April 2001 News

USTR Releases Super 301, Special 301 and Title VII Reports:

On Monday, April 30, USTR formally issued three annual reports to Congress on foreign trade practices for the year 2001: Super 301 (which identifies top U.S. trade expansion priorities); Special 301 (which examines intellectual property protection worldwide); and Title VII (which reports on discriminatory foreign government procurement practices). For more information, visit the USTR website or browse directly to the these documents: The Super 301 Report on Trade Expansion Priorities (no longer available) The Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Protection (no longer available) The Title VII Report on Discriminatory Foreign Government Procurement Practices (no longer available) USTR press release (no longer available) Executive Summary (no longer available)

Mexico: Proposed Standards (April 9 to 20, 2001)

View recently proposed and enacted Mexican Government standards

USTR Reaffirms Environmental Review of Trade Agreements

USTR announced April 20 that the Bush Administration will be conducting environmental reviews of major trade agreements. As part of the review policy, USTR also announced that it would proceed with an environmental review of the negotiations on agriculture and services currently underway in the World Trade Organization (WTO). USTR is requesting public comment on the scope of the review and when to conduct the analytical work by July 27, 2001. (links no longer available) View USTR press release HTML - PDF

U.S. and EU Resolve Banana Dispute

On April 11, the U.S. and EU settled the long-running dispute over the EU's banana import regime. The EU agreed to forgo its plans to implement the first-come-first-served system and instead will employ a licensing system based on a historical reference period . Once this system is in place, the U.S. will suspend its sanctions on $191.4 million of EU imports. View the USTR press release (no longer available)

U.S., Australia, Canada and New Zealand Initial Agreement on Mutual Acceptance of Oenological Practices

USTR Zoellick announced that the United States has initialed an Agreement on Mutual Acceptance of Oenological Practices with the governments of Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The Agreement was initialed on April 9, 2001 in Adelaide, Australia, by U.S. Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm, Jr. View the USTR press release (no longer available)

Request for Comments: WTO Ministerial Conference

The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is soliciting public comments on U.S. objectives and preparations for the upcoming meeting of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, on November 9-13, 2001. Public comments are due by May 10, 2001.

View the FR notice (URL below)

Mexico: Proposed Standards (March 23 to April 6, 2001)

India: Quantitative Restrictions on Imports Removed

On March 31, Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran announced amendments to India's export-import policy (1997-2002). As mandated by the December 1999 U.S.-India agreement on the removal of balance of payment-related quantitative restrictions (QR’s), which was concluded pursuant to a WTO dispute settlement panel decision, the Government of India removed QR’s on the remaining 715 items (147 agricultural products, 342 textile items, and 226 manufacturing items including automobiles). Imports of bulk grains (wheat, rice and maize), some petroleum products and urea henceforth will be "canalized" through state trading enterprises. To allay domestic fears of a flood of imports after the removals of QR’s, Minister Maran assured Indian industry of protection through measures he maintained would be WTO-compliant. Imports of some sensitive items will also be subject to certain conditions.

USTR: Telecommunications Trade Agreement Review Highlights Concerns

On April 2, USTR announced the results of this year’s annual review of foreign compliance with telecommunications trade agreements. Eleven U.S. trading partners were subject to complaints in this year's review. Practices in the markets of Colombia, Mexico, South Africa and Taiwan markets raise serious concerns about compliance with telecommunications trade obligations. (links no longer available) View the USTR press release View the USTR fact sheet on the 2001 Section 1377 review