Notice2021-17477
Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning Russia's Implementation of Its WTO Commitments
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 16, 2021
Issuing agencies
Trade Representative, Office of United States
Abstract
The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking public comments to assist the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the preparation of its annual report to Congress on Russia's implementation of its obligations as a Member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Due to COVID-19, the TPSC will foster public participation via written submissions rather than an in- person hearing. This notice includes the schedule for submission of comments and responses to questions from the TPSC for the Russia report.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 155 (Monday, August 16, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 155 (Monday, August 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45797-45798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17477]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR-2021-0014]
Request for Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Concerning
Russia's Implementation of Its WTO Commitments
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Request for comments and notice of public hearing.
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SUMMARY: The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking
public comments to assist the Office of the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) in the preparation of its annual report to
Congress on Russia's implementation of its obligations as a Member of
the World Trade Organization (WTO). Due to COVID-19, the TPSC will
foster public participation via written submissions rather than an in-
person hearing. This notice includes the schedule for submission of
comments and responses to questions from the TPSC for the Russia
report.
DATES:
September 22, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of
written comments for the 2021 Russia WTO Implementation Report.
September 30, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for the TPSC to pose
questions on written comments.
October 20, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for submission of
commenters' responses to questions from the TPSC.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> (REGS.GOV).
Follow the instructions for submitting comments in section III below.
The docket number is USTR-2021-0014. For alternatives to online
submissions, please contact Spencer Smith at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a9fad9ccc7caccdb87e587fac4c0ddc19be9dcdadddb87ccc6d987cec6df"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="124162777c7177603c5e3c417f7b667a2052676166603c777d623c757d64">[email protected]</span></a> or (202) 395-2974 before transmitting a
comment and in advance of the relevant deadline.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
written comments, contact Spencer Smith at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bae9cadfd4d9dfc894f694e9d7d3ced288facfc9cec894dfd5ca94ddd5cc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0c5f7c69626f697e2240225f616578643e4c797f787e2269637c226b637a">[email protected]</span></a> or (202) 395-2974. Direct all other
questions to Betsy Hafner, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative
for Russia and Eurasia at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#42072e2b38232027362a1d0a23242c273002373136306c272d326c252d34"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c98ca5a0b3a8abacbda19681a8afa7acbb89bcbabdbbe7aca6b9e7aea6bf">[email protected]</span></a> or (202) 395-
9124.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Russia became a Member of the WTO on August 22, 2012, and on
December 21, 2012, following the termination of the application of the
Jackson-Vanik amendment to Russia and the extension of permanent normal
trade relations to the products of Russia, the United States and Russia
both filed letters with the WTO withdrawing their notices of non-
application and consenting to have the WTO Agreement apply between
them. In accordance with Section 201(a) of the Russia and Moldova
Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability
Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-208), USTR is required annually to submit a
report to Congress on the extent to which Russia is implementing the
WTO Agreement, including the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Measures and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights. The report also must assess Russia's
progress on acceding to and implementing the Information Technology
Agreement (ITA) and the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). In
addition, to the extent that USTR finds that Russia is not implementing
fully any WTO agreement or is not making adequate progress in acceding
to the ITA or the GPA, USTR must describe in the report the actions it
plans to take to encourage Russia to improve its implementation and/or
increase its accession efforts. In accordance with Section 201(a), and
to assist it in preparing this year's report, the TPSC is soliciting
public comments.
The terms of Russia's accession to the WTO are contained in the
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization and the
Protocol on the Accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO
(including its annexes) (Protocol). The Report of the Working Party on
the Accession of the Russian Federation (Working Party Report) provides
detail and context to the commitments listed in the Protocol. You can
find the Protocol and Working Party Report on USTR's website at <a href="https://ustr.gov/node/5887">https://ustr.gov/node/5887</a> or on the WTO website at <a href="http://docsonline.wto.org">http://docsonline.wto.org</a>
(document symbols: WT/ACC/RUS/70, WT/MIN(11)/2, WT/MIN(11)/24, WT/L/
839, WT/ACC/RUS/70/Add.1, WT/MIN(11)/2/Add.1, WT/ACC/RUS/70/Add.2, and
WT/MIN(11)/2/Add.1.).
II. Public Participation
Due to COVID-19, the TPSC will foster public participation via
written submissions rather than an in-person hearing on Russia's
implementation of its WTO commitments. USTR invites public comments on
Russia's implementation according to the schedule set out in the Dates
section above. Written comments should address Russia's implementation
of the commitments made in connection with its accession to the WTO,
including, but not limited to, commitments in the following areas:
a. Import regulation (e.g., tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas,
import licenses).
b. Export regulation.
c. Subsidies.
d. Standards and technical regulations.
e. Sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
f. Trade-related investment measures (including local content
requirements).
g. Taxes and charges levied on imports and exports.
h. Other internal policies affecting trade.
i. Intellectual property rights (including intellectual property
rights enforcement).
j. Services.
k. Government procurement.
l. Rule of law issues (e.g., transparency, judicial review, uniform
administration of laws and regulations).
m. Other WTO commitments.
The TPSC will review comments and may ask clarifying questions to
commenters. The TPSC will post the questions on the public docket,
other than questions that include properly designated business
confidential information (BCI). USTR will send questions that include
properly designated BCI to the relevant commenters by email, and will
not post these questions on the public docket. Replies to questions
that contain BCI must follow the procedures in section IV below.
[[Page 45798]]
III. Requirements for Submissions
To ensure consideration, interested parties must submit comments
and responses to TPSC questions electronically via REGS.GOV by the
applicable deadlines in the DATES section above. The docket number is
USTR-2021-0014. All submissions must be in English. USTR will not
accept hand-delivered submissions.
To submit comments using REGS.GOV, enter docket number USTR-2021-
0014 in the `search for' field on the home page and click `search.' The
site will provide a search-results page listing all documents
associated with this docket. Find a reference to this notice by
selecting `notice' under `document type' in the `filter results by'
section on the left side of the screen and click on the link entitled
`comment now. REGS.GOV offers the option of providing comments by
filling in a `type comment' field or by attaching a document using the
`upload file(s)' field. USTR prefers that you provide submissions in an
attached document and, in such cases, that you write `see attached' in
the `type comment' field on the online submission form. In addition,
USTR prefers submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat
(.pdf). If the submission is in an application other than those two,
please indicate the name of the application in the `type comment'
field. At the beginning of the submission, include the following text:
(1) 2021 Russia WTO Implementation Report; (2) your organization's
name; and (3) whether the document is a comment or an answer to a TPSC
question. Written comments should not exceed 30 single-spaced, standard
letter-size pages in 12-point type, including attachments. Include any
data attachments to the submission in the same file as the submission
itself, and not as separate files.
When you complete the submission procedure at REGS.GOV you will
receive a tracking number confirming successful transmission. For
further information on using REGS.GOV, please consult the resources
provided on the website by clicking on `How to Use <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>' on
the bottom of the home page. USTR is not able to provide technical
assistance for REGS.GOV.
IV. Business Confidential Submissions
An interested party requesting that USTR treat information
contained in a submission as BCI must certify that the information is
business confidential and would not customarily be released to the
public by the submitter. You must clearly designate BCI by marking the
submission `BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL' at the top and bottom of the cover
page and on each succeeding page, and indicating, via brackets, the
specific information that is BCI. Additionally, you must include
`business confidential' in the `type comment' field and add the
designation BCI to the end of the file name for any attachments. For
any submission containing BCI, you separately must submit a non-
confidential version, i.e., not as part of the same submission with the
BCI version, indicating where BCI has been redacted. USTR will post the
non-confidential version in the docket for public inspection.
V. Public Viewing of Review Submissions
USTR will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except
BCI. You can view comments at REGS.GOV by entering docket number USTR-
2021-0014 in the search field on the home page. General information
concerning USTR is available at <a href="http://www.ustr.gov">www.ustr.gov</a>.
Edward Gresser,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2021-17477 Filed 8-13-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F1-P
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