Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 184 / Monday, September 22, 2008 / Notices 54639 

forms of child labor as defined in 

paragraph (6) of section 507(4) of the 

Act; and (E) acceptable conditions of 

work with respect to minimum wages, 

hours of work, and occupational safety 

and health. 

Requirements for Submissions 

Comments must be submitted, in 

English, to the Chairman of the GSP 

Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff 

Committee (TPSC) as soon as possible, 

but not later than 5 p.m., Friday, 

October 17, 2008. 

In order to facilitate prompt 

processing of submissions, USTR 

strongly recommends that comments be 

set out in digital files attached to e-mails 

transmitted to the following address: 

FR0711@ustr.eop.gov (Note: The digit 

before the number in the e-mail address 

is the number zero, not a letter). For 

security reasons, hand-delivered 

submissions will not be accepted. If you 

are unable to provide comments by 

e-mail, please contact Regina Teeter, 

USTR’s GSP Office at (202) 395–6971 to 

arrange for an alternative method of 

transmission. 

Comments should be provided in a 

single copy and must not exceed 30 

single-spaced standard letter-size pages 

in 12-point type or a digital file size of 

three megabytes. E-mails should include 

the following subject line: ‘‘Designation 

of the Republic of Kosovo as a GSP 

Beneficiary Country.’’ The transmittal 

message or cover letter accompanying a 

submission must be set out exclusively 

in the digital file attached to the e-mail 

transmission—not in the message 

portion of e-mail—and must include the 

sender’s name, organization name, 

address, telephone number and e-mail 

address. 

Digital files must be submitted in one 

of the following formats: WordPerfect 

(.WPD), Adobe (.PDF), MSWord (.DOC), 

or text (.TXT) files. Comments may not 

be submitted as electronic image files or 

contain embedded images, e.g., ‘‘.JPG’’, 

‘‘.TIF’’, ‘‘.BMP’’, or ‘‘.GIF’’. Spreadsheet 

data may be submitted as Excel files, 

formatted for printing on 81⁄2 x 11 inch 

paper. To the extent possible, any data 

accompanying the submission should be 

set out in the same file as the 

submission itself, and not in a separate 

file. 

If a submission contains business 

confidential information that the 

submitter wishes to protect from public 

disclosure, the confidential submission 

must be marked ‘‘BUSINESS 

CONFIDENTIAL’’ at the top and bottom 

of each page. In addition, the 

submission must be accompanied by a 

non-confidential version that indicates, 

with asterisks, where confidential 

information was redacted or deleted. 

The top and bottom of each page of the 

non-confidential version must be 

marked either ‘‘PUBLIC VERSION’’ or 

‘‘NON–CONFIDENTIAL’’. Business 

confidential comments that are 

submitted without the required 

markings or that are not accompanied 

by a properly marked non-confidential 

version as set forth above may not be 

accepted or may be treated as public 

documents. 

The digital file name assigned to any 

business confidential version of a 

submission should begin with the 

characters ‘‘BC-’’, and the file name of 

the public version should begin with the 

characters ‘‘P-’’. The ‘‘P-’’ or ‘‘BC-’’ 

should be followed by the name of the 

person (government, company, union, 

association, etc.) making the 

submission. 

Public versions of all documents 

relating to this review will be available 

for review approximately two weeks 

after the due date by appointment in the 

USTR public reading room, 1724 F 

Street, NW., Washington, DC. 

Appointments may be made from 

9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

Monday through Friday, by calling (202) 

395–6186. 

Marideth J. Sandler, 

Executive Director for the GSP Program, 

Chairman, GSP Subcommittee of the Trade 

Policy Staff Committee. 

[FR Doc. E8–22103 Filed 9–19–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W8–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Request for Public Comments on 

Annual Review of Country Eligibility 

for Benefits Under the African Growth 

and Opportunity Act 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice and Request for 

Comments. 

SUMMARY: The African Growth and 

Opportunity Act Implementation 

Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff 

Committee (the ‘‘Subcommittee’’) is 

requesting written public comments for 

the annual review of the eligibility of 

sub-Saharan African countries to receive 

the benefits of the African Growth and 

Opportunity Act (AGOA). The 

Subcommittee will consider these 

comments in developing 

recommendations on AGOA country 

eligibility for the President. Comments 

received related to the child labor 

criteria may also be considered by the 

Secretary of Labor for the preparation of 

the Department of Labor’s report on 

child labor as required under section 

412(c) of the Trade and Development 

Act of 2000. This notice identifies the 

eligibility criteria that must be 

considered under AGOA, and lists those 

sub-Saharan African countries that are 

currently eligible for the benefits of the 

AGOA, and those that are currently 

ineligible for such benefits. 

DATES: Public comments are due at the 

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative 

(USTR) by noon, Monday, October 20, 

2008. 

ADDRESSES: USTR prefers submission by 

electronic mail: FR0811@ustr.eop.gov. If 

you are unable to make a submission by 

e-mail, submissions should be made by 

facsimile to: Gloria Blue, Executive 

Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, 

at (202) 395–6143. The public is 

strongly encouraged to submit 

documents electronically rather than by 

facsimile. See requirements for 

submissions below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

procedural questions, please contact 

Gloria Blue, Office of the U.S. Trade 

Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., 

Room F516, Washington, DC. 20508, at 

(202) 395–3475. All other questions 

should be directed to Constance 

Hamilton, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade 

Representative for Africa, Office of the 

U.S. Trade Representative, at (202) 395– 

9514. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

AGOA (Title I of the Trade and 

Development Act of 2000, Public Law 

106–200) (19 U.S.C. 3721 et seq.), as 

amended, authorizes the President to 

designate sub-Saharan African countries 

as beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

countries eligible for duty-free treatment 

for certain additional products under 

the Generalized System of Preferences 

(GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 

(19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) (the ‘‘1974 

Act’’)), as well as for the preferential 

treatment the AGOA provides for 

certain textile and apparel articles. 

The President may designate a 

country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan 

African country eligible for both the 

additional GSP benefits and the textile 

and apparel benefits of the AGOA for 

countries meeting certain statutory 

requirements intended to prevent 

unlawful transshipment of such articles, 

if he determines that the country meets 

the eligibility criteria set forth in: (1) 

Section 104 of the AGOA; and (2) 

section 502 of the 1974 Act. For 2008, 

41 countries have been designated as 

beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

countries. These countries, as well as 

the 7 countries currently ineligible, are 

listed below. Section 506A of the 1974 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
54640 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 184 / Monday, September 22, 2008 / Notices 

Act provides that the President shall 

monitor and review annually the 

progress of each sub-Saharan African 

country in meeting the foregoing 

eligibility criteria in order to determine 

whether each beneficiary sub-Saharan 

African country should continue to be 

eligible, and whether each sub-Saharan 

African country that is currently not a 

beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

country, should be designated as such a 

country. Section 506A of the 1974 Act 

requires that, if the President 

determines that a beneficiary subSaharan African country is not making 

continual progress in meeting the 

eligibility requirements, he must 

terminate the designation of the country 

as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

country. 

The Subcommittee is seeking public 

comments in connection with the 

annual review of the eligibility of 

beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

countries for the AGOA’s benefits. The 

Subcommittee will consider any such 

comments in developing 

recommendations on country eligibility 

for the President. Comments related to 

the child labor criteria may also be 

considered by the Secretary of Labor in 

making the findings required under 

section 504 of the 1974 Act. 

The following sub-Saharan African 

countries were designated as beneficiary 

sub-Saharan African countries in 2008: 

Angola 

Republic of Benin 

Republic of Botswana 

Burkina Faso 

Burundi 

Republic of Cape Verde 

Republic of Cameroon 

Republic of Chad 

Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros 

Republic of Congo 

Democratic Republic of Congo 

Republic of Djibouti 

Ethiopia 

Gabonese Republic 

The Gambia 

Republic of Ghana 

Republic of Guinea 

Republic of Guinea-Bissau 

Republic of Kenya 

Kingdom of Lesotho 

Republic of Liberia 

Republic of Madagascar 

Republic of Malawi 

Republic of Mali 

Republic of Mauritius 

Islamic Republic of Mauritania 

Republic of Mozambique 

Republic of Namibia 

Republic of Niger 

Federal Republic of Nigeria 

Republic of Rwanda 

Sao Tome & Principe 

Republic of Senegal 

Republic of Seychelles 

Republic of Sierra Leone 

Republic of South Africa 

Kingdom of Swaziland 

Republic of Togo 

United Republic of Tanzania 

Republic of Uganda 

Republic of Zambia 

The following sub-Saharan African 

countries were not designated as 

beneficiary sub-Saharan African 

countries in 2007: 

Central African Republic 

Republic of Cote d’Ivoire 

Republic of Equatorial Guinea 

State of Eritrea 

Somalia 

Republic of Sudan 

Republic of Zimbabwe 

Requirements for Submissions: 

Comments must be submitted in 

English. In order to facilitate the prompt 

processing of submissions, USTR 

strongly recommends that comments be 

set out in digital files attached to e-mails 

transmitted to the following address: 

FR0811@ustr.eop.gov. If you are unable 

to provide comments by e-mail, 

submissions should be made by 

facsimile as set forth above. Persons 

making submissions by e-mail should 

use the following subject line: ‘‘2008 

AGOA Annual Country Review.’’ Digital 

files must be submitted in one of the 

following formats: WordPerfect (.WPD), 

Adobe (.PDF), MSWord (.DOC), or text 

(.TXT) files. Comments may not be 

submitted as electronic image files or 

contain embedded images, e.g., ‘‘.JPG’’, 

‘‘.TIF’’, ‘‘.BMP’’, or ‘‘.GIF’’. Spreadsheet 

data may be submitted as Excel files, 

formatted for printing on 81⁄2 x 11 inch 

paper. To the extent possible, any data 

accompanying the submission should be 

included in the same file as the 

submission itself, and not in a separate 

file. The transmittal message or cover 

letter accompanying a submission must 

be set out exclusively in the digital file 

attached to the e-mail transmission—not 

in the message portion of the e-mail— 

and must include the sender’s name, 

organization name, address, telephone 

and fax numbers, and e-mail address. 

If the submission contains business 

confidential information that the 

submitter wishes to protect from public 

disclosure, the confidential version 

must be marked ‘‘BUSINESS 

CONFIDENTIAL’’ at the top and bottom 

of each page. In addition, the 

submission must be accompanied by a 

non-confidential version that indicates, 

with asterisks, where confidential 

information was redacted or deleted. 

The top and bottom of each page of the 

non-confidential version must be 

marked either ‘‘PUBLIC VERSION’’ or 

‘‘NON-CONFIDENTIAL’’. Business 

confidential comments that are 

submitted without the required 

markings or are not accompanied by a 

properly marked non-confidential 

version as set forth above may not be 

accepted or may be treated as public 

documents. 

The digital file name assigned to any 

business confidential version of a 

submission should begin with the 

characters ‘‘BC-’’, and the file name of 

the public version should begin with the 

characters ‘‘P-’’. The ‘‘P-’’ or ‘‘BC-’’ 

should be followed by the name of the 

submitter. 

Public versions of all documents 

relating to this review will be available 

for review approximately two weeks 

after the due date by appointment in the 

USTR public reading room, 1724 F 

Street, NW., Washington, DC. 

Appointments may be made Monday 

through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon 

and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., by calling (202) 

395–6186. Appointments must be 

scheduled at least 48 hours in advance. 

Carmen Suro-Bredie, 

Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee. 

[FR Doc. E8–22044 Filed 9–19–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W8–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

[Docket No. WTO/DS375] 

WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding 

Regarding European Communities— 

Tariff Treatment of Certain Information 

Technology Products 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the United 

States Trade Representative (‘‘USTR’’) is 

providing notice that on August 18, 

2008, in accordance with the World 

Trade Organization (‘‘WTO’’) 

Understanding on Rules and Procedures 

Governing the Settlement of Disputes 

(‘‘DSU’’), the United States, jointly with 

Japan and the Separate Customs 

Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen 

and Matsu, requested the establishment 

of a dispute settlement panel regarding 

the tariff treatment accorded by the 

European Communities (‘‘EC’’) and its 

member States to set-top boxes with a 

communication function, flat panel 

displays, and certain multifunctional 

digital machines. That request may be 

found at www.wto.org contained in a 

document designated as WT/DS375/8. 

USTR invites written comments from 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES