Subject: RFC -- FTAA Electronic Commerce Experts Comm.
patricem@ombwatch.org
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 09:36:17 -0500
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 09:36:17 -0500 From: patricem@ombwatch.org Subject: RFC -- FTAA Electronic Commerce Experts Comm. To: roundtable@cni.org Message-Id: <Chameleon.902410818.patrice@patrice.rtknet.org>
FYI.
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Patrice McDermott
patricem@ombwatch.org
Date: 08/06/98
Time: 09:36:17
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[Federal Register: August 6, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 151)]
[Notices] [Page 42090-42091]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr06au98-107]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Free Trade Area of the Americas
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice and request for public comment on the Free Trade
of the Americas (FTAA) joint public-private sector Experts
Committee on Electronic Commerce (Experts Committee);
identification of private sector experts in electronic commerce
who may wish to participate in the work of the Experts
Committee.
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SUMMARY: The FTAA Experts Committee on Electronic Commerce has
been established by the 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere
participating in the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The
Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) invites public comment on
the work plan of the Experts Committee. In addition, the TPSC
seeks to identify U.S. private sector experts on electronic
commerce who may be interested in participating in the work of
the Experts Committee; interested members of the public are
invited to submit written notice of their interest and their
qualifications.
DATES: Written comments on the the Experts Committee and
expressions of interest in participating in the work of the
Committee should be submitted no later than September 8, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For procedural questions concerning public comments, contact
Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff
Committee, Office of the United States Trade Representative,
(202) 395-3475. All questions concerning the Experts Committee
should be directed to Regina Vargo, Deputy Assistant Secretary
for the Western Hemisphere, U.S. Department of Commerce (202)
482-5324, Rvargo@USITA.GOV.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 18-19, 1998, President
Clinton and his 33 counterparts in the Western Hemisphere
initiated negotiations to create the Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA) by the year 2005 and to achieve concrete
progress toward that objective by the end of the century. The
leaders established a general framework for the netotiations,
including a Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), composed of
the 34 vice ministers responsible for trade, to oversee the
negotiations. They agreed to nine initial negotiating groups,
a consultative group and two committees, one of which is a
joint public-private sector Experts Committee on Electronic
Commerce. At its June 1998 meeting in Buenos Aires, the TNC
agreed that the Experts Committee will be chaired by Mr. Dale
Marshall of Barbados. It also was agreed that the initial
meeting of the Experts Committee would be held before the end
of October in Miami.
Experts Committee Terms of Reference: The objective of the
Experts Committee is to make recommendations to trade
ministers on how to increase and broaden the benefits of
electronic commerce and how electronic commerce should be
dealt with in the context of the FTAA negotiations. Four weeks
before the October 1999 ministerial meeting, the Experts
Committee is to provide recommendations to the TNC. In order
to develop its recommendations, the Experts Committee will
focus on:
o Increasing understanding of the potential
benefits of electronic commerce to countries in
the hemisphere;
o Identifying the environment that will allow
electronic commerce to flourish;
o Discussing infrastructure questions; and
o Identifying how electronic commerce can
facilitate the operation of trade obligations.
Experts Committee Private Sector Representation: The Experts
Committee will consist of both public and private sector
representatives. Individual governments will identify private
sector participants with a view toward balanced hemispheric
representation in terms of geography and electronic commerce
issue expertise. Although the FTAA countries have not yet
established the details on private sector representation,
including composition, number and final selection process, the
TPSC seeks to identify U.S. private sector experts on
electronic commerce who may be interested in participating in
the work of the Committee.
Public Comments
To prepare for the initial meeting of the Experts Committee
in October 1998, the TPSC invites written comments on how to
maximize the effectiveness of private sector participation
and on possible elements of a work plan to implement the
Committee's terms of reference, described above. In addition,
in order to assist the TPSC in identifying U.S. private sector
experts on electronic commerce who may be interested in
participating in the work of the Committee, members of the
public are invited to submit written notice of their interest
and describe their qualifications. Qualifications of interest
include: demonstrated expertise in one or more aspects of
electronic commerce; knowledge of the Western Hemisphere,
including established contacts with foreign private sector
interests in the region; an ability and willingness to broadly
solicit views from and disseminate information to private sector
interests that provide Internet services, network services,
content and equipment, or that represent the views of other
Internet experts in the private sector, and familiarity with
U.S. and foreign trade and investment policies and
obligations.
Those persons wishing to submit written comments should provide
twenty (20) typed copies (in English) to Gloria Blue, Executive
Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the U.S.
Trade Representative, Room 501, 600 17th Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20508. Comments should state clearly the
position taken and should describe the specific information
supporting that position.
If the submission contains business confidential information,
twenty copies of a confidential version must also be submitted.
A justification as to why the information contained in the
submission should be treated confidentially must be included
in the submission. In addition, any submissions containing
business confidential information must be clearly marked
``Confidential'' at the top and bottom of the cover page (or
letter) and of each succeeding page of the submission. The
version that does not contain confidential information should
also be clearly marked, at the top and bottom of each page,
``public version'' or ``non-confidential.''
Written comments submitted in connection with this request,
except for information granted ``business confidential''
status pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.6, will be available for public
inspection in the USTR Reading Room, Room 101, Office of the
United States Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. An appointment to review the file may be made
by calling Brenda Webb, (202) 395-6186. The Reading Room is
open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 1 p.m.
to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Frederick L. Montgomery,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee. [FR Doc. 98-21029 Filed
8-5-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3190-01-M
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