USTR Affirms Deadline for the Filing of Petitions Requesting CNL Waivers for the 2009 GSP Annual Review
November 6, 2009The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has published a notice in the Federal Register affirming the previously announced deadline of November 17, 2009, for submission of petitions requesting Competitive Need Limitation (CNL) waivers and determinations regarding eligible products not produced in the United States on January 1, 1995. The list of petitions for such CNL waivers and determinations that are accepted for review, along with the date of public hearing, receipt of comments, and availability of U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) advice, will be announced in the Federal Register at a later date.
The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program program provides for the duty-free importation of designated articles when imported from designated beneficiary developing countries. Section 503(c)(2)(A) of the 1974 Act sets out the two competitive need limitations (CNLs). When the President determines that a beneficiary developing country exported to the United States during a calendar year either: (1) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a value in excess of the applicable amount for that year ($140 million for 2009), or (2) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a value equal to or greater than 50% of the value of total U.S. imports of the article from all countries (the “50% CNL”), the President must terminate GSP duty-free treatment for that article from that beneficiary developing country by no later than July 1 of the next calendar year.
For further information, contact: Tameka Cooper, GSP Program, Office of the United States Trade Representative, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508; Phone: (202) 395-6971; FAX: (202) 395-2961; E-Mail: Tameka_Cooper@ustr.eop.gov.
