Special 301 Report

Overview
Through an extensive Special 301 interagency process, USTR publishes a report annually, known as the Special 301 Report, which designates countries of concern on different watch lists, referred to as "priority watch list" (PWL), "watch list" and "priority foreign country." Countries placed on the PWL are the focus of increased bilateral atten­tion concerning the problem areas. . . . USTR also develops action plans and similar documents to establish benchmarks, such as legislative, policy or regulatory action, and as a tool to encourage improvements by countries in order to be removed from the Special 301 list.