USTR Requests Comments Concerning Compliance With Telecommunications Trade Agreements
November 18, 2009Pursuant to § 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 3106) (Section 1377), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is reviewing and requests comments on the operation, effectiveness, and implementation of and compliance with the following agreements regarding telecommunications products and services of the United States: the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services; the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs) with Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Morocco, Oman, Peru, and Singapore; and the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). The USTR will conclude the review by March 31, 2010.
Section 1377 requires the USTR to review annually the operation and effectiveness of all U.S. trade agreements regarding telecommunications products and services that are in force with respect to the United States. The purpose of the review is to determine whether any act, policy, or practice of a country that has entered into an FTA or other telecommunications trade agreement with the United States is inconsistent with the terms of such agreement or otherwise denies U.S. firms, within the context of the terms of such agreements, mutually advantageous market opportunities for telecommunications products and services. For the current review, the USTR seeks comments on the following:
- Whether any WTO member is acting in a manner that is inconsistent with its obligations under WTO agreements affecting market opportunities for telecommunications products or services, e.g., the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), including the Basic Telecommunications Agreement, the Annex on Telecommunications, and any scheduled commitments including the Reference Paper on Pro-Competitive Regulatory Principles;
- Whether Canada or Mexico has failed to comply with its telecommunications obligations under the NAFTA;
- Whether Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or Nicaragua has failed to comply with its telecommunications obligations under the CAFTA-DR;
- Whether Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Morocco, Oman, Peru, or Singapore has failed to comply with its telecommunications obligations under the respective FTA between the United States and that country;
- Whether any country has failed to comply with its obligations under telecommunications trade agreements with the United States other than FTAs, e.g., Mutual Recognition Agreements for Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment;
- Whether any act, policy, or practice of a country cited in a previous section 1377 review remains unresolved; and
- Whether any measures or practices impede access to telecommunications markets or otherwise deny telecommunications products and services market opportunities with respect to any country that is a WTO member or for which an FTA or telecommunications trade agreement has entered into force between that country and the United States. Measures or practices of interest include, for example, prohibitions on voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) services; requirements for access to or use of networks that limit the products or services U.S. suppliers can offer in specific markets; the imposition of excessively high licensing fees; discriminatory procedures for allocation and use of spectrum or other scarce resources; and the imposition of unnecessary or discriminatory technical regulations or standards in the telecommunications product or services sectors.
Comments in response to this notice must be written in English, must identify (on the first page of the comments) the telecommunications trade agreement(s) discussed therein, and must be submitted electronically by 5 p.m. on December 11, 2009. Reply comments must also be in English and must be submitted by 5 p.m. on January 15, 2010. Comments and reply comments, with the exception of business confidential comments, must be submitted online at www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2009-0038. In the unusual case where submitters are unable to make submissions online, the submitter must contact Gloria Blue at (202) 395-3475 to make alternate arrangements. For more details, see the notice (PDF) published in the Federal Register.
For further information, contact: Catherine Hinckley, Office of Services and Investment, (202) 395-9539; or Amy Karpel, Office of the General Counsel, (202) 395-3150.
