FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 1997
No. TR-1
Congressman Philip M. Crane (R-IL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the outcome of the recent ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO), held in Singapore in December 1996. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, February 26, 1997, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Oral testimony at the hearing will be heard from both invited and public witnesses.
BACKGROUND:
The Uruguay Round Agreements, approved by Congress in late 1994 and entered into effect on January 1, 1995, are the broadest, most comprehensive multilateral trade agreements in history. They establish the WTO as the successor organization to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to implement the agreements internationally, resolve disputes, and conduct future negotiations. Trade ministers from over 120 WTO-member countries met in Singapore in December 1996 to assess the status of world trade under the WTO. They addressed the progress made in the 2 years of operation of the WTO, the built-in agenda of 74 issues in the WTO agreements that Members have committed to review or negotiate by the year 2000, continuing negotiations on certain services negotiations under the auspices of the WTO (financial services, basic telecommunications services, and maritime services), and new issues for further negotiation. The most significant outcome of the meeting was the endorsement of an agreement liberalizing market access in the information technology industry by ministers from 28 WTO- member countries representing 85 percent of global trade in information technology products endorsed. This Information Technology Agreement (ITA) would eliminate tariffs on information technology products by the year 2000 on a wide range of technology products. For the ITA to take effect, participating countries must constitute at least 90 percent of global information technology trade. The ITA is scheduled to become effective on July 1, 1997. Negotiations on technical details are underway. In announcing the hearing, Crane said: "The WTO ministerial meeting in Singapore successfully provided a significant opportunity for us to assess how the WTO Agreements have been functioning and to look to the future, laying the groundwork for further negotiations on tariffs, services, and the built-in agenda. I am greatly encouraged by the development of the ITA. I hope that USTR and our trading partners can quickly work out the details of this agreement so that we may eliminate tariffs worldwide in this important sector and expand lucrative export markets for our industry."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will examine the outcome of the Singapore Ministerial meeting, the ITA, the implementation of the Uruguay Round Agreements, the outcome of ongoing negotiations on basic telecommunications services, and the prospects for the future of the WTO, including the "built-in agenda" already set for further negotiation, further market access liberalization, the extended services negotiations, and potential new issues for further negotiation.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSIONS OF REQUESTS TO BE HEARD:
Requests to be heard at the hearing must be made by telephone to Traci Altman or Bradley Schreiber at (202) 225-1721 no later than the close of business, Tuesday, February 18, 1997. The telephone request should be followed by a formal written request to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. The staff of the Subcommittee on Trade will notify by telephone those scheduled to appear as soon as possible after the filing deadline. Any questions concerning a scheduled appearance should be directed to the Subcommittee on Trade staff at (202) 225-6649. In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, the Subcommittee may not be able to accommodate all requests to be heard.
Those persons and organizations not scheduled for an oral appearance are encouraged to submit written statements for the record of the hearing. All persons requesting to be heard, whether they are scheduled for oral testimony or not, will be notified as soon as possible after the filing deadline. Witnesses scheduled to present oral testimony are required to summarize briefly their written statements in no more than five minutes. THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. The full written statement of each witness will be included in the printed record, in accordance with House Rules.
In order to assure the most productive use of the limited amount of time available to question witnesses, all witnesses scheduled to appear before the Subcommittee are required to submit 200 copies of their prepared statement and a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format, for review by Members prior to the hearing. Testimony should arrive at the Subcommittee on Trade office, room 1104 Longworth House Office Building, no later than 10:00 a.m. on Monday, February 24, 1997. Failure to do so may result in the witness being denied the opportunity to testify in person.
WRITTEN STATEMENTS IN LIEU OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) copies of their statement and a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format, with their address and date of hearing noted, by the close of business, Wednesday, March 12, 1997, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Trade office, room 1104 Longworth House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at 'HTTP://WWW.HOUSE.GOV/WAYS_MEANS/'.