This review is instituted under the ITC's "umbrella" investigation for all such requests, Investigation No. 332-436, Apparel Inputs in "Short Supply": Effect of Providing Preferential Treatment to Apparel Imported from Sub-Saharan African and Caribbean Basin Countries, which was requested by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). School Apparel, Inc. of Star City, AR, filed a request alleging "short supply" conditions for the subject apparel inputs with the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), an interagency group chaired by the U.S. Department of Commerce. This is the second time School Apparel, Inc. has submitted such a request. CITA denied School Apparel, Inc.'s first petition on March 5, 2002.

The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, will provide advice to the USTR concerning the probable economic effect on affected segments of the U.S. textile and apparel industries, workers in these industries, and consumers of granting duty-free and quota-free treatment to imports of apparel articles made in eligible beneficiary countries from the subject apparel inputs should CITA determine that such inputs are not available in commercial quantities in the United States.

Although the ITC will not hold a public hearing in connection with this review, it welcomes input from interested parties, including written submissions for the record that address the likely effect of the proposed action on U.S. producers, workers, and consumers. To ensure consideration by the ITC, interested parties are advised to submit comments and written submissions directly to the ITC. Written submissions for the record (one original and three copies) should be addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436, and should be submitted at the earliest practical date but no later than 5:15 pm on January 15, 2003. The Commission's rules do not authorize filing of submissions by facsimile or electronic means, and all written submissions, except for confidential business information, will be available for public inspection. Requests for confidential treatment of information must be submitted in accordance with section 201.6 of the Commission's rules of practice and procedure (19 CFR 201.6).

The ITC will submit its advice to the USTR in a classified report by January 29, 2003. The ITC will issue a public version of its report as soon thereafter as possible, with any confidential business information deleted.

Interested parties seeking more detailed information on the Commission's review of this petition may contact Jackie W. Jones (202-205-3466, jones@usitc.gov), International Trade Analyst, Office of Industries. Additional information on this review and the overall investigation may be obtained by contacting the Office of the Secretary at the above address or at 202-205-1806.

The CBTPA legislation, part of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, extends duty-free and quota-free treatment to imports of apparel assembled in eligible beneficiary countries from fabrics made in the United States from U.S. yarns. The legislation also authorizes the President, on request of an interested party, to grant preferential treatment to apparel made in eligible beneficiary countries from fabrics or yarns which "cannot be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner," regardless of the source of the fabrics or yarns. Before proclaiming such preferential treatment, the President is required to submit a report to the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Ways and Means and the U.S. Senate's Committee on Finance that sets forth the proposed action, the reasons for it, advice from the ITC on the probable economic effect of the action, and advice from the appropriate industry advisory committee. Information on the legislative background of the request process and ITC review of such requests is included in the ITC's notice of investigation for Inv. No. 332-436, which was published in the Federal Register.

In addition, the ITC has established a special area on its Internet site (www.usitc.gov/332s/shortsup/shortsupintro.htm) where information related to this review (Inv. No. 332-436-007) and the overall ITC investigation is maintained. The public record for this request may be viewed on the ITC's electronic docket (EDIS On-Line) at http://dockets.usitc.gov/eol/public. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) publishes a summary of each request from interested parties in the Federal Register. These notices are posted on OTEXA's Internet site at http://otexa.ita.doc.gov/fr.stm.

ITC general factfinding investigations, such as this one, cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the USTR, the Senate Committee on Finance, or the House Committee on Ways and Means. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings and independent analyses on the subjects investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the ITC submits its findings and analysis to the requester. General factfinding investigation reports are subsequently released to the public, unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.