80 FR 23504 - Establishment of a Ready Applicant Pool for Department of Commerce Trade Missions

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 81 (April 28, 2015)

The United States Department of Commerce (Department), International Trade Administration (ITA), is establishing a Ready Applicant Pool initiative, the Ready Applicant Pool (RAP), for organizations and companies that would like to receive information directly from the Department, when it organizes a trade mission aligned with the products, services, technologies, sectors, target markets or goals of the applicant. Applicants willing and interested to send a high-level representative to participate on an expedited trade mission to any location, at any time, on very short notice are especially encouraged to apply for the RAP. Applications to join the RAP can be found at http://www.export.gov/trademissions/eg_main_023185.asp and will be accepted at any time.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 81 (Tuesday, April 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23504-23505]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09800]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Establishment of a Ready Applicant Pool for Department of 
Commerce Trade Missions

AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The United States Department of Commerce (Department), 
International Trade Administration (ITA), is establishing a Ready 
Applicant Pool initiative, the Ready Applicant Pool (RAP), for 
organizations and companies that would like to receive information 
directly from the Department, when it organizes a trade mission aligned 
with the products, services, technologies, sectors, target markets or 
goals of the applicant. Applicants willing and interested to send a 
high-level representative to participate on an expedited trade mission 
to any location, at any time, on very short notice are especially 
encouraged to apply for the RAP. Applications to join the RAP can be 
found at http://www.export.gov/trademissions/eg_main_023185.asp and 
will be accepted at any time.

DATES: The RAP is established as of April 28, 2015. Applications may be 
submitted at any time at http://www.export.gov/trademissions/eg_main_023185.asp. Applications will be evaluated quarterly and those 
accepted will be notified as soon as possible. Applicants will be 
selected for the current RAP term and will need to reapply when the 
term ends on December 31, 2016. Each term will last two years.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    The United States Department of Commerce (the Department), 
International Trade Administration (ITA), is establishing a Ready 
Applicant Pool (RAP) initiative for companies and organizations that 
would like to receive information directly from the Department when it 
organizes a trade mission aligned with the products, services, 
technology, sectors, target markets or goals of the applicant. The 
program is entitled the Ready Applicant Pool (RAP).
    One of the primary goals of the RAP is to provide a fast and 
efficient method for the Department to recruit for expedited trade 
missions. Expedited trade missions will utilize expedited procedures, 
web-based notification, and will have short application deadlines. 
Because of their expedited nature, the Department will rely heavily on 
the members of the RAP for recruitment, especially those RAP members 
that are willing to send a high-level representative to participate on 
a mission to any location, at any time, on very short notice. The 
Department may also rely on appropriate RAP members in its recruitment 
for other trade missions. Specifically, the Department intends to 
directly contact those RAP members with products, services, 
technologies, target sectors, target markets or goals that align with a 
particular trade mission.
    The benefits of joining the RAP are: (1) To ensure the Department 
will contact the current point-of-contact when it organizes a trade 
mission that it determines is aligned with the RAP member's products, 
services, technologies, target sectors, target markets or goals; (2) to 
speed up the trade mission selection process by providing the 
Department with the information necessary for pre-screening with 
respect to participation generally in its trade missions and (3) to 
indicate in advance a willingness to apply for and potentially 
participate in expedited trade missions to any location at any time, 
possibly on very short notice.
    Any member of the U.S. business community may apply to become a 
member of the RAP. The U.S. business community consists of 
corporations, partnerships, and other business associations created 
under the laws of the United States or of any state; U.S. citizens; 
state or local economic development or international trade office or 
agency; trade association and other non-profit organizations that 
represent a sector or sectors of the U.S. economy; university 
competitiveness programs; and any other U.S. entity seeking to promote 
United States business interests abroad.
    The criteria for evaluating applicants for selection for the RAP 
are:
     Whether the applicant will be a suitable representative of 
the U.S. industry sector in which it operates;
     The applicant's potential for helping to advance 
Department of Commerce strategic priorities;
     The applicant's past, present, and prospective business 
activities abroad;
     The applicant's conduct on past trade missions; and
     Whether the applicant is willing to send a high-level 
representative to participate on an expedited trade mission to any 
location, at any time, on very short notice.
    The last criterion will not be dispositive for RAP selection but it 
will be weighted significantly in selection for the RAP. Applicants 
that cannot fulfill this criterion will not be excluded from the RAP.
    Applicants selected for the RAP will be contacted directly by the 
Department when it organizes a trade mission aligned with the products, 
services, technologies, target sectors, target markets or goals of the 
applicant. The Department will have up-to-date contact information for 
RAP members, ensuring that trade mission information reaches the 
correct company contact. When contacted, RAP members will be given 
step-by-step instructions on how to apply for the mission. Selection 
for the RAP does not guarantee or assure selection for a particular 
trade mission. But, RAP members are pre-screened with respect to 
participation generally in Department trade missions.
    Applications for the RAP may be submitted at any time at http://www.export.gov/trademissions/eg_main_023185.asp. They will be evaluated 
on a quarterly basis and those accepted will be notified as soon as 
possible. Once selected, the Department will reach out to the RAP 
member for updated contact information every six months. This ensures 
that the Department has current information about the applicant's 
products, services, technologies, target sectors, target markets and 
goals. The RAP term will end every two years. The first RAP term will 
begin immediately and conclude on December 31, 2016. At that time, all 
members will be required to reapply in order to gain membership for the 
following term (January 1, 2017--December 31, 2018). Applications 
received after July 1, 2016 will be reviewed for both the first and 
second cohorts of the RAP.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank Spector, Acting Director, Trade

[[Page 23505]]

Missions Program, Phone: (202) 482-2054, Email: 
[email protected].

Frank Spector,
Acting Director, Trade Missions Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-09800 Filed 4-27-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P