Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 26, 1996 / Notices 33149

The petition alleges that sodium azide

from Japan is being sold in the United

States at dumped prices and that an

industry in the United States is

materially injured and threatened with

material injury by reason of such

imports. On March 1, 1996, the ITC

issued an affirmative preliminary injury

determination. 61 FR 10596 (March 14,

1996). Commerce is scheduled to issue

a preliminary investigation of dumping

by August 13, 1996. 61 FR 26878 (May

29, 1996).

Public Comment

Interested persons are invited to

submit written comments on the

following issues:

(A) whether it is appropriate to

initiate a third-country antidumping

investigation on sodium azide from

Japan; including as part of this issue are,

inter alia, the relevance of the pending

antidumping investigation on sodium

azide from Japan, and the extent to

which Canada provides an opportunity

to the United States to seek an

antidumping investigation in Canada on

behalf of a U.S. industry.

(B) if an investigation were initiated,

what procedural and substantive

standards USTR should establish for

Commerce’s and ITC’s determinations

required by section 783; persons

submitting comments on this issue may

wish simply to use as a starting point

the existing standards for antidumping

investigations on behalf of a U.S.

industry, and specify how the

procedural and substantive standards

for a third-country antidumping

investigation should differ.

(C) any other issues relevant to the

request for the initiation of a thirdcountry antidumping investigation on

sodium azide from Japan.

Requirements for Submissions

Comments are due no later than 12

noon, July 26, 1996. Comments must be

in English and provided in twenty

copies to: Sodium Azide Antidumping,

Room 223, USTR, 600 17th Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20508.

Comments will be placed in a file

(Docket 783–1) open to public

inspection, except for confidential

business information exempt from

public inspection. (Confidential

business information 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 Docket which is open to

public inspection.) USTR will generally

apply to the standards set out in 15

C.F.R. § 2006.13 (Information Open to

Public Inspection) and § 2006.15

(Information Exemption from Public

Inspection) with respect to comments

received.

Jennifer A. Hillman,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 96–16282 Filed 6–25–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–M

WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding

Concerning European Ban on the

Import of Meat From Animals Treated

With Certain Hormones

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 127(b)(1)

of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act

(URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3537(b)(1)), the

Office of the United States Trade

Representative (USTR) is providing

notice that a dispute settlement panel

convened under the Agreement

Establishing the World Trade

Organization (WTO) at the request of the

United States will examine the

European Communities’ ban on the

importation of meat from animals

treated with certain hormones. USTR

also invites written comments from the

public concerning the issues raised in

the dispute.

DATES: Although USTR will accept any

comments received during the course of

the dispute settlement proceedings,

comments should be submitted on or

before July 24, 1996, in order to be

assured of timely consideration by

USTR in preparing its first written

submission to the panel.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be

submitted to Carolyn Frank, Executive

Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee,

Room 501, Attn: Hormone dispute,

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative,

600 17th Street, N.W., Washington, DC

20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Daniel Brinza, Senior Advisor and

Special Counsel for Natural Resources,

Office of the General Counsel, Office of

the U.S. Trade Representative, 600 17th

Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20508,

(202) 395–7305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At the

United States’ request, a WTO dispute

settlement panel will examine whether

the European Community (EC) Council

Directive Prohibiting the Use in

Livestock Farming of Certain Substances

Having a Hormonal Action and related

measures are consistent with the EC’s

obligations under the General

Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

1994, the Agreement on the Application

of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures

(S&P Agreement), the Agreement on

Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT

Agreement), and the Agreement on

Agriculture.

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and

Norway have reserved their rights to

intervene in the panel proceedings as

third parties.

Members of the panel are currently

being selected, and the panel is

expected to meet as necessary at the

WTO headquarters in Geneva,

Switzerland to examine the dispute.

Under normal circumstances, the panel

would be expected to issue a report

detailing its findings and

recommendations in six to nine months.

Major Issues Raised by the United

States and Legal Basis of Complaint

The EC’s measures (which in addition

to the Directive cited above include, but

are not limited to, the Council Directive

of March 7, 1988, (88/146/EEC); the

directives referenced in that directive

(72/462/EEC, 81/602/EEC, 81/851/EEC,

81/852/EEC, and 85/358/EEC) the

decisions referred to in Article 6(2) of

directive 88/146/EEC; the control

program referred to in Article 6(7) of

directive 88/146/EEC; the derogations

referred to in Article 7 of directive 88/

146/EEC; and any amendments or

modifications) adversely affect imports

of U.S. meat and meat products and

have no legitimate basis. They appear to

be inconsistent with the EC’s obligations

under the General Agreement on Tariffs

and Trade 1994, the Agreement on the

Application of Sanitary and

Phytosanitary Measures, the Agreement

on Technical Barriers to Trade, and the

Agreement on Agriculture. The

provisions of these agreements with

which these measures appear to be

inconsistent include, but are not limited

to, the following:

(1) General Agreement on Tariffs and

Trade 1994, Article III or Article XI;

(2) Agreement on the Application of

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures,

Articles 2, 3 and 5;

(3) Agreement on Technical Barriers

to Trade, Article 2; and

(4) Agreement on Agriculture, Article

4.

These measures also appear to nullify

or impair the benefits accruing to the

United States directly or indirectly

under the cited agreements.

Public Comment: Requirements for

Submissions

Interested persons are invited to

submit written comments concerning

the issues raised in the dispute.
33150 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 26, 1996 / Notices

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.

A person requesting that information

or advice contained in a comment

submitted by that person, other than

business confidential information, be

treated as confidential in accordance

with section 135(g)(2) of the Trade Act

of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155)—

(1) must so designate that information

or advice;

(2) must clearly mark the material as

‘‘CONFIDENTIAL’’ 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, 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 made to USTR

from the public with respect to the

proceeding; the U.S. submissions to the

panel in the proceeding; 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

dispute settlement panel and, if

applicable, the report of the Appellate

Body. An appointment to review the

public file (Docket WTO/D–6, ‘‘U.S.–EC:

Hormones Directive’’), may be made by

calling Brenda Webb, (202) 395–6186.

The USTR Reading Room is open to the

public from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1

p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Jennifer Hillman,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 96–16283 Filed 6–25–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–M

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

Excepted Service

AGENCY: Office of Personnel

Management.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This gives notice of positions

placed or revoked under Schedules A

and B, and placed under Schedule C in

the excepted service, as required by

Civil Service Rule VI, Exceptions from

the Competitive Service.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patricia Paige, (202) 606–0830.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office

of Personnel Management published its

last monthly notice updating appointing

authorities established or revoked under

the Excepted Service provisions of 5

CFR 213 on June 4, 1996 (61 FR 28251).

Individual authorities established or

revoked under Schedules A and B and

established under Schedule C between

May 1, 1996, and May 31, 1996, appear

in the listing below. Future notices will

be published on the fourth Tuesday of

each month, or as soon as possible

thereafter. A consolidated listing of all

authorities as of June 30 will also be

published.

Schedule A

No Schedule A authorities were

established.

The following Schedule A authorities

were revoked:

Smithsonian Institution

Not to exceed 25 positions at grades

GS–11 and below which support

planning and production of the annual

American Folklife Festival. Employment

under this authority may not exceed 6

months in connection with any one

Festival. Effective May 5, 1996.

Department of the Army

Corps of Engineers. Nonsupervisory

trades, crafts, and manual labor

positions at grades WG–6 and below on

survey, construction, short-term

maintenance, or floating operations,

where because of turnover, lack of

housing facilities, mobility of work site,

or remoteness of personnel servicing

facilities an adequate labor force can be

recruited only by immediate gate hiring

on a local basis. Effective May 22, 1996.

Schedule B

No Schedule B authorities were

established or revoked in May 1996.

Schedule C

The following Schedule C authorities

were established in May 1996:

Agency for International Development

Special Assistant to the Assistant

Administrator. Effective May 17, 1996.

Commission on Civil Rights

Special Assistant to the

Commissioner. Effective May 17, 1996.

Council on Environmental Quality

Special Assistant to the Chair.

Effective May 24, 1996.

Department of Agriculture

Senior Policy Director to the

Administrator, Rural BusinessCooperative Service. Effective May 1,

1996.

Deputy Administrator for Policy and

Planning to the Administrator, Policy

and Planning. Effective May 1, 1996.

Special Assistant to the

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service. Effective May 1,

1996.

Staff Assistant to the Secretary of

Agriculture. Effective May 3, 1996.

Department of Commerce

Confidential Assistant to the Assistant

Secretary, Legislative and Interagency

Affairs. Effective May 1, 1996.

Special Assistant to the Deputy

Assistant Secretary for Basic Industries.

Effective May 3, 1996.

Confidential Assistant to the Deputy

Press Secretary. Effective May 17, 1996.

Special Assistant to the Under

Secretary for International Trade,

International Trade Administration.

Effective May 31, 1996.

Confidential Assistant to the Assistant

Secretary for International Economic

Policy, International Trade

Administration. Effective May 31, 1996.

Department of Defense

Confidential Assistant to the Deputy

Advisor for National Security Affairs.

Effective May 3, 1996.

Staff Specialist to the Deputy Under

Secretary for Logistics. Effective May 17,

1996.

Department of Education

Special Assistant to the Assistant

Secretary, Office of Special Education

and Rehabilitative Services. Effective

May 9, 1996.

Department of Health and Human

Services

Confidential Assistant (Advance) to

the Director of Scheduling and

Advance. Effective May 3, 1996.

Special Assistant to the

Commissioner, Administration for

Children and Families. Effective May 9,

1996.

Congressional Liaison Specialist to

the Deputy Assistant for Legislation,

(Congressional Liaison). Effective May

9, 1996.

Confidential Assistant to the

Associate Administrator for External

Affairs. Effective May 22, 1996.