Rebuttal Comments to Response with Offer to Supply

Reporting Requirements for Rebuttal Comments to a Response with an Offer to Supply

All submissions in a US-Panama TPA commercial availability proceeding (e.g., Request, Response, Rebuttal, and Request to Remove or Restrict) must be in English. If any attachments are in a language other than English, then a complete translation must be provided. Each submission must be submitted to the Chairman of CITA, in care of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel (“OTEXA”) in two forms: email and an original signed submission.

(1) An electronic version of the submission must be either in PDF, Word, or Word-Perfect format, must contain an adequate public summary of any business confidential information and the due diligence certification, and be sent to OTEXA_PANAMA@trade.gov. The electronic version of the submission will be posted for public review on the US-Panama TPA commercial availability website. No business confidential information should be submitted in the electronic version of any document.

(2) The original signed submission must be received via express courier to -- Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, Room 30003, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20230. Any business confidential information upon which an interested entity wishes to rely must be included in the original signed submission only. Except for the inclusion of business confidential information and corresponding public summary, the two versions of a submission should be identical.

(3) Brackets must be placed around all business confidential information contained in submissions. Documents containing business confidential information must have a bolded heading stating “Confidential Version.” Attachments considered business confidential information must have a heading stating “Business Confidential Information.” Documents, including those submitted electronically, provided for public release, must have a bolded heading stating “Public Version” and all the business confidential information must be deleted and substituted with an adequate public summary.

(4) Generally, details such as quantities and lead times for providing the subject product can be treated as business confidential information. However, the names of US-Panama TPA suppliers who were contacted, what was asked generally about the capability to manufacture the subject product, and the responses thereto should be included in public versions, which will be made available to the public.

(b) Due Diligence Certification. An interested entity must file a certification of due diligence as described in subsection (b)(1) with each submission, both electronic and original signed versions, containing factual information. If the interested entity has legal counsel or other representation, the legal counsel or other representative must also file a certification of due diligence as described in subsection (b)(2) with each submission, both electronic and original signed versions, containing factual information. Accurate representations of material facts submitted to CITA for the US-Panama TPA commercial availability proceeding are vital to the integrity of this process and are necessary for CITA’s effective administration of the statutory scheme. Each submission containing factual information for CITA’s consideration must be accompanied by the appropriate certification regarding the accuracy of the factual information. Any submission that lacks the applicable certifications will be considered an incomplete submission that CITA will reject and return to the submitter. CITA may verify any factual information submitted by interested entities in a US-Panama TPA commercial availability proceeding.

(1) For the person responsible for presentation of the factual information: I, (name and title), currently employed by (interested entity), certify that (1) I have read the attached submission, and (2) the information contained in this submission is, to the best of my knowledge, complete and accurate.

(2) For the person’s legal counsel or other representative: I, (name), of (law or other firm), counsel or representative to (interested entity), certify that (1) I have read the attached submission, and (2) based on the information made available to me by (person), I have no reason to believe that this submission contains any material misrepresentation or omission of fact.

(c) Official Receipt. A submission will be considered officially submitted to CITA only when both the electronic version and the original signed submission have been received by CITA. For Requests, CITA will confirm to the requestor that both versions of the Request were received through an email confirmation. CITA’s email confirmation shall be considered the “official receipt” of the Request, and also begins the statutory 30 U.S. business-day process for CITA consideration of Requests. CITA will confirm official receipt of any Response and Rebuttal by posting the submissions on the US-Panama TPA commercial availability website.

Submitting a Rebuttal Comment.  

A Rebuttal must meet the requirements outlined in Section 3 of these procedures. General comments in support of or opposition to a Request or a Response do not meet the requirements of a Rebuttal. A Due Diligence Certification must accompany a Rebuttal.

  (a)  Rebuttal Comment. Any interested entity may submit a Rebuttal to a Response. An interested entity must submit its Rebuttal not later than 4 U.S. business-days after the deadline for Response. If good cause is shown, CITA may extend the time limit.

  (b) Contents of a Rebuttal. The Rebuttal Comment may respond only to evidence or arguments raised in the Response and must identify the Response, evidence and/or arguments to which it is responding. The Rebuttal must reference the CITA File Number assigned to the particular Request being addressed.