28544 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 100 /Tuesday, May 26, 1998 / Notices

DSU provides the rules for settlement of

disputes concerning rights and

obligations under the Uruguay Round

agreements administered by the WTO.

Interested persons are invited to submit

their comments by June 25, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Amelia Porges, Senior Counsel for

Dispute Settlement, Office of the USTR,

(202) 395–7305, or William Kane,

Associate General Counsel, Office of the

USTR, (202) 395–6800.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DSU

provides a mechanism for the settlement

of disputes between the governments

which are members of the WTO,

concerning rights and obligations under

the Uruguay Round agreements. A panel

of neutral experts conducts each dispute

settlement proceeding and issues a

report, which is considered by the

Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) in

which representatives of all WTO

members participate. The DSB must

adopt all panel reports within 60 days

after they are circulated, unless one of

the parties to the dispute notifies the

DSB that it will appeal the decision (or

the DSB decides by consensus to reject

the report). Appeals are heard by the

WTO Appellate Body (AB), which also

issues a report. The DSB must adopt an

appellate body report within 30 days

after circulation (unless there is a

consensus not to do so).

When it finds a measure is

inconsistent with one of the covered

agreements, a panel or the AB must

recommend that the government

concerned bring that measure into

conformity with the agreement. At a

DSB meeting held within 30 days after

the panel or AB report is adopted, that

government must state its compliance

plans. The ‘‘reasonable period’’ for

compliance can be determined by

obtaining DSB approval of a time period

proposed by that government, or by

agreement between the disputing

parties, or by binding arbitration. If a

government does not comply with the

recommendation to bring a measure into

conformity with its WTO obligations, it

must negotiate with the complaining

government(s) on compensation, and

the negotiations must start by the end of

the ‘‘reasonable period’’. If there is no

agreement on compensation by 20 days

after the end of the ‘‘reasonable period’’,

a complaining government may ask the

DSB to authorize it to suspend trade

benefits with respect to the noncomplying party. By 30 days after the

end of the ‘‘reasonable period’’, the DSB

must grant such a request to suspend

benefits (unless there is consensus

otherwise). Such a suspension must be

equivalent to the benefits the defending

country is impairing by its WTOinconsistent actions.

A Decision of trade ministers agreed

on April 15, 1994, at the conclusion of

the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade

negotiations, invites the WTO

Ministerial Conference to complete a

‘‘full review’’ of WTO dispute

settlement rules and procedures within

four years after the entry into force of

the WTO Agreement and ‘‘to take a

decision on the occasion of its first

meeting after the completion of the

review, whether to continue, modify or

terminate’’ those rules and procedures.

Under the WTO Agreement, this work

may be carried out by the WTO’s

General Council. Discussions have

begun on the organization of the review.

A principal objective of the United

States in the WTO, including in this

review, is to enhance the openness and

transparency of WTO meetings,

decisions and dispute settlement

proceedings.

Detailed information on the WTO and

dispute settlement is available on the

Internet at http://www.ustr.gov/reports/

tpa/1998/iv.pdf; the text of the DSU is

available on the Internet at

http:www.wto.org/wto/dispute/

dsu.htm.

Interested persons are invited to

submit their comments on whether the

WTO should continue, modify or

terminate the DSU; on specific

modifications which should be made to

WTO dispute settlement rules and

procedures; and on specific policies

which the United States should pursue

in this review. Comments should be

filed no later than June 25, 1998.

Comments must be in English and

provided in 20 copies to Gloria Blue,

Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff

Committee, Office of the United States

Trade Representative, Room 501, 600

17th Street, Washington, DC 20508.

Commenters are requested to submit

only non-confidential information and

not to submit business confidential

information. Non-confidential

information received will be available

for public inspection by appointment, in

the USTR Reading Room, Room 101,

Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to

12:00 noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

For an appointment call Brenda Webb

on 202–395–6186.

Frederick L. Montgomery,

Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.

[FR Doc. 98–13880 Filed 5–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–M

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Initiation of Section 302 Investigation

and Request for Public Comment:

Mexican Practices Affecting High

Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of initiation of

investigation and request for comments.

SUMMARY: The United States Trade

Representative (USTR) has initiated a

Section 301 investigation with respect

to certain acts, policies and practices of

the Government of Mexico that affect

access to the Mexican market for High

Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). The USTR

invites written comments from the

public on the matters being investigated

and the determinations to be made at

the end of that investigation.

DATES: This investigation was initiated

on May 15, 1998. Written comments

from the public are due on or before

noon on Friday, June 19, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Office of the United States

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street

NW., Washington, DC 20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John Melle, Senior Director, North

American Affairs, (202) 395–3412 or

Audrey Winter, Associate General

Counsel, (202) 395–7305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April

2, 1998, the Corn Refiners Association,

Inc., filed a petition pursuant to section

302(a) of the Trade Act of 1974, as

amended, (the Trade Act) (19 U.S.C.

2411) alleging that certain acts, policies

and practices of the Government of

Mexico affecting HFCS are

unreasonable, deny fair and equitable

market opportunities for U.S. exporters

of HFCS and are actionable under

section 301. In particular, the petition

alleges the following: In September

1997, with the support and

encouragement of the Government of

Mexico, representatives of the Mexican

sugar industry and the Mexican soft

drink bottling industry entered into an

agreement to limit the soft drink

industry’s consumption of HFCS. The

purpose and effect of this agreement are

to restrict both the volume of HFCS

imports from the United States and the

manufacture of HFCS by the U.S.

companies that have made investments

in Mexican production facilities. In

exchange for the soft drink industry’s

limitation of HFCS consumption, the

Mexican sugar industry agreed to

supply sugar to the soft drink bottlers at

discounted, below-market prices. The

Government of Mexico is actively
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 100 /Tuesday, May 26, 1998 / Notices 28545

supporting this restraint agreement. The

agreement has reduced U.S. exports of

HFCS to Mexico and therefore burdened

and restricted U.S. commerce.

Section 302(a) of the Trade Act

authorizes the USTR to initiate an

investigation under chapter 1 of Title III

of the Trade Act (commonly referred to

as ‘‘section 301’’) in response to the

filing of a petition pursuant to section

302(a)(1). Matters actionable under

section 301 include, inter alia, acts,

policies, and practices of a foreign

country that are unjustifiable,

unreasonable, or discriminatory and

burden or restrict U.S. commerce. An

act, policy or practice is unjustifiable if

it is in violation of, or inconsistent with

the international legal rights of the

United States. An act, policy or practice

is unreasonable if the act, policy or

practice, while not necessarily in

violation of, or inconsistent with, the

international legal rights of the United

States, is otherwise unfair or

inequitable. Unreasonable acts, policies

or practices include, inter alia, denial of

fair and equitable market opportunities.

Initiation of Investigation and

Consultations

On May 15, 1998, the USTR

determined that an investigation should

be initiated to determine whether

certain acts, policies or practices of the

Government of Mexico affecting access

to the Mexican market for HFCS are

unreasonable and burden or restrict U.S.

commerce and are, therefore, actionable

under section 301.

Pursuant to section 303(a) of the

Trade Act, the USTR has requested

consultations with the Government of

Mexico concerning the issues under

investigation. USTR will seek

information and advice from the

appropriate representatives provided for

under section 135 of the Trade Act in

preparing the U.S. presentations for

such consultations.

Public Comment: Requirements for

Submissions

Interested persons are invited to

submit written comments concerning

the issues raised in the petition and any

other submissions to USTR in this

investigation. In particular, comments

are invited regarding (i) the acts,

policies and practices of the

Government of Mexico that are the

subject of this investigation; (ii) the

amount of burden or restriction on U.S.

commerce caused by these act, policies

and practices; (iii) the determinations

required under section 304 of the Trade

Act; and (iv) appropriate action under

section 301 which could be taken in

response.

Comments must be filed in

accordance with the requirements set

forth in 15 CFR 2006.8(b) (55 FR 20593)

and must be filed on or before noon on

Friday, June 19, 1998. Comments must

be in English and provided in twenty

copies to: Sybia Harrison, Staff Assistant

to the Section 301 Committee, Room

223, Office of the U.S. Trade

Representative, 600 17th Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20508.

Comments will be placed in a file

(Docket 301–118) open to public

inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2006.13,

except confidential business

information exempt from public

inspection in accordance with 15 CFR

2006.15. Confidential business

information submitted in accordance

with 15 CFR 2006.15 must be clearly

marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’

in a contrasting color ink at the top of

each page on each of 20 copies, and

must be accompanied by a

nonconfidential summary of the

confidential information. The

nonconfidential summary shall be

placed in the file that is open to public

inspection. Copies of the public version

of the petition and other relevant

documents are available for public

inspection in the USTR Reading Room.

An appointment to review the docket

(Docket No. 301–118) 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

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

Friday, and is located in Room 101.

Irving A. Williamson,

Chairman, Section 301 Committee.

[FR Doc. 98–13885 Filed 5–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. OST–96–1436]

Filing Procedures for the DOT Docket;

Electronic Submission

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST),

DOT.

ACTION: Notice requesting comment.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Transportation (DOT) is requesting the

public to comment on its plan to revise

its document filing requirements to

provide for electronic submission of

information to its central dockets

management system (DMS). Electronic

submission would provide more

convenience than the current

requirement to submit paper, by

allowing DOT customers to file

documents from their desktop

computers. It also would streamline

docket processing to accommodate the

anticipated increases in volume.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by

July 27, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

addressed to the Central Docket

Management Facility, (CDMF) SVC–

124.1, PL–401, Docket No. OST–96–

1436, Department of Transportation, 400

7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.

Any person wishing acknowledgment

that his/her comments have been

received should include a selfaddressed stamped postcard. Comments

received will be available for public

inspection and copying in the CDMF,

Room PL–401, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET

Monday through Friday, except Federal

Holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Dorothy W. Walker, Chief Dockets,

SVC–124, (202) 366–9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOT

consolidated its nine separate docket

facilities into a central DMS and is

continuing the conversion from a paperbased system to an optical imaging

system for more efficient receipt,

storage, management, and retrieval of

docketed information. In order to

complete this phased transition to an

electronic docket system, DOT plans to

develop an Electronic Submission (ES)

enhancement for its DMS that would

allow customers to submit documents

electronically from their desktops into

the Docket. Currently all filings must be

submitted as a paper hard copy to the

DMS. The paper documents are then

processed into the DMS by entering a

document database record, scanning the

paper, and performing quality assurance

(QA) on the document images and data

to resolve any errors.

DOT also plans to revise its document

filing requirements to provide for ES. ES

is not intended to replace the current

paper-based submission process since

not all filers will have access to

computers. DMS will retain the paperbased filing process and continue to

accept paper. DOT also is considering a

direct dial-in capability for those

without Internet access and to provide

a backup capability in the event Internet

access is temporarily unavailable. All

documents that are electronically

submitted would be stored in a separate

database for ES waiting to be processed

by DMS staff. DMS staff would need to

perform QA review of ES filings prior to

saving the documents into the

production DMS.

For the sake of simplicity, the Office

of the Secretary is issuing this notice on

behalf of all of DOT’s constituent