, Brazil utilizes this

verification system—in conjunction

with non-automatic import licensing

procedures—to prohibit or restrict the

import of products with declared values

below the minimum prices. This

situation appears inconsistent with

Articles 1 through 7, and 12 of the

Agreement on Customs Valuation;

general notes 1, 2, and 4 of Annex 1 of

the Agreement on Customs Valuation;

Articles II and XI of the GATT 1994;

Articles 1 and 3 of the Agreement on

Import Licensing Procedures; Articles 2

and 7 of the Agreement on Textiles and

Clothing; and Article 4.2 of the

Agreement on Agriculture.

Public Comment: Requirements for

Submissions

Interested persons are invited to

submit written comments concerning

the issues raised in the dispute.

Comments must be in English and

provided in fifteen copies. 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 commenter.

Confidential business information must

be clearly marked ‘‘BUSINESS

CONFIDENTIAL’’ in a contrasting color

ink at the top of each page of each copy.

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 so designate the information

or advice;

(2) Must clearly mark the material as

‘‘SUBMITTED IN CONFIDENCE’’ in a

contrasting color ink at the top of each

page of each copy; and

(3) Is encouraged to provide a nonconfidential 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:

Room 101, Office of the United States

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20508. The public

file will include a listing of any

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 WTO/D–

197, Brazil Customs Valuation Dispute)

may be made by calling Brenda Webb,

(202) 395–6186. The USTR Reading

Room is open to the public from 9:30

a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.,

Monday through Friday.

A. Jane Bradley,

Assistant United States Trade Representative

for Monitoring and Enforcement.

[FR Doc. 00–14513 Filed 6–7–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–P

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Trade Policy Staff Committee;

Solicitation of Public Comments on

Institutional Improvements to the

World Trade Organization (WTO),

Particularly With Respect to the

Transparency of its Operations and

Outreach to Civil Society

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff

Committee (TPSC) is soliciting public

comments on U.S. objectives and

proposals for improving the functioning

of the WTO, particularly with respect to

its outreach activities and the

transparency of its operations, and in

light of the WTO’s ongoing work

program and mandated negotiations in

agriculture and services. Attention is

drawn to the solicitation of Public

Comments for the Mandated

Multilateral Trade Negotiations on

Agriculture and Services in the WTO

and Priorities for Future Market Access

Negotiations on Non-Agricultural

Goods, published on March 28, 2000

(Volume 65, Number 60). That notice

called for public comments on general

as well as specific negotiating

objectives. The issues of outreach and

transparency are on-going matters before

the WTO and the subject of continuing

consultations conducted under the

auspices of the WTO General Council. It

is also anticipated that, like other

internation institutions, the WTO will

need to continue to consider

appropriate responses to the challenges

as well as the benefits offered by

‘‘globalization’’ as its future agenda is

fashioned. The TPSC, therefore, also

welcomes comments on whether and

how the WTO might undertake

activities to ensure that the social,

environmental and development

dimensions of continued trade

liberalization are adqquately addressed.

Comments received will be considered

by the Executive Branch in formulating

U.S. positions for these discussions and

deliberations.

DATES: Public comments are due by July

10, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Office of the United States

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul

Moore, Office of WTO and Multilateral

Affairs, at (202) 395–5097, or Karissa

Kovner, Office of the Environment and

Natural Resources, at (202) 395–6169.

Procedural inquiries concerning the

public comment process should be

directed to Gloria Blue, Executive

Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee,

Office of the United States Trade

Representative, (202) 395–3475.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Information about the WTO can be

obtained via the WTO website

(www.wto.org) Attention is also drawn

to the 2000 Trade Policy Agenda and

1999 Annual Report of the President of

the United States on the Trade

Agreements Program, which can be

found on USTR’s website

(www.ustr.gov) via the ‘‘What’s New’’

icon. Chapter 2 of the Report presents a

report to the Congress assessing the first

five years’ operation of the WTO, the

annexes to which contain substantial

background information on the WTO, its

organization and the work of its

Councils and Committees. Also

accessible via USTR’s website are U.S.

submissions made to the WTO General

Council as part of the preparatory

process for the third WTO Ministerial

Conference in December 1999,

including submissions covering

agricultural, services and non-agcultural

market access as well as trade and

sustainable development, trade and core

labor standards and WTO institutional

issues (e.g., transparency and openness).

Information about U.S. contributions to

and participation in the WTO’s 1999

High Level Meeting on Trade and the

Environment can also be obtained via

the ‘‘What’s New’’ icon. Finally, the

USTR home page includes a recent

communication from USTR to the

Chairman of the WTO General Council

reiterating U.S. priorities for improving

the internal and external transparency

of the WTO and its subsidiary bodies.

36502 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 111 / Thursday, June 8, 2000 / Notices

The TPSC invites written comments

from the public on the important

institutional issues raised about the

WTO in terms of its openness and

accountability, including its outreach to

citizens. The Administration has been

active in seeking institutional

improvements to the WTO, while

preserving its intergovernmental nature.

For example, the United States has

consistently called for the WTO to build

upon past progress by (i) expanding the

range of WTO documents available to

the public; (ii) strengthening the

guidelines for consultations with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); (iii)

enhancing the WTO’s program of

symposia and consultations on specific

topics of mutual interest; (iv) expanding

and improving the use of Internet

facilities to reach more stakeholders in

more creative ways; and (v) broadening

the range of WTO meetings and events

that would be open to the public. Last

year, the United States specifically

called upon the WTO membership to

agree upon methods to permit the

organizations of civil society (including

businesses, labor organizations,

agricultural producers, environmental

groups, academic associations and

others) to observe meetings, as

appropriate, and share views as Member

delegations develop policy. The United

States has proposed updating the 1996

WTO General Council Decisions on

Document Derestriction and Relations

with NGOs as a near term opportunity

for making progress in certain of these

areas, but additional opportunities and

progress should be pursued—including

with respect to opening dispute

settlement panel proceedings to public

observation and clarifying procedures

for acceptance of amicus curiae

submissions from interested nongovernmental parties.

In terms of dispute settlement, the

United States has proposed that the

WTO procedures include a mechanism

to permit non-governmental

stakeholders to present their written

views on disputes, and that the WTO

allow the public to observe WTO panel

and appellate proceedings. The United

States continues to urge other WTO

Members to work with the United States

to enhance the transparency of the WTO

dispute settlement process, through

changes in the working procedures

applied in individual disputes, and

through an ongoing assessment of the

operation of the WTO Dispute

Settlement Understanding.

The United States has taken many

steps on its own to improve the

transparency of the WTO dispute

settlement process. USTR seeks public

comment, through a Federal Register

notice, on every dispute settlement

proceeding where the United States is a

party. USTR also makes its written

submissions to panels and the WTO

Appellate Body available to the public

as soon as they are submitted. The

United States routinely requests the

parties to any WTO case (even cases in

which it is not a party) to provide it

with a copy of their submissions or nonconfidential summaries for release to

the public.

USTR makes WTO panel reports

available to the public upon receipt, and

the WTO makes WTO panel and

Appellate Body reports available on the

Internet for downloading the day after

they are circulated in Geneva, and

sometimes the same day. This is also

true of other WTO documents regarding

disputes. The consultation requests and

panel requests in every dispute are

circulated to all WTO Members in all

three official languages (English, French

and Spanish) as public documents, and

immediately put on the WTO website.

Any member of the public can access

WTO documents through the Internet

and follow the progress of WTO

disputes on that website. In this way,

members of the public can find out from

these WTO documents that there will be

a panel proceeding and what issues the

panel will address, even before the

panel is established.

Written Comments

Comments are welcome with as much

specificity as the respondent can

provide on the range of opportunities

which should be sought for achieving

greater transparency and openness as

well as on the nature of achievements to

be sought. The Administration is

particularly interested in determining if

there are additional mechanisms that

can be utilized to ensure broader

interaction with consumer and other

parties interested in developments in

the WTO and the trading system. This

is part of a broader dialogue initiated by

the Administration these issues.

Submissions need not duplicate

submissions provided in response to the

March 28 solicitation regarding

objectives for the mandated negotiations

in agriculture and services and potential

industrial market access negotiation.

Persons submitting written comments

should provide twenty (20) copies no

later than July 10, 2000 to Gloria Blue,

Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff

Committee, Office of the United States

Trade Representative, Room 122, 600

17th Street Northwest, Washington, DC

20508. Written comments submitted in

connection with this request, except for

information granted ‘‘business

confidential’’ status pursuant to 15 CFR

2003.6, will be available for public

inspection in the USTR Reading Room,

Room 101, Office of the United States

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street,

Northwest, Washington, DC. An

appointment to review the file may be

made by calling Brenda Webb at 202–

395–6186. The Reading Room is open to

the public from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon,

and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday

through Friday.

Business confidential information

will be subject to the requirements of 15

CFR 2003.6. Any business confidential

material must be clearly marked as such

on the cover letter or page and each

succeeding page, and must be

accompanied by a non-confidential

summary thereof. If the submission

contains business confidential

information, twenty copies of a public

version that does not contain

confidential information must be

submitted. A justification as to why the

information contained in the

submission should be treated

confidentially must be included in the

submission. In addition, any

submissions containing business

confidential information must be clearly

marked ‘‘Confidetnial’’ at the top and

bottom of the cover page (or letter) and

each succeeding page of the submission.

The version that does not contain

confidential information should also be

clearly marked at the top and bottom of

each page ‘‘Public Version’’ or ‘‘NonConfidential.’’

Carmen Suro-Bredie,

Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.

[FR Doc. 00–14514 Filed 6–7–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3901–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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by the Office of Management and

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