Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 95 / Tuesday, May 18, 2010 / Notices 27855 

• Estimated Number of Respondents: 

25. 

• Estimated Number of Responses: 

25. 

• Average Hours per Response: 60 

hours. 

• Total Estimated Burden: 1,500 

hours. 

• Frequency: Annually. 

• Obligation To Respond: Voluntary. 

DATES: Submit comments to the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) for 

up to 30 days from May 18, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Direct comments to the 

Department of State Desk Officer in the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs at the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB). You may submit 

comments by the following methods: 

• E-mail: 

oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. You 

must include the DS form number, 

information collection title, and OMB 

control number in the subject line of 

your message. 

• Fax: 202–395–5806. Attention: Desk 

Officer for Department of State. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You 

may obtain copies of the proposed 

information collections and supporting 

documents from Nicholas Memos, PM/ 

DDTC, SA–1, 12th Floor, Directorate of 

Defense Trade Controls, Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs, U.S. 

Department of State, Washington, DC 

20522–0112, who may be reached via 

phone at (202) 663–2804, or via e-mail 

at memosni@state.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

We are soliciting public comments to 

permit the Department to: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

information collection is necessary to 

properly perform our functions. 

• Evaluate the accuracy of our 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection, including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used. 

• Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected. 

• Minimize the reporting burden on 

those who are to respond, including the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of technology. 

Abstract of proposed collection: 

Section 25(a)(1) of the Arms Export 

Control Act requires an annual report to 

Congress on projected sales of major 

weapons and weapons-related defense 

equipment (if $7M or more) and nonmajor weapons or weapons-related 

defense equipment (if $25M or more). In 

order to prepare this report, the 

Directorate of Defense Trade Controls 

(DDTC) requests information from major 

defense companies by publishing a 

Federal Register notice and by placing 

a notice on its Web site. DDTC is 

requesting relevant projected sales that 

include the foreign country to which the 

item is to be sold, a description of the 

item, the item’s quantity, and its value. 

Dated: May 10, 2010. 

Beth M. McCormick, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense Trade 

and Regional Security, Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs, U.S. Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2010–11853 Filed 5–17–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–25–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 7013] 

Certifications Pursuant to Section 609 

of Public Law 101–162 

SUMMARY: On April 30, 2010, the 

Department of State certified, pursuant 

to Section 609 of Public Law 101–162 

(‘‘Section 609’’), that 13 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 25 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: 

James J. Hogan, III, Office of Marine 

Conservation, Bureau of Oceans and 

International Environmental and 

Scientific Affairs, Department of State, 

Washington, DC 20520–7818; telephone: 

(202) 647–2252. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

609 of Public Law 101–162 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. 

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 30, 2010, the Department 

certified 13 nations on the basis that 

their sea turtle protection programs are 

comparable to that of the United States: 

Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, 

Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, 

Madagascar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, 

Pakistan, Panama and Suriname. 

The Department also certified 25 

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. Nine 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 nine nations and 

one economy are: The Bahamas, China, 

the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Hong 

Kong, Jamaica, Oman, Peru, Sri Lanka 

and Venezuela. 

The Department of State withdrew 

Mexico’s certification in March 2010 

because Mexico’s turtle protection 

program is not currently comparable to 

the U.S. program. An import prohibition 

went into effect on April 20, 2010. The 

United States Government and the 

Government of Mexico are working 

together to strengthen Mexico’s Turtle 

Excluder Device (TED) program and to 

advance shared sea turtle conservation 

goals. Both governments are engaged to 

ensure renewal of Mexican certification 

within the shortest period of time 

consistent with the requirements of U.S. 

law. 

The Department has certified 

Venezuela once again, albeit on a 

different basis than last year. In March 

2008, the Government of Venezuela 

passed a law banning industrial shrimp 

trawling in its waters. The ban remains 

in effect. As a result, the Department has 

certified Venezuela as a nation whose 

fishing environment does not pose a 

threat of the incidental taking of sea 

turtles. 

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 

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27856 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 95 / Tuesday, May 18, 2010 / Notices 

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 is 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 12, 2010. 

David A. Balton, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and 

Fisheries, Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2010–11846 Filed 5–17–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–09–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 7014] 

Shipping Coordinating Committee; 

Notice of Committee Meeting 

The Shipping Coordinating 

Committee (SHC) will conduct an open 

meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 

8, 2010, in Room 6103 of the United 

States Coast Guard Headquarters 

Building, 2100 Second Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20593–0001. The 

primary purpose of the meeting is to 

prepare for the International Maritime 

Organization (IMO) Diplomatic 

Conference to amend the International 

Convention on Standards of Training, 

Certification and Watchkeeping for 

Seafarers (STCW), 1978 and the 

Seafarers’ Training, Certification and 

Watchkeeping (STCW) Code (STCW 

CONF.2) to be held at the Philippine 

International Convention Center (PICC), 

in Manila, The Philippines, from June 

21 to June 25, 2010. 

The primary matters to be considered 

include: 

— Adoption of the agenda 

— Adoption of the Rules of Procedure 

— Election of Vice-Presidents and other 

officers of the Conference 

— Appointment of the Credentials 

Committee 

— Organization of the work of the 

Conference, including the 

establishment of other committees, as 

necessary 

— Consideration of the draft 

amendments to the International 

Convention on Standards of Training, 

Certification and Watchkeeping for 

Seafarers, 1978 

— Consideration of the draft 

amendments to the Seafarers’ 

Training, Certification and 

Watchkeeping (STCW) Code 

— Consideration of draft resolutions 

and recommendations and related 

matters 

— Consideration of the reports of the 

credentials committees and other 

committees 

— Adoption of the Final Act and any 

instruments, resolutions and 

recommendations resulting from the 

work of the Conference 

— Signature of the Final Act of the 

Conference 

Members of the public may attend 

this meeting up to the seating capacity 

of the room. To facilitate the building 

security process, those who plan to 

attend should contact the meeting 

coordinator, Ms. Zoe Goss, by e-mail at 

zoe.a.goss@uscg.mil, by phone at (202) 

372–1425, by fax at (202) 372–1925, or 

in writing at Commandant (CG–5212), 

U.S. Coast Guard, 2100 2nd Street, SW., 

Stop 7126, Washington, DC 20593– 

7126. A member of the public 

requesting reasonable accommodation 

should make such request prior to 

Tuesday, June 1, 2010, 7 days prior to 

the meeting date. Requests made after 

this date may not be accommodated. 

Please note that due to security 

considerations, two valid, government 

issued photo identifications must be 

presented to gain entrance to the 

Headquarters building. The 

Headquarters building is accessible by 

taxi and privately owned conveyance 

(public transportation is not generally 

available). However, parking in the 

vicinity of the building is extremely 

limited. Additional information 

regarding this and other IMO SHC 

public meetings may be found at: 

http://www.uscg.mil/imo. 

Dated: May 11, 2010. 

Jon Trent Warner, 

Executive Secretary, Shipping Coordinating 

Committee, Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2010–11855 Filed 5–17–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–09–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 7015] 

Shipping Coordinating Committee; 

Notice of Committee Meeting 

The Shipping Coordinating 

Committee (SHC) will conduct an open 

meeting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 

23, 2010, in Conference Room 05–1224 

of the United States Coast Guard 

Headquarters Building, 2100 Second 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20593– 

0001. The primary purpose of the 

meeting is to prepare for the eighteenth 

Session of the International Maritime 

Organization (IMO) Subcommittee on 

Flag State Implementation (FSI) to be 

held at the IMO headquarters in 

London, United Kingdom, from July 5 to 

July 9, 2010. 

The primary matters to be considered 

include: 

—Adoption of the agenda; 

—Decisions of other IMO bodies; 

—Responsibilities of Governments and 

measures to encourage Flag State 

compliance; 

—Mandatory reports under 

International Convention for the 

Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 

1973, as modified by the Protocol of 

1978 (MARPOL 73/78); 

—Port reception facilities-related issues; 

—Casualty statistics and investigations; 

—Harmonization of port State control 

activities; 

—Port State Control (PSC) Guidelines 

on seafarers’ working hours and PSC 

guidelines in relation to the Maritime 

Labour Convention, 2006; 

—Development of guidelines on port 

State control under the 2004 Ballast 

Water Management (BWM) 

Convention; 

— Review of Guidelines for the 

inspection of anti-fouling systems on 

ships; 

—Comprehensive analysis of difficulties 

encountered in the implementation of 

IMO instruments; 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES