Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 203 / Thursday, October 22, 2009 / Notices 54619 

4150; fax at 410–965–0201; or e-mail to 

FSTAP@ssa.gov. 

Dated: October 16, 2009. 

Dianne L. Rose, 

Designated Federal Officer, Future Systems 

Technology Advisory Panel. 

[FR Doc. E9–25391 Filed 10–21–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4191–02–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Generalized System of Preferences 

(GSP): Notice Regarding the 2009 

Annual Product Review for Acceptance 

of Product Petitions 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the United 

States Trade Representative (USTR) 

received petitions in connection with 

the 2009 GSP Annual Review to modify 

the list of products that are eligible for 

duty-free treatment under the GSP 

program (‘‘2009 GSP Annual Product 

Review’’). This Notice announces the 

petitions accepted for review to add or 

remove products from the list of 

products eligible for duty-free treatment 

under GSP and sets forth the review 

schedule for comment and public 

hearings, for requesting participation in 

the hearings, for submitting pre-hearing 

and post-hearing briefs, and for 

commenting on the U.S. International 

Trade Commission’s (USITC) report on 

probable economic effects. The list of 

accepted petitions is available at: 

http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/tradedevelopment/preference-programs/ 

generalized-system-preference-gsp/ 

current-review-1 [2009 Annual Review] 

and at Regulations.gov, Docket Number 

USTR–2009–0036. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tameka Cooper, GSP Program, Office of 

the United States Trade Representative, 

1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20508. The telephone number is (202) 

395–6971, the fax number is (202) 395– 

2961, and the e-mail address is 

Tameka_Cooper@ustr.eop.gov. 

DATES: The GSP regulations (15 CFR 

Part 2007) provide the schedule of dates 

for conducting an annual review unless 

otherwise specified in a Federal 

Register notice. The schedule for the 

2009 GSP Annual Product Review is set 

forth below. Notification of any other 

changes will be given in the Federal 

Register. 

November 6, 2009—Due date for 

submission of pre-hearing briefs and 

requests to appear at the GSP 

Subcommittee Public Hearing on the 

2009 GSP Annual Product Review that 

include the name, address, telephone, 

fax, e-mail address and organization of 

witnesses for accepted product 

petitions. 

November 17, 2009—Due date for 

submission of new petitions to grant 

waivers to CNLs for products exceeding 

the competitive need limitations (CNLs) 

in 2009 and for determinations of 

products not produced in the United 

States as of January 1, 1995. 

November 19, 2009—GSP 

Subcommittee Public Hearing on all 

product petitions accepted for the 2009 

GSP Annual Product Review in Rooms 

1 and 2, 1724 F St., NW., Washington, 

DC 20508, beginning at 9:30 a.m. 

December 3, 2009—Due date for 

submission of product petition posthearing briefs. 

February 2010—The USITC is 

scheduled to publish a public version of 

the report providing advice on the 

potential impacts on U. S. industry and 

consumers based on the product 

petitions accepted in the 2009 GSP 

Annual Product Review. Comments on 

the USITC report on these products is 

due 10 calendar days after the date of 

USITC’s publication of the public 

version of the report. 

June 30, 2010—Modifications to the 

list of articles eligible for duty-free 

treatment under the GSP resulting from 

the 2009 Annual Product Review will be 

announced on or about June 30, 2010, 

in the Federal Register, and any 

changes will take effect on the effective 

date announced. Notification of any 

changes to this date will be given in the 

Federal Register. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The GSP 

program provides for the duty-free 

importation of designated articles when 

imported from designated beneficiary 

developing countries. The GSP program 

is authorized by Title V of the Trade Act 

of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461, et seq.), as 

amended (the ‘‘1974 Act’’), and is 

implemented in accordance with 

Executive Order 11888 of November 24, 

1975, as modified by subsequent 

Executive Orders and Presidential 

Proclamations. 

Petitions Requesting Modifications of 

Product Eligibility 

In a Federal Register notice dated 

May 28, 2009, USTR announced that the 

deadline for the filing of product 

petitions, other than those requesting 

waivers of ‘‘competitive need 

limitations’’ (CNLs), country practice 

petitions for the 2009 GSP Annual 

Review was June 24, 2009 (74 FR 

25605). The deadline for the filing of 

product petitions requesting waivers of 

the CNLs and determinations that any 

eligible products were not produced in 

the United States as of January 1, 1995, 

was announced to be November 17, 

2009. 

The petitions that were received 

requested 164 modifications in the list 

of GSP-eligible products by adding new 

products for eligibility from all GSP 

beneficiaries, by removing products 

from eligibility when imported from 

specific GSP-eligible countries, or other 

changes. The interagency GSP 

Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff 

Committee (TPSC) has reviewed the 

product petitions, and the TPSC has 

decided to accept for review the product 

petitions listed in ‘‘List of Petitions 

Accepted in the 2009 GSP Annual 

Product Review’’ posted on the USTR 

Web site and available on 

Regulations.gov docket number USTR– 

2009–0036. That list sets forth, for each 

type of change requested: the case 

number, the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States (HTS) 

subheading number, a brief description 

of the product (see the HTS for an 

authoritative description available on 

the U.S. International Trade 

Commission Web site http:// 

www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/), and the 

petitioner for each petition included in 

this review. Acceptance of a petition for 

review does not indicate any opinion 

with respect to the disposition on the 

merits of the petition. Acceptance 

indicates only that the listed petitions 

have been found eligible for review by 

the TPSC and that such review will take 

place. 

The GSP Subcommittee of the TPSC 

invites testimony at the public hearing, 

based on receipt of requests to testify, 

and comments in support of or in 

opposition to any petition which has 

been accepted thus far for the 2009 GSP 

Annual Product Review. Submissions 

should comply with 15 CFR Part 2007, 

except as modified below. All 

submissions should identify the subject 

article(s) in terms of the case number 

and eight digit HTSUS subheading 

number, if applicable, as shown in the 

‘‘List of Petitions Accepted in the 2009 

GSP Product Annual Review’’ available 

at: http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/ 

trade-development/preferenceprograms/generalized-systempreference-gsp/current-review-1 [2009 

Annual Review]. 

Requirements for Submissions 

Submissions in response to this notice 

(including requests to testify, written 

comments, and pre-hearing and posthearing briefs), with the exception of 

business confidential submissions, must 

be submitted electronically by 5 p.m., 


dcolon on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
54620 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 203 / Thursday, October 22, 2009 / Notices 

Tuesday, November 6, 2009, or by 5 

p.m., Thursday, December 3, 2009 (post 

hearing briefs only) using http:// 

www.regulations.gov, docket number 

USTR–2009–0036. Instructions for 

submitting business confidential 

versions are provided below. Handdelivered submissions will not be 

accepted. Submissions must be 

submitted in English to the Chairman of 

the GSP Subcommittee, Trade Policy 

Staff Committee, by the applicable 

deadlines set forth in this notice. 

To make a submission using http:// 

www.regulations.gov, enter docket 

number USTR–2009–0036 on the home 

page and click ‘‘Search.’’ The site will 

provide a search-results page listing all 

documents associated with this docket. 

Locate the reference to this notice by 

selecting ‘‘Notices’’ under ‘‘Document 

Type’’. In the results table below, click 

on the ‘‘Send a Comment’’ link that 

corresponds to this notice. Follow the 

instructions given on the screen to 

submit the comment. The http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site offers the 

option of providing comments by filling 

in a ‘‘Type Comment’’ field or by 

attaching a document. While both 

options are acceptable, USTR prefers 

submissions in the form of an 

attachment. 

Comments must be in English, with 

the total submission not to exceed 30 

single-spaced standard letter-size pages 

in 12-point type, including attachments. 

Any data attachments to the submission 

should be included in the same file as 

the submission itself, and not as 

separate files. 

Any person or party making a 

submission is strongly advised to review 

the GSP regulations and GSP Guidebook 

(available at: http://www.ustr.gov/tradetopics/trade-development/preferenceprograms/generalized-systempreference-gsp/gsp-program-inf) 

Business Confidential Submissions 

Persons wishing to submit business 

confidential information must submit 

that information by electronic mail to 

FR0807@ustr.eop.gov. Business 

confidential submissions will not be 

accepted at http://www.regulations.gov. 

For any document containing business 

confidential information submitted as a 

file attached to an e-mail transmission, 

the file name of the business 

confidential version should begin with 

the characters ‘‘BC.’’ The ‘‘BC’’ should 

be followed by the name of the party 

(government, company, union, 

association, etc.) that is making the 

submission. 

If a comment 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. The submitter must 

provide a written explanation of why 

the information should be protected in 

accordance with 15 CFR 2007.7(b). 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’’. 

The file name of the public version 

should begin with the characters ‘‘P’’. 

The ‘‘P’’ should be followed by the 

name of the party (government, 

company, union, association, etc.) that 

is making the submission. 

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. A copy of the public version 

will be posted on Regulations.gov. 

Notice of Public Hearing 

A hearing will be held by the GSP 

Subcommittee of the TPSC on 

Thursday, November 19, 2009, for 

product petitions accepted for the 2009 

GSP Annual Review (i.e., for product 

petitions other than those requesting 

CNL waivers) beginning at 9:30 a.m. at 

the Office of the U.S. Trade 

Representative, Rooms 1 and 2, 1724 F 

St., NW., Washington, DC 20508. The 

hearing will be open to the public, and 

a transcript of the hearing will be made 

available for public inspection or can be 

purchased from the reporting company. 

No electronic media coverage will be 

allowed. 

All interested parties wishing to make 

an oral presentation at the hearing must 

submit, following the above 

‘‘Requirements for Submissions’’, the 

name, address, telephone number, 

facsimile number, and e-mail address (if 

available), of the witness(es) 

representing their organization to 

Marideth Sandler, Executive Director of 

the GSP Program by 5 p.m., Friday, 

November 6, 2009. Requests to present 

oral testimony in connection with the 

public hearing must be accompanied by 

a written brief or statement, in English, 

and also must be received by 5 p.m., 

Friday, November 6, 2009. Oral 

testimony before the GSP Subcommittee 

will be limited to five-minute 

presentations that summarize or 

supplement information contained in 

briefs or statements submitted for the 

record. Post-hearing briefs or statements 

will be accepted if they conform with 

the regulations cited above and are 

submitted, in English, by 5 p.m., 

Thursday, December 3, 2009, following 

the ‘‘Requirements for Submissions’’ 

above. Parties not wishing to appear at 

the public hearing may submit prehearing briefs or statements, in English, 

by 5 p.m., November 6, 2009, and posthearing written briefs or statements, in 

English, by 5 p.m., December 3, 2009, 

also in accordance with the 

‘‘Requirements for Submissions’’ above. 

Receipt of Advice From the USITC 

With respect to petitions to add or 

remove articles from the ‘‘List of 

Product Petitions Accepted in the 2009 

GSP Annual Review,’’ and in 

accordance with sections 503(d)(1)(A) of 

the 1974 Act and the authority 

delegated by the President, pursuant to 

section 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 

the U.S. Trade Representative has 

requested that the USITC provide its 

advice on the probable economic effect 

of such additions or removals on U.S. 

industries producing like or directly 

competitive articles and on consumers. 

Comments by interested persons on the 

USITC Report prepared as part of the 

product review other than those 

requesting CNL waivers should be 

submitted by 5 p.m., 10 calendar days 

after the date of USITC publication of 

the public version of its report. 

Marideth J. Sandler, 

Executive Director, Generalized System of 

Preferences (GSP) Program, Office of the U.S. 

Trade Representative. 

[FR Doc. E9–25459 Filed 10–21–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W0–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Docket No. AB–6 (Sub-No. 469X)] 

BNSF Railway Company— 

Abandonment Exemption—in Pierce 

County, WA 

BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) filed 

a notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 

1152 subpart F—Exempt Abandonments 

to abandon a 1.56-mile line of railroad 

between milepost 0.59, and milepost 

2.15, in Tacoma, Pierce County, WA. 

The line traverses United States Postal 

Service Zip Code 98402. 

BNSF has certified that: (1) No local 

traffic has been handled to or from any 

customer over the rail line for at least 2 

years; (2) all overhead traffic has been 

rerouted; (3) no formal complaint filed 

by a user of rail service on the line (or 

by a state or local government entity 


dcolon on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES