USTR Releases Schedule for 2017 GSP Eligibility Review
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is moving forward with its review of the Generalized System of Preferences and is ready to consider petitions to modify both the list of GSP-eligible products and the beneficiary status of GSP countries, it said. USTR is also extending to a second day a previously announced hearing of the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee's (TPSC's) GSP Subcommittee on Bolivian compliance with GSP eligibility criteria related to child labor, to examine several other country practice petitions accepted in prior years (see 1707070021). The agency outlined the following deadlines in its GSP review (submissions are due at midnight on each deadline):
- Sept. 12: Comments, pre-hearing briefs, and requests to appear at the Bolivia GSP country practices hearing.
- Sept. 26-27: TPSC GSP Subcommittee public hearing on GSP country practice review of Bolivia starting at 10 a.m.
- Oct. 17: Submissions of post-hearing briefs.
- Oct. 17: Petitions to modify list of articles eligible for GSP duty-free treatment and new petitions to review the GSP status of any beneficiary developing country.
USTR will announce the petitions accepted for a review in the Federal Register at an undetermined, later date.
Stakeholders, including foreign governments, may petition for additional products in GSP only if those products originate in least developed beneficiary countries or African Growth and Opportunity Act beneficiaries. The public may also petition USTR to withdraw, suspend or limit benefits for GSP products or “otherwise modify GSP coverage.” Petitioning stakeholders must include a “detailed description of the product and the eight-digit subheading of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States under which the product is classified.” Many products are statutorily ineligible for GSP beneficiary status.
In addition to Bolivian labor practices, the TPSC GSP Subcommittee will review the following country practice cases during the Sept. 26-27 hearing:
- Argentina's request for GSP benefits (see 1611080015).
- A Chevron petition for withdrawal of Andean Trade Preference Act benefits for Ecuador over the country's administration of arbitral awards under the U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty (see 12092604).
- An AFL-CIO petition to review worker rights in the Republic of Georgia (see 11110124).
- An International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) petition to review Indonesian intellectual property treatment (see 12071112).
- An AFL-CIO petition to review worker rights in Iraq.
- Laos' request for GSP benefits (see 13041521).
- An AFL-CIO petition to review worker rights in Thailand (see 1511240017).
- An IIPA petition to review Ukrainian IP rights protections (see 12071112).
- An International Labor Rights Forum petition to review worker rights and child labor in Uzbekistan.
- An IIPA petition to review IP rights protections in Uzbekistan.
USTR will announce procedures to submit petitions for competitive needs limitation waivers at a later date.
(Federal Register 08/11/17)