USTR Issues 2007 Review of Telecommunications Trade Agreements
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued its 2007 annual "Section 1377 Review" of the operation and effectiveness of telecommunications trade agreements. According to the USTR, the review identifies barriers facing U.S. telecommunications service and equipment suppliers, evaluates progress towards resolving ongoing problems, and lays out the specific telecommunications-related issues on which the USTR will focus its efforts this year.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
(The USTR conducts this annual review pursuant to Section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988.)
2007 Review Identifies Country-Specific, General Telecommunications Concerns
According to the USTR, the 2007 1377 Review focuses on country-specific concerns, as well as more general issues of concern with regard to telecommunications-related issues.
Country-specific concerns. The USTR states that those countries and issues where specific concerns arise include:
Egypt with respect to ensuring an open licensing regime for new operators and the public availability of Telecom Egypt's interconnection arrangements;
Thailand with respect to submitting a revised World Trade Organization General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS) schedule to bind its recent market-liberalizing telecom reforms which it has so far failed to do;
Jamaica with respect to its universal service program that disproportionately applies to U.S. operators and raises questions as to its transparency;
Mexico with respect to ensuring cost-based interconnection rates, as well as providing market access for telecommunications equipment tested by U.S. testing laboratories; and
Guatemala with respect to delays in ensuring interconnection between carriers.
General issues of concern. The USTR states that the 2007 1377 Review also identified general issues of concern in several countries, including:
barriers to the provision of satellite capacity;
barriers to the provision of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services;
limitations on access to and use of public telecommunications services (including leased lines); and
issues related to regulatory independence, transparency, and excessive market entry requirements.
In addition to the problems identified in this 1377 Review, the USTR also marked significant progress on issues identified in past years' reviews in several key markets, including: (1) Australia, which completed the privatization of its dominant operator; and (2) India, which took steps to enhance foreign direct investment in its market and address problems related to competitive access to submarine cables as well as continued its efforts to phase out its access deficit charge.
USTR Press Release on 2007 1377 Review (dated 04/10/07) available at http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2007/April/USTR_Issues_2007_Review_of_Telecommunications_Trade_Agreements.html
USTR Section 1377 Results Review available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Trade_Sectors/Telecom-E-commerce/Section_1377/asset_upload_file213_11066.pdf