USTR Requests Comments Concerning Compliance with Telecommunications Trade Agreements

November 17, 2009

Recently, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a  notice in the Federal Registerrequesting comments for its annual review of the operation, effectiveness, implementation of and compliance with certain agreements regarding telecommunications products and services of the U.S.

For the current review, which is expected to be concluded by March 31, 2010, USTR seeks comments on:

• 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 El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras or Nicaragua has failed to comply with its telecommunications obligations under the CAFTA-DR;
• Whether Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Morocco, Singapore, or any other country for which an FTA with the United States will be in force on or before January 1, 2009, has failed to comply with its telecommunications obligations under the respective FTA between the United States and that country (see http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Section_Index.html for U.S. FTAs);
• 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 (MRAs) for Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment (see http://www.tcc.mac.doc.gov for a collection of trade agreements related, inter alia, to telecommunications);
• In regard to issues listed in items (1) to (5) or item (7), also consider whether a country employs a legal standard for granting injunctions with respect to regulatory decisions that is so lenient    that it undermines the country's ability to ensure compliance with its specific obligations under telecom trade agreements;
• Whether any act, policy, or practice of a country cited in a previous section 1377 review remains unresolved (see http:// www.ustr.gov/Trade_Sectors/Telecom-Ecommerce/Section_1377/Section_Index.html for the 2008 review); and  
• Whether any measures or practices impede access to telecommunications markets or otherwise deny telecommunications products and services of the United States 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 such country and the United States. Measures or practices of interest include, for example, prohibitions on voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) services; requirements for access 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, and the imposition of unnecessary or discriminatory technical regulations or standards in the telecom product or services sectors.

Interested parties should submit their comments to USTR by noon on December 11, 2009.