Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 25 / Tuesday, February 7, 1995 / Notices 7229

(4) This policy is in addition to the existing

policies cited in paragraph 3 of this Policy

Letter.

(5) These provisions for subcontracting

plans for commercial item contractors do not

in any way relieve contracting officers, prime

contractors or subcontractors of their

responsibilities for assuring that small, small

disadvantaged and women-owned small

businesses have the maximum practicable

opportunity to participate in contracts

awarded by Federal agencies.

5. Responsibilities. The Federal

Acquisition Regulatory Council shall ensure

that the policies established herein are

incorporated in the FAR within 210 days

from the date this Policy Letter is published

in the Federal Register. Promulgation of final

regulations within the 210-day period shall

be considered issuance in a ‘‘timely manner’’

as prescribed in 41 U.S.C. 405(b).

6. Information Contact. Questions

regarding this Policy Letter should be

directed to William Coleman, Deputy

Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement

Policy, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC

20503, telephone 202–395–3503, facsimile

202–395–5105.

7. Judicial Review. This Policy Letter is not

intended to provide a constitutional or

statutory interpretation of any kind and it is

not intended, and should not be construed,

to create any right or benefit, substantive or

procedural, enforceable at law by a party

against the United States, its agencies, its

officers, or any persons. It is intended only

to provide policy guidance to agencies in the

exercise of their discretion concerning

Federal contracting. Thus, this Policy Letter

is not intended, and should not be construed,

to create any substantive or procedural basis

on which to challenge any agency action or

inaction on the ground that such action or

inaction was not in accordance with this

Policy Letter.

8. Effective Date. The Policy Letter is

effective 30 days after the date of issuance.

Steven Kelman,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 95–2912 Filed 2–6–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3110–01–M

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC);

Request for Comments Concerning

Foreign Government Discrimination in

Procurement

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of request for public

comments.

SUMMARY: This notice requests written

submissions from the public concerning

discrimination against U.S. products

and services by foreign governments in

their procurement practices. This

information will be used in compiling

the annual report on government

procurement specified by Section 305 of

the Trade Agreements Act of 1979

(Trade Agreements Act), as amended by

Title VII of the Omnibus Trade and

Competitiveness Act of 1988 and Title

III, Section 341 of the Uruguay Round

Agreements Act of 1994 (19 U.S.C.

2515).

Section 305 of the Trade Agreements

Act requires the President to submit an

annual report on the extent to which

foreign countries discriminate against

U.S. products or services in making

government procurement. Section 341

of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act

specifies that the report also contain

information about countries which

employ nontransparent procurement

procedures or fail to maintain effective

prohibitions on bribery and other

corrupt practices. Specifically, the

President is required to identify any

countries that:

(a) Are signatories to the GATT

Agreement on Government Procurement

(Agreement) and are not in compliance

with the requirements of the Agreement;

(b) Are signatories to the Agreement;

are in compliance with the Agreement,

but maintain a significant and persistent

pattern or practice of discrimination in

the government procurement of

products or services from the United

States not covered by the Agreement,

which results in identifiable harm to

U.S. business; and whose products or

services are acquired in significant

amounts by the U.S. Government; or

(c) Are not Signatories to the

Agreement and maintain a significant

and persistent pattern or practice of

discrimination in government

procurement of products or services

from the United States, which results in

identifiable harm to U.S. business, and

whose products or services are acquired

in significant amounts by the U.S.

Government; or

(d) Are not Signatories to the

Agreement and fail to apply transparent

and competitive procedures to its

government procurement equivalent to

those in the Agreement and whose

products and services are acquired in

significant amounts by the U.S.

Government; or

(e) Are not Signatories to the

Agreement and fail to maintain and

enforce effective prohibitions on bribery

and other corrupt practices in

connection with government

procurement and whose products and

services are acquired in significant

amounts by the U.S. Government.

The functions vested in the President

under Section 305 of the Trade

Agreements Act were delegated to the

United States Trade Representative

(USTR) pursuant to Section 4–101 of

Executive Order 12661 (54 FR 779).

DATES: Submissions containing the

information described below must be

received on or before March 1, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be

submitted to the Executive Secretary,

Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of

the United States Trade Representative,

600 17th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

20506, and must include not less than

twenty (20) copies. Submissions will be

available for public inspection by

appointment with the staff of the USTR

Public Reading Room, except for

information granted ‘‘business

confidential’’ status pursuant to 15 CFR

2003.6. Any business confidential

material must be clearly marked as such

at the top of the cover page or letter and

each succeeding page and must be

accompanied by a nonconfidential

summary.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Elena Bryan (202–395–5097) or Mark

Linscott (202–395–3063), Office of

GATT Affairs, or Laura B. Sherman

(202–395–3150), Office of the General

Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade

Representative, 600 17th Street, NW,

Washington, D.C. 20506.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

305 of the Trade Agreements Act

requires an annual report to be

submitted no later than April 30, 1995

to the appropriate Committees of the

House of Representatives and the

Senate. The USTR is required to request

consultations with any countries

identified in the report to remedy the

procurement practices cited in the

report.

USTR invites submissions from

interested parties concerning foreign

government procurement practices that

should be considered in developing the

annual report. Pursuant to Section

305(d)(5) of the Trade Agreements Act,

submissions are sought from any

interested parties in the United States

and in countries that are signatories to

the Agreement, as well as in other

foreign countries whose products or

services are acquired in significant

amounts by the U.S. Government.

Each submission should provide, in

order, the following general

information: (1) The party submitting

the information; (2) the foreign country

or countries that are the subject of the

submission and the entities of each

subject country’s government whose

practices are being cited, and (3) the

U.S. products or services that are

affected by the non-compliance or

discrimination.

Each submission should also provide

specific information on the particular
7230 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 25 / Tuesday, February 7, 1995 / Notices

problem: (1) Non-compliance with the

GATT Agreement on Government

Procurement; (2) the type of

discrimination encountered, including

information regarding the date and

nature of affected procurement(s); (3)

policies or practices which are

discriminatory, not transparent or anticompetitive (where possible, include

copies of discriminatory laws, policies

or regulations), and (4) the extent to

which the problem has impeded the

ability of U.S. suppliers to participate in

procurements on terms comparable to

those available to suppliers of the

country in question when they are

seeking to sell goods or services to the

U.S. Government; (5) examples of

failure to maintain and enforce effective

prohibitions on bribery and other

corrupt practices in connection with

government procurement.

Finally, each submission should: (1) If

applicable, identify provisions of the

GATT Government Procurement

Agreement which are not being

observed by the country identified or

describe how the country identified has

maintained a significant and persistent

pattern or practice of discrimination in

government procurement of non-CodeCovered goods or services; (2) identify

the specific impact of the discriminatory

policy or practice on U.S. businesses

(including an estimate of the value of

market opportunities lost and, if any,

the cost of preparing bids which are

rejected during the course of a

procurement evaluation for

discriminatory reasons), and (3)

describe the extent to which the

products or services of the country

identified are acquired in significant

amounts by the U.S. Government.

Frederick L. Montgomery,

Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.

[FR Doc. 95–2977 Filed 2–6–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3110–01–P

[Docket No. 301–92]

Determination of Action Concerning

the People’s Republic of China’s

Protection of Intellectual Property and

Provision of Market Access to Persons

Who Rely on Intellectual Property

Protection

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of determination

pursuant to sections 301 and 304 of the

Trade Act of 1974, as amended (Trade

Act), 19 U.S.C. 2414.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section

304(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Trade Act, the

United States Trade Representative

(USTR) has determined that certain acts,

policies and practices of the Chinese

government with respect to the

enforcement of intellectual property

rights and the provision of market

access to persons who rely on

intellectual property protection are

unreasonable and constitute a burden or

restriction on U.S. commerce. Pursuant

to section 304(a)(1)(B) and section

301(b), the USTR has determined that

trade action is appropriate and that

sanctions are appropriate. The sanctions

will take the form of increasing duties

on products listed in the attached

Annex originating in China to 100

percent ad valorem.

EFFECTIVE DATE: USTR’s determination

as to actionability and the specific

action to be taken was made on

February 4, 1995. The increased duties

will be assessed upon all products of

China identified in the Annex to this

notice that are entered, or withdrawn

from warehouse for consumption, on or

after February 26, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Office of the United States

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20606.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Deborah Lehr, Director for China and

Mongolian Affairs (202) 395–5050,

Joseph Papovich, Deputy Assistant

USTR for Intellectual Property (202)

395–6864, or Thomas Robertson,

Assistant General Counsel (202) 395–

6800.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June

30, 1994, China was identified as a

priority foreign country under the

‘‘special 301’’ provisions of the Trade

Act for its failure to enforce intellectual

property rights or to provide fair and

equitable market access to persons who

rely on intellectual property protection.

On the same day, the USTR initiated an

investigation of those acts, policies and

practices of China that were the basis for

its identification as a priority foreign

country. See 59 FR 35558 (July 12,

1994).

The effectiveness of China’s

enforcement regime is hampered by,

among other things, internally

inconsistent laws; a lack of transparency

in the enforcement structure; a lack of

protection for existing works; gaps in

responsibility in the enforcement

structure; a lack of consistent

application of the laws throughout the

central, provincial and local

governments; a lack of funding, training

and education; possible conflicts of

interest; burdensome and

discriminatory agency requirements that

restrict foreign access to trademark

protection; overly-broad compulsory

licensing provisions; a failure of

enforcement authorities to coordinate;

and the absence of an effective border

control mechanism.

In the area of market access, the most

serious problems with the Chinese

system are found in the areas of audiovisual products, sound recordings, and

published written materials. Particular

concerns include a hidden system of

internal quotas, a lack of transparency,

a lack of consistency in application,

monopoly control over the importation

and distribution of products embodying

intellectual property, and a prohibition

on the production or distribution of

products embodying intellectual

property that is not related to the

content of those products.

Extension of Investigation, Proposed

Determinations, and Public Comment

On January 5, 1995, the USTR

published a notice that the six-month

statutory deadline for the close of this

investigation had been extended until

February 4, 1995, in light of the

complex and complicated nature of the

issues involved. See 60 FR 1829, 1830

(January 5, 1995). In that notice, the

USTR also published a proposed

determination of action and request for

public comment concerning the

proposed action. The USTR proposed to

determine that China’s failure to enforce

intellectual property laws or to provide

market access to persons who rely on

intellectual property protection is

unreasonable and discriminatory and

constitutes a burden or restriction on

U.S. commerce. If that determination

were finally made, the USTR also

proposed to increase duties on certain

products of China in an amount

equivalent to the damaged caused by the

Chinese acts, policies and practices

which formed the basis of the

investigation. The USTR published, as

an annex to the notice, a list of products

from which specific products could be

selected for the imposition of increased

duties.

In response to the January 5, 1995,

Federal Register notice, the USTR and

the section 301 Committee receive

approximately 198 sets of written

comments and heard the oral testimony

of 53 witnesses at public hearings held

on January 24–25, 1995. The comments

primarily focused on the

appropriateness of subjecting the

products listed in the proposed

retaliation list to an increase in duties,

the levels at which duties on particular

products should be set, and the degree

to which an increase in duties on

particular products might have an

adverse effect on U.S. consumers,

workers and industries.