Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 184 / Monday, September 22, 2008 / Notices 54637 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Fiscal Year 2009 Tariff-Rate Quota 

Allocations for Raw Cane Sugar, 

Refined and Specialty Sugar, and 

Sugar-Containing Products 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the United 

States Trade Representative (USTR) is 

providing notice of country-by-country 

allocations of the FY 2009 in-quota 

quantity of the tariff-rate quota for 

imported raw cane sugar, refined and 

specialty sugar, and sugar-containing 

products. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 22, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Inquiries may be mailed or 

delivered to Leslie O’Connor, Director of 

Agricultural Affairs, Office of 

Agricultural Affairs, Office of the United 

States Trade Representative, 600 17th 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Leslie O’Connor, Office of Agricultural 

Affairs, telephone: 202–395–6127 or 

facsimile: 202–395–4579. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to Additional U.S. Note 5 to chapter 17 

of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 

the United States (HTS), the United 

States maintains a tariff-rate quota for 

imports of raw cane sugar and refined 

sugar. Pursuant to Additional U.S. Note 

8 to chapter 17 of the HTS, the United 

States maintains a tariff-rate quota for 

imports of sugar-containing products. 

Section 404(d)(3) of the Uruguay 

Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 

3601(d)(3)) authorizes the President to 

allocate the in-quota quantity of a tariffrate quota for any agricultural product 

among supplying countries or customs 

areas. The President delegated this 

authority to the United States Trade 

Representative under Presidential 

Proclamation 6763 (60 FR 1007). 

On September 9, 2008, the Secretary 

of Agriculture announced the sugar 

program provisions for fiscal year (FY) 

2009 (Oct. 1, 2008, through Sept. 30, 

2009). The Secretary of Agriculture 

announced an in-quota quantity of the 

tariff-rate quota for raw cane sugar for 

FY 2009 of 1,117,195 metric tons* raw 

value, which is the minimum amount to 

which the United States is committed 

under the World Trade Organization 

(WTO) Uruguay Round Agreements. 

USTR is allocating this quantity 

(1,117,195 metric tons* raw value) to 

the following countries: 

Country 

FY 2009 Raw 

Cane Sugar 

Allocations 

(metric tons 

raw value) 

Argentina .............................. 45,281 

Australia ................................ 87,402 

Barbados .............................. 7,371 

Belize .................................... 11,583 

Bolivia ................................... 8,424 

Brazil ..................................... 152,691 

Colombia ............................... 25,273 

Congo ................................... 7,258 

Costa Rica ............................ 15,796 

Cote d’Ivoire ......................... 7,258 

Dominican Republic .............. 185,335 

Ecuador ................................ 11,583 

El Salvador ........................... 27,379 

Fiji ......................................... 9,477 

Gabon ................................... 7,258 

Guatemala ............................ 50,546 

Guyana ................................. 12,636 

Haiti ....................................... 7,258 

Honduras .............................. 10,530 

India ...................................... 8,424 

Jamaica ................................ 11,583 

Madagascar .......................... 7,258 

Malawi ................................... 10,530 

Mauritius ............................... 12,636 

Mexico .................................. 7,258 

Mozambique ......................... 13,690 

Nicaragua ............................. 22,114 

Panama ................................ 30,538 

Papua New Guinea .............. 7,258 

Paraguay .............................. 7,258 

Peru ...................................... 43,175 

Philippines ............................ 142,160 

South Africa .......................... 24,220 

St. Kitts & Nevis ................... 7,258 

Swaziland ............................. 16,849 

Taiwan .................................. 12,636 

Thailand ................................ 14,743 

Trinidad & Tobago ................ 7,371 

Uruguay ................................ 7,258 

Zimbabwe ............................. 12,636 

These allocations are based on the 

countries’ historical shipments to the 

United States. The allocations of the raw 

cane sugar tariff-rate quota to countries 

that are net importers of sugar are 

conditioned on receipt of the 

appropriate verifications of origin, and 

certificates for quota eligibility must 

accompany imports from any country 

for which an allocation has been 

provided. 

On September 9, 2008, the Secretary 

of Agriculture established the FY 2009 

refined sugar tariff-rate quota at 94,575 

metric tons raw value for which the 

sucrose content, by weight in the dry 

state, must have a polarimeter reading of 

99.5 degrees or more. This amount 

includes the minimum level to which 

the United States is committed under 

the WTO Uruguay Round Agreement 

(22,000 metric tons raw value of which 

1,656 metric tons raw value is specialty 

sugar) and an additional 72,575 metric 

tons raw value for specialty sugars. 

USTR is allocating a total of 10,300 

metric tons raw value of refined sugar 

to Canada, 2,954 metric tons raw value 

of refined sugar to Mexico, and 7,090 

metric tons raw value of refined sugar 

to be administered on a first-come, firstserved basis. The 74,231 metric tons raw 

value specialty sugar TRQ, which 

includes the additional 72,575 metric 

tons raw value of specialty sugar and 

the specialty sugar allocation of 1,656 

metric tons raw value included in the 

22,000 metric tons raw value WTO 

minimum, will be administered on a 

first-come, first-served basis in five 

tranches. The first tranche of 1,656 

metric tons raw value will open October 

23, 2008. All types of specialty sugars 

are eligible for entry under this tranche. 

The second tranche of 25,682 metric 

tons raw value will open on November 

10, 2008. The third, fourth, and fifth 

tranches of 15,631 metric tons raw value 

each will open on January 14, 2009; 

May 19, 2009 and August 24, 2009 

respectively. The second, third, fourth 

and fifth tranches will be reserved for 

organic sugar and other specialty sugars 

not currently produced commercially in 

the United States or reasonably 

available from domestic sources. 

With respect to the tariff-rate quota of 

64,709 metric tons for certain sugarcontaining products maintained under 

Additional U.S. Note 8 to Chapter 17 to 

the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

United States, USTR is allocating 59,250 

metric tons to Canada. The remainder of 

the sugar-containing products tariff-rate 

quota is available for other countries on 

a first-come, first-served basis. 

*Conversion factor: 1 metric ton = 

1.10231125 short tons. 

Susan C. Schwab, 

United States Trade Representative. 

[FR Doc. E8–22095 Filed 9–19–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W8–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Generalized System of Preferences 

(GSP): Initiation of a Review To 

Consider the Designation of the 

Republic of Kosovo as a Beneficiary 

Developing Country Under the GSP 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice and solicitation of public 

comment. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

initiation of a review to consider 

designating the Republic of Kosovo as a 

beneficiary developing country (BDC) 

for purposes of the GSP program, and 

solicits public comments on whether 

Kosovo meets certain eligibility criteria 


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