Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 118 / Monday, June 19, 2000 / Notices 38021

Landing State Park and Pickwick Dam

facilities affecting approximately 85.2

acres of land on Pickwick Reservoir in

Hardin County, Tennessee.

E8. Modification of a permanent

easement for public recreation affecting

approximately 0.2 acre of land on Fort

Loudoun reservoir in Knox County,

Tennessee (Tract No. XTFL–122RE), to

allow for commercial uses in addition to

public recreation.

F—Unclassified

1. Approval to file a condemnation

case to acquire additional easement

rights for an existing transmission line

easement involving the MurfreesboroSmyrna No. 2 transmission line in

Rutherford County, Tennessee.

Information Item

1. Designation of law enforcement

officer positions under Civil Service

Retirement System and Office of

Personnel Management regulations.

For more information: Please call

TVA Public Relations at (423) 632–6000,

Knoxville, Tennessee. Information is

also available at TVA’s Washington

Office (202) 898–2999. People who plan

to attend the meeting and have special

needs should call (865) 632–6000.

Dated: June 14, 2000.

Edward S. Christenbury,

General Counsel and Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–15459 Filed 6–15–00; 10:51 am]

BILLING CODE 8120–08–M

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

African Growth and Opportunity Act

Implementation Subcommittee of the

Trade Policy Staff Committee; Public

Comments on Determining Country

Eligibility for Benefits Under the

African Growth and Opportunity Act,

Title I of the Trade and Development

Act of 2000

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The African Growth and

Opportunity Act Implementation

Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff

Committee is requesting written public

comments on the eligibility of subSaharan African countries to receive the

benefits of the recently-enacted African

Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The notice lists the eligibility criteria

that must be considered under the

AGOA, lists the countries considered to

be sub-Saharan African countries under

the AGOA, provides the deadline for

written comments, and explains how to

make written comments on the

eligibility criteria elaborated in the

AGOA. Comments received will be

considered by the African Growth and

Opportunity Act Implementation

Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff

Committee, chaired by USTR, in

developing recommendations on

country eligibility for the President.

Initial designation of beneficiary

countries under the AGOA should be

made in Fall 2000. Comments received

related to the child labor criteria may

also be considered by the Secretary of

Labor in determining the findings

required under Section 504 of the Trade

Act of 1974, as amended.

DATES: Public Comments are due by

noon, July 14, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Office of African Affairs, Office of the

United States Trade Representative, 600

17th Street, NW, Room 501,

Washington, DC 20508. Telephone (202)

395–9514.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Signed

into law on May 18, 2000, the Trade and

Development Act of 2000 contains, in

Title I, provisions for enhanced trade

benefits for sub-Saharan African

countries. Titled the ‘‘African Growth

and Opportunity Act’’ (AGOA), the

AGOA amends the Generalized System

of Preferences (GSP), Title V of the

Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the

Trade Act) (19 USC 2461 et seq.), to

authorized the President to designated

sub-Saharan African countries as

eligible for preferential tariff treatment

for certain articles.

Eligibility Criteria

Under AGOA, the eligibility criteria

that must be considered include those

in Section 104 of the AGOA and in

Section 502 of the Trade Act. The

requirements of Section 104 of the

AGOA are:

‘‘(a) In General.—The President is

authorized to designate a sub-Saharan

African country as an eligible sub-Saharan

African country if the President determines

that the country——

(1) Has established, or is making continual

progress toward establishing—

(A) A market-based economy that protects

private property rights, incorporates an open

rules-based trading system, and minimizes

government interference in the economy

through measures such as price controls,

subsidies, and government ownership of

economies assets;

(B) The rule of law, political pluralism, and

the right to due process, a fair trial, and equal

protection under the law;

(C) The elimination of barriers to United

States trade and investment, including by—

(i) The provision of national treatment and

measures to create an environment

conductive to domestic and foreign

investment;

(ii) The protection of intellectual property;

and

(iii) The resolution of bilateral trade and

investment disputes;

(D) Economic policies to reduce poverty,

increase the availability of health care and

educational opportunities, expand physical

infrastructure, promote the development of

private enterprise, and encourage the

formation of capital markets through microcredit or other programs;

(E) a system to combat corruption and

bribery, such as signing and implementing

the Convention on Combating Bribery of

Foreign Public Officials in International

Business Transactions; and

(F) protection of internationally recognized

workers rights, including the right of

association, the right to organize and bargain

collectively, a prohibition on the use of any

form of forced or compulsory labor, a

minimum age for the employment of

children, and acceptable conditions of work

with respect to minimum wages, hours of

work, and occupational safety and health;

(2) does not engage in activities that

undermine United States national security or

foreign policy interest; and

(3) does not engage in gross violations of

internationally recognized human rights or

provide support for acts of international

terrorism and cooperates in international

efforts to eliminate human rights violations

and terrorist activities.

(b) Continuing Compliance: If the President

determines that an eligible sub-Saharan

African country is not making continual

progress in meeting the requirements

described in subsection (a)(1), the President

shall terminate the designation of the country

made pursuant to subsection (a).’’

The applicable GSP criterion as

amended by the AGOA (Section

502(b)(2)(H) of the Trade Act) is:

‘‘(2) Other bases for ineligibility.—The

President shall not designate any country a

beneficiary developing country under this

title if any of the following applies:

* * * * *

(H) Such country has not implemented its

commitments to eliminate the worst forms of

child labor.’’

Countries Considered to be subSaharan African Countries

Section 107 of the AGOA defines the

terms ‘‘sub-Saharan Africa’’, ‘‘subSaharan African country’’, ‘‘country in

sub-Saharan Africa’’, and ‘‘countries in

sub-Saharan Africa’’ as constituting the

following countries (or any successor

political entities):

‘‘Republic of Angola (Angola).

Republic of Benin (Benin).

Republic of Botswana (Botswana).

Burkina Faso (Burkina).

Republic of Burundi (Burundi).

Republic of Cameroon (Cameroon).

Republic of Cape Verde (Cape Verde).

Central African Republic.

Republic of Chad (Chad).

Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros

(Comoros).

38022 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 118 / Monday, June 19, 2000 / Notices

Democratic Republic of Congo.

Republic of the Congo (Congo).

Republic of Cote d’Ivoire (Cote d’Ivoire).

Republic of Djibouti (Djibouti).

Republic of Equatorial Guinea (Equatorial

Guinea).

State of Eritrea (Eritrea).

Ethiopia.

Gabonese Republic (Gabon).

Republic of the Gambia (Gambia).

Republic of Ghana (Ghana).

Republic of Guinea (Guinea).

Republic of Guinea-Bissau (Guinea-Bissau).

Republic of Kenya (Kenya).

Kingdoom of Lesotho (Lesotho).

Republic of Liberia (Liberia).

Republic of Madagascar (Madagascar).

Republic of Malawi (Malawi).

Republic of Mali (Mali).

Islamic Repubic of Mauritania (Mauritania).

Republic of Mauritius (Mauritius).

Republic of Mozambique (Mozambique).

Republic of Namibia (Namibia).

Republic of Niger (Niger).

Federal Republic of Nigeria (Nigeria).

Republic of Rwanda (Rwanda).

Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and

Principe (Sao Tome and Principe).

Republic of Senegal (Senegal).

Republic of Seychelles (Seychelles).

Republic of Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone).

Somalia.

Republic of South Africa (South Africa).

Republic of Sudan (Sudan).

Kingdom of Swaziland (Swaziland).

United Republic of Tanzania (Tanzania).

Republic of Togo (Togo).

Republic of Uganda (Uganda).

Republic of Zambia (Zambia).

Republic Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe).

Submitting Written Comments

Interested parties are invited to

submit comments regarding the

eligibility of countries noted above for

designation as beneficiary sub-Saharan

African Countries. All submissions must

include an original and twenty (20)

copies in English. All submissions

should clearly identify on the cover

page of the submission the country of

countries and eligibility criterion or

criteria discussed within the

submission. All pages should be clearly

numbered and include the name of the

person and/or organization submitting

the written comments. Persons

submitting written comments should

provide the original and twenty (20)

copies no later than noon on July 14,

2000, to Gloria Blue, Executive

Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee,

Office of the United States Trade

Representative, Room 122, 600 17th

Street N.W., Washington D.C. 20508.

Public versions of all documents

relating to this review will be available

for inspection by appointment in the

USTR public reading room.

Appointments may be made from 10

a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. by

calling (202) 395–6186.

Submissions that are granted

‘‘business confidential’’ status and other

information submitted in confidence

will not be available for public

inspection. Business confidential

information will be subject to the

requirements of 15 CFR 2003.6. A

justification as to why the information

contained in the submission should be

treated confidentially must be included

in the submission. If a document

contains such business confidential

information, an original and twenty (20)

copies of the business confidential

versions of the document along with an

original and twenty (20) copies of a nonconfidential version must be submitted.

The document that contains business

confidential information should be

clearly marked ‘‘business confidential’’

at the top and bottom of each page. The

version that does not contain business

confidential information (the public

version) should also be clearly marked

at the top and bottom of every page

(either ‘‘public version’’ or

‘‘nonconfidential’’).

Rosa M. Whitaker,

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for

Africa.

[FR Doc. 00–15406 Filed 6–16–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–M

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Generalized System of Preferences

(GSP); Worker Rights; Deadline for

Submitting Public Comment on

Limitations on Duty-Free Treatment of

Certain Bangladeshi Products

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative (USTR).

ACTION: Notice of request for public

comment.

SUMMARY: This notice informs the public

that because Bangladesh has not taken

sufficient steps to provide

internationally recognized worker

rights, the U.S. government is preparing

to withdraw, in whole or in part, dutyfree treatment accorded to imports from

Bangladesh under the U.S. Generalized

System of Preferences and sets forth the

deadline for submitting public

comments. All GSP eligible products

imported from Bangladesh could be

affected.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: GSP

Subcommittee, Office of the United

States Trade Representative, 600 17th

Street, NW, Room 518, Washington, DC

20508 (Tel. 202/395–6971). Public

versions of all documents relating to

this review may be seen by appointment

in the USTR public Reading Room

between 9:30–12 a.m. and 1–4p.m. (Tel.

202/395–6186).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP

program is authorized pursuant to Title

V of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended

(‘‘the Trade Act’’) (19 U.S.C. 2461 et

seq.) The GSP program grants duty-free

treatment to designated eligible articles

that are imported from designated

beneficiary developing countries. Once

grated, GSP benefits may be withdrawn,

suspended or limited by the President

with respect to any article or with

respect to any country. In making this

determination, the President must

consider several factors, one of which is

whether or not such country has taken

or is taking steps to afford to workers in

that country (including any designated

zone in that country) internationally

recognized worker rights (19 U.S.C.

2462(c)(7)). Bangladesh is a beneficiary

of the GSP program. In 1999, almost $30

million of Bangladeshi imports

benefitted from GSP.

In 1991 Bangladesh committed to

restore freedom of association to the

nation’s export processing zone (EPZ)

by 1997, and a GSP worker rights review

was terminated. However, the national

labor law still has not been extended to

export processing zones (there now are

more than one).

The AFL filed a petition in June 1999

calling for the revocation of GSP

benefits. The U.S. Government has held

several discussions with Bangladeshi

authorities in an effort to successfully

resolve this issue. However, freedom of

association for workers in the EPZs

remains elusive.

As a result, the Trade Policy Staff

Committee (TPSC) is seeking public

comment on the impact of suspending

duty-free treatment for articles imported

from Bangladesh. After receiving public

comments, a decision will be made on

the articles that will lose GSP benefits.

Complete suspension from GSP will be

considered.

Opportunities for Public Comment and

Inspection Of Comments

The GSP Subcommittee on the TPSC

invites comments in support of, or in

opposition to, limitations of duty-free

treatment on imports from Bangladesh

under the GSP program. The deadline

for submissions is 5 PM on Tuesday,

August 15, 2000.

Comments must be submitted in 15

copies, in English, to the Chairman of

the GSP Subcommittee, Trade Policy

Staff Committee, 600 17th Street, N.W.,

Room 513, Washington, D.C. 20508.

Information and comments will be

subject to public inspection by

appointment with the staff of the USTR