I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3688
To provide for review in the Court of International Trade of certain deter-
minations of binational panels and committees under the North American 
Free Trade Agreement. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 8, 2003
Mr. PICKERING introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To provide for review in the Court of International Trade 
of certain determinations of binational panels and com-
mittees under the North American Free Trade Agree-
ment.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Integrity of the United 
States Courts Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF BINATIONAL PANEL AND 
COMMITTEE DECISIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title IV of the North 
American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 
U.S.C. 3431 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 
404 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 404A. REVIEW OF BINATIONAL PANEL AND COM-
MITTEE DETERMINATIONS. 
‘‘(a) BASIS
FOR REVIEW
IN COURT
OF INTER-
NATIONAL TRADE.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—If, within 30 days after 
publication in the Federal Register of notice that a 
binational panel or committee has issued a deter-
mination following a review under article 1904 of a 
decision of a competent investigating authority in 
the United States, a Party or person, referred to in 
paragraph 5 of article 1904, alleges that—
‘‘(A)(i) the determination of the panel or 
committee, as the case may be, was based on a 
misinterpretation of United States law, 
‘‘(ii) a member of a panel or committee 
was guilty of gross misconduct, bias, or a seri-
ous conflict of interest, or otherwise materially 
violated the rules of conduct established for 
panelists or committee members, respectively,
‘‘(iii) the panel or committee seriously de-
parted from a fundamental rule of procedure, 
or 
‘‘(iv) the panel or committee manifestly ex-
ceeded its powers, authority, or jurisdiction set 
out in article 1904, such as failing to apply the 
appropriate standard of review, and 
‘‘(B) any element described in subpara-
graph (A) has materially affected the decision 
of the panel or committee and threatens the in-
tegrity of the binational panel or committee re-
view process, 
then such party or person may file an appeal with 
the United States Court of International Trade, 
seeking review of the binational panel or committee 
determination pursuant to section 516A of the Tar-
iff Act of 1930. 
‘‘(2) REVIEW
IN
COURT
OF
INTERNATIONAL 
TRADE WHERE BINATIONAL PANEL OR COMMITTEE 
DOES NOT ACT.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—If a request for a 
panel or committee review has been made under 
article 1904, and a panel or committee, as the 
case may be, is not convened within 120 days 
after the request, a person, referred to in para-
graph 5 of article 1904, may commence an ac-
tion in the United States Court of International 
Trade contesting the determination with respect 
to which the request was filed. The commence-
ment of such an action shall be in accordance 
with paragraph (1) or (2) of section 516A(a) of 
the Tariff Act of 1930, notwithstanding the 30-
day limitation on the commencement of actions 
set forth in such section 516A. 
‘‘(B) REQUESTS
BY
OTHER
PERSONS.—
After an action is commenced under subpara-
graph (A), any other person may commence an 
action in accordance with the requirements of 
paragraph (1) or (2) of section 516A(a) of the 
Tariff Act of 1930 within 30 days after the 
date the initial action is filed under this para-
graph, but only with respect to a claim that 
such person raised before the panel or com-
mittee. 
‘‘(b) DECISIONS OF THE COURT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In an appeal filed under 
subsection (a)(1) for review of a binational panel or 
committee determination, the Court of International 
Trade shall, after examining the legal and factual 
analysis underlying the findings and conclusions of
the decision of the panel or committee, as the case 
may be, determine whether any of the elements de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A) has been established. 
If the court finds that any of the elements has been 
established, the court shall vacate the original panel 
or committee decision and enter judgment accord-
ingly. If the elements are not established, the court 
shall affirm the original binational panel or com-
mittee decision. Decisions of the Court of Inter-
national Trade under this paragraph shall be bind-
ing on the parties with respect to the matters be-
tween the parties that were before the panel or com-
mittee, as the case may be. 
‘‘(2) DECISIONS WHERE PANEL OR COMMITTEE 
NOT CONVENED.—In the case of an action for review 
of a determination filed under subsection (a)(2), the 
Court of International Trade shall conduct such re-
view under section 516A(b) of the Tariff Act of 
1930. Decisions of the Court of International Trade 
under this paragraph shall be binding on all parties 
with respect to the matters between the parties that 
would have been before a panel or committee had 
the panel or committee been convened. 
‘‘(c) EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION.—If a Party or per-
son, referred to in paragraph 5 of article 1904, timely files
a notice of appeal to the Court of International Trade pur-
suant to this section, the United States Court of Inter-
national Trade shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the 
matter, and the determination of the United States Court 
of International Trade shall not be subject to review by 
an extraordinary challenge committee or binational panel. 
‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to deter-
minations by a binational panel or committee under 
NAFTA that involves an antidumping duty or counter-
vailing duty determination of a competent investigating 
authority in the United States.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents of the North American Free Trade Implementation 
Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 404 the following:
‘‘404A. Review of binational panel and committee determinations.’’.
SEC. 3. JURISDICTION OF THE COURT OF INTERNATIONAL 
TRADE. 
Section 516A of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1516a) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(2)—
(A) in subparagraph (A)(i)(I), by striking 
‘‘or (viii)’’ and inserting ‘‘(viii), (ix), or (x)’’; 
and 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the 
end the following: