Notice2022-18253
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 24, 2022
Issuing agencies
Trade Representative, Office of United States
Abstract
The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will seek public comment 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). This notice includes the schedule for the submission of comments to the TPSC for the Russia Report and a virtual public hearing.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 163 (Wednesday, August 24, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52102-52104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18253]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR-2022-0011]
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) will seek
public comment 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). This notice includes the schedule
for the submission of comments to the TPSC for the Russia Report and a
virtual public hearing.
DATES:
September 21, 2022 (Wednesday) at 11:59 p.m. EDT: Deadline for
submission of written comments for the 2022 Russia WTO implementation
report and requests to testify.
October 4, 2022, (Tuesday) at 9:00 a.m. EDT: Virtual public
hearing.
ADDRESSES: USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments in section III below. The docket
number is
[[Page 52103]]
USTR-2022-0011. For alternatives to online submissions, please contact
Spencer Smith at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5b082b3e35383e297517750836322f33691b2e282f29753e342b753c342d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="beedcedbd0dddbcc90f290edd3d7cad68cfecbcdcacc90dbd1ce90d9d1c8">[email protected]</span></a> or (202) 395-2974 in
advance of the relevant deadline.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning
written comments, contact Spencer Smith Spencer Smith at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ecbf9c89828f899ec2a0c2bf81859884deac999f989ec289839cc28b839a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f7a4879299949285d9bbd9a49a9e839fc5b782848385d9929887d9909881">[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#c184ada8bba0a3a4b5a99e89a0a7afa4b381b4b2b5b3efa4aeb1efa6aeb7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d99cb5b0a3b8bbbcadb18691b8bfb7bcab99acaaadabf7bcb6a9f7beb6af">[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 to submit annually 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 hereby
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
USTR invites public comments and/or oral testimony on Russia's
implementation of its WTO commitments according to the schedule set out
in the DATES section above. Written comments and/or oral testimony of
interested persons 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.
USTR requests small businesses (generally defined by the Small
Business Administration as firms with fewer than 500 employees) or
organizations representing small business members that submit comments
to self-identify as such, so that we may be aware of issues of
particular interest to small businesses.
The TPSC will convene a virtual public hearing via Zoom on Tuesday,
October 4, 2022, beginning at 9:00 a.m. EDT. Persons wishing to observe
the public hearing will find a link on USTR's web page for Russia on
the day of the hearing at <a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/russia-and-eurasia/russia">https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/russia-and-eurasia/russia</a>.
Persons wishing to testify at the hearing must provide written
notification of their intention to testify no later than September 21,
2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT, as noted above in DATES section. Remarks at the
hearing will be limited to no more than 5 minutes to allow for possible
questions from the TPSC. Because the hearing will be public, testimony
should not include any business confidential information (BCI). USTR
will provide a link in advance of the virtual hearing to persons
wishing to testify.
III. Requirements for Submissions
Persons submitting written comments must do so in English and must
identify on the first page of the submission `Comments Regarding
Russia's Implementation of its WTO Commitments.' The submission
deadline is September 21, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. USTR strongly
encourages commenters to make online submissions, using
<a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>. To submit comments via <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>, enter docket
number USTR-2022-0011 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 and click on the link
entitled `Comment.' For further information on using <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>,
please consult the resources provided on the website by clicking on
`How to Use Regulations.gov' on the bottom of the home page.
Regulations.gov allows users to submit comments by filling in a
`type comment' field, or by attaching a document using the `upload
file' 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.
USTR prefers submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat
(.pdf). If you use 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) 2022
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. Please do not
attach separate cover letters to electronic submissions; rather,
include any information that might appear in a cover letter in the
comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent possible, please include
any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in the same file as the
submission itself, not as separate files.
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. For
[[Page 52104]]
any comments submitted electronically containing BCI, the file name of
the business confidential version should begin with the characters
`BCI.' You must clearly mark any page containing BCI with `BUSINESS
CONFIDENTIAL' at the top of that page. Filers of submissions containing
BCI also must submit a public version of their comments that USTR will
place in the docket for public inspection. The file name of the public
version should begin with the character `P.' Follow the `BCI' and `P'
with the name of the person or entity submitting the comments.
As noted, USTR strongly urges that you file submissions through
Regulations.gov. You must make any alternative arrangements with
Spencer Smith at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c596b5a0aba6a0b7eb89eb96a8acb1adf785b0b6b1b7eba0aab5eba2aab3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c192b1a4afa2a4b3ef8def92aca8b5a9f381b4b2b5b3efa4aeb1efa6aeb7">[email protected]</span></a> or (202) 395-2974 in
advance of the deadline.
USTR will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except
properly designated BCI. You can view comments at Regulations.gov by
entering docket number USTR-2022-0011 in the search field on the home
page. General information concerning USTR is available at <a href="https://www.ustr.gov">https://www.ustr.gov</a>.
William Shpiece,
Chair of the Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2022-18253 Filed 8-23-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F2-P
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