North American Free-Trade Agreement, Article 1904 Binational Panel Reviews; Request for Panel Review

DEPARMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

North American Free-Trade Agreement, Article 1904 Binational

Panel Reviews; Request for Panel Review

AGENCY: NAFTA Secretariat, United States Section, International Trade

Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of first request for panel review.

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SUMMARY: On September 26, 1994 Maquiladora Pieles Pitic, S.A. de CV and

Pitic Leather filed a First Request for Panel Review with the U.S.

Section of the NAFTA Secretariat pursuant to Article 1904 of the North

American Free Trade Agreement. Panel review was requested of the final

countervailing duty determination made by the International Trade

Administration in the administrative review respecting Leather Wearing

Apparel from Mexico. This determination was published in the Federal

Register on August 25, 1994 (59 FR 43815). The NAFTA Secretariat has

assigned Case Number USA-94-1904-02 to this request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James R. Holbein, United States Secretary, NAFTA Secretariat, Suite

2061, 14th and Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC 20230, (202) 482-

5438.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Chapter 19 of the North American Free-Trade

Agreement (``Agreement'') establishes a mechanism to replace domestic

judicial review of final determinations in antidumping and

countervailing duty cases involving imports from a NAFTA country with

review by independent binational panels When a Request for Panel Review

is filed, a panel is established to act in place of national courts to

review expeditiously the final determination to determine whether it

conforms with the antidumping or countervailing duty law of the country

that made the determination.

Under Article 1904 of the Agreement, which came into force on

January 1, 1994, the Government of the United States, the Government of

Canada and the Government of Mexico established Rules of Procedure for

Article 1904 Binational Panels Reviews (``Rules''). These Rules were

published in the Federal Register on February 23, 1994 (59 FR 8686).

A first Request for Panel Review was filed with the U.S. Section of

the NAFTA Secretariat, pursuant to Article 1904 of the Agreement, on

September 26, 1994, requesting panel review of the final countervailing

duty administrative review described above.

The Rules provide that:

(a) a Party or interested person may challenge the final

determination in whole or in part by filing a Complaint in accordance

with Rule 39 within 30 days after the filing of the first Request for

Panel Review (the deadline for filing a Complaint is October 26, 1994);

(b) a Party, investigating authority or interested person that does

not file a Complaint but that intends to appear in support of any

reviewable portion of the final determination may participate in the

panel review by filing a Notice of Appearance in accordance with Rule

40 within 45 days after the filing of the first Request for Panel

Review (the deadline for filing a Notice of Appearance is November 10,

1994); and

(c) the panel review shall be limited to the allegations of error

of fact or law, including the jurisdiction of the investigating

authority, that are set out in the Complaints filed in the panel review

and the procedural and substantive defenses raised in the panel review.

Dated: September 30, 1994.

James R. Holbein,

United States Secretary, NAFTA Secretariat.

[FR Doc. 94-24659 Filed 10-4-94; 8:45 am]

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