To provide for review in the Court of International Trade of certain determinations of binational panels and committees under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

December 8, 2003

Mr. PICKERING introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

To provide for review in the Court of International Trade of certain determinations of binational panels and committees under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Integrity of the United States Courts Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF BINATIONAL PANEL AND COMMITTEE DECISIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Subtitle A of title IV of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3431 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 404 the following new section:

`SEC. 404A. REVIEW OF BINATIONAL PANEL AND COMMITTEE DETERMINATIONS.

`(a) BASIS FOR REVIEW IN COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE-

`(1) IN GENERAL- If, within 30 days after publication in the Federal Register of notice that a binational panel or committee has issued a determination following a review under article 1904 of a decision of a competent investigating authority in the United States, a Party or person, referred to in paragraph 5 of article 1904, alleges that--

`(A)(i) the determination of the panel or committee, as the case may be, was based on a misinterpretation of United States law,

`(ii) a member of a panel or committee was guilty of gross misconduct, bias, or a serious conflict of interest, or otherwise materially violated the rules of conduct established for panelists or committee members, respectively,

`(iii) the panel or committee seriously departed from a fundamental rule of procedure, or

`(iv) the panel or committee manifestly exceeded its powers, authority, or jurisdiction set out in article 1904, such as failing to apply the appropriate standard of review, and

`(B) any element described in subparagraph (A) has materially affected the decision of the panel or committee and threatens the integrity of the binational panel or committee review process,

then such party or person may file an appeal with the United States Court of International Trade, seeking review of the binational panel or committee determination pursuant to section 516A of the Tariff Act of 1930.

`(2) REVIEW IN COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE WHERE BINATIONAL PANEL OR COMMITTEE DOES NOT ACT-

`(A) IN GENERAL- If a request for a panel or committee review has been made under article 1904, and a panel or committee, as the case may be, is not convened within 120 days after the request, a person, referred to in paragraph 5 of article 1904, may commence an action in the United States Court of International Trade contesting the determination with respect to which the request was filed. The commencement of such an action shall be in accordance with paragraph (1) or (2) of section 516A(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, notwithstanding the 30-day limitation on the commencement of actions set forth in such section 516A.

`(B) REQUESTS BY OTHER PERSONS- After an action is commenced under subparagraph (A), any other person may commence an action in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (1) or (2) of section 516A(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930 within 30 days after the date the initial action is filed under this paragraph, but only with respect to a claim that such person raised before the panel or committee.

`(b) DECISIONS OF THE COURT-

`(1) IN GENERAL- In an appeal filed under subsection (a)(1) for review of a binational panel or committee determination, the Court of International Trade shall, after examining the legal and factual analysis underlying the findings and conclusions of the decision of the panel or committee, as the case may be, determine whether any of the elements described in subsection (a)(1)(A) has been established. If the court finds that any of the elements has been established, the court shall vacate the original panel or committee decision and enter judgment accordingly. If the elements are not established, the court shall affirm the original binational panel or committee decision. Decisions of the Court of International Trade under this paragraph shall be binding on the parties with respect to the matters between the parties that were before the panel or committee, as the case may be.

`(2) DECISIONS WHERE PANEL OR COMMITTEE NOT CONVENED- In the case of an action for review of a determination filed under subsection (a)(2), the Court of International Trade shall conduct such review under section 516A(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930. Decisions of the Court of International Trade under this paragraph shall be binding on all parties with respect to the matters between the parties that would have been before a panel or committee had the panel or committee been convened.

`(c) EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION- If a Party or person, referred to in paragraph 5 of article 1904, timely files a notice of appeal to the Court of International Trade pursuant to this section, the United States Court of International Trade shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the matter, and the determination of the United States Court of International Trade shall not be subject to review by an extraordinary challenge committee or binational panel.

`(d) APPLICABILITY- This section applies to determinations by a binational panel or committee under NAFTA that involves an antidumping duty or countervailing duty determination of a competent investigating authority in the United States.'.

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of contents of the North American Free Trade Implementation Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 404 the following:

`404A. Review of binational panel and committee determinations.'.

SEC. 3. JURISDICTION OF THE COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE.

Section 516A of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1516a) is amended--

(1) in subsection (a)(2)--

(A) in subparagraph (A)(i)(I), by striking `or (viii)' and inserting `(viii), (ix), or (x)'; and

(B) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the end the following:

`(ix) A final determination of a binational panel convened pursuant to article 1904 of the NAFTA.

`(x) A final determination described in section 404A(a)(2) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.';

(2) in subsection (a)(5), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting `(other than a determination described in subsection (g)(3)(A)(vii))' after `apply'; and

(3) in subsection (g)(3)(A)--

(A) in clause (v), by striking `or' at the end;

(B) in clause (vi), by striking the period and inserting `, or'; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

`(vii) a determination of which either a Party or person, referred to in paragraph 5 of article 1904 of the NAFTA, has requested review pursuant to section 404A of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.'.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION TO CANADA AND MEXICO.

Pursuant to article 1902 of the North American Free Trade Agreement and section 408 of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, the amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to goods from Canada and Mexico.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

The amendments made by this Act shall apply to--

(1) any final determination of a binational panel or committee convened pursuant to article 1904 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, notice of which is published in the Federal Register on or after the date of enactment of this Act; and

(2) any request for panel or committee review to which section 404A(a)(2) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act applies that is pending on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

END