Establishment of a New Export Visa Arrangement for Silk Apparel Produced or Manufactured in the People's Republic of China

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Establishment of a New Export Visa Arrangement for Silk Apparel

Produced or Manufactured in the People's Republic of China

July 5, 1994.

AGENCY: Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA).

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

export visa requirements for silk apparel.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: July 15, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Aldrich, International Trade

Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of

Commerce, (202) 482-4212.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended;

section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C.

1854).

The Governments of the United States and the People's Republic of

China reached agreement, effected by exchange of notes dated June 23,

1994 and June 27, 1994, to establish an export visa arrangement for

certain silk apparel products, produced or manufactured in China and

exported from China on and after July 15, 1994. Goods exported during

the period July 15, 1994 through August 15, 1994 shall not be denied

entry for lack of a visa. All goods exported after August 15, 1994 must

be accompanied by a visa.

A description of the apparel categories in terms of HTS numbers is

available in the 1994 U.S. CORRELATION: Silk Apparel Categories with

the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (see Federal

Register notice 59 FR 15381, published on April 1, 1994).

Interested persons are advised to take all necessary steps to

ensure that such silk apparel products that are entered into the United

States for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption,

will meet the visa requirements set forth in the letter published below

to the Commissioner of Customs.

Rita D. Hayes,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

July 5, 1994.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: Under the terms of section 204 of the

Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); pursuant to

the Silk Visa Arrangement, effected by exchange of notes dated June

23, 1994 and June 27, 1994, between the Governments of the United

States and the People's Republic of China; and in accordance with

the provisions of Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as

amended, you are directed to prohibit, effective on July 15, 1994,

entry into the Customs territory of the United States (i.e., the 50

states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto

Rico) for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption

of silk apparel products in Categories 733-736, 738-748, 750-752,

758 and 759, produced or manufactured in China and exported from

China on and after July 15, 1994 for which the Government of the

People's Republic of China has not issued an appropriate export visa

fully described below. Should additional categories, merged

categories or part categories be added to the bilateral agreement or

become subject to import quotas, the entire category(s) or part

category(s) shall be included in the coverage of this arrangement on

an agreed effective date. Goods exported during the period July 15,

1994 through August 15, 1994 shall not be denied entry for lack of a

visa.

A visa must accompany each commercial shipment of the

aforementioned textile products. A circular stamped marking in blue

ink will appear on the front of the original export license/

commercial invoice or successor document. The license will be

printed on a purple guilloche pattern background. The original visa

shall not be stamped on duplicate copies of the invoice. The

original invoice with the original visa stamp will be required to

enter the shipment into the United States. Duplicates of the invoice

and/or visa may not be used for this purpose.

Each visa stamp shall include the following information:

1. The visa number. The visa number shall be in the standard

nine digit letter format, beginning with one numerical digit for the

last digit of the year of export, followed by the two character

alpha country code specified by the International Organization for

Standardization (ISO)(the code for China is ``CN''), and a six digit

numerical serial number identifying the shipment; e.g., 4CN123456.

2. The date of issuance. The date of issuance shall be the day,

month and year on which the visa was issued.

3. The signature of the issuing official.

4. The correct category(s), merged category(s), part

category(s), quantity(s) and unit(s) of quantity in the shipment as

set forth in the U.S. Department of Commerce Correlation and in the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS or successor

documents) shall be reported in the spaces provided within the visa

stamp (e.g., ``Cat. 340-510 DOZ'').

Quantities must be stated in whole numbers. Decimals or

fractions will not be accepted. Merged category quota merchandise

may be accompanied by either the appropriate merged category visa or

the correct category visa corresponding to the actual shipment

(e.g., Categories 347/348 may be visaed as 347/348 or if the

shipment consists solely of 347 merchandise, the shipment may be

visaed as ``Cat. 347,'' but not as ``Cat. 348'').

U.S. Customs shall not permit entry if the shipment does not

have a visa, or if the visa number, date of issuance, signature,

category, quantity or units of quantity are missing, incorrect or

illegible, or have been crossed out or altered in any way. If the

quantity indicated on the visa is less than that of the shipment,

entry shall not be permitted. If the quantity indicated on the visa

is more than that of the shipment, entry shall be permitted and only

the amount entered shall be charged to any applicable quota.

If the visa is not acceptable then a new visa must be obtained

from the Government of the People's Republic of China, replacement

visa issued by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in

Washington, D.C., or a visa waiver may be issued by the Committee

for the Implementation of Textile Agreements at the request of the

Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Washington, D.C., and

presented to the U.S. Customs Service before any portion of the

shipment will be released. The waiver, if used, only waives the

requirement to present a visa with the shipment. It does not waive

the quota requirement.

The replacement visa shall consist of a Textile Export Visa/

Invoice form bearing an official Chinese Embassy embossed stamp on

the front and include the standard information required on an export

visa and the signature of an official authorized by the Government

of the People's Republic of China to issue replacement visas. The

signature must match one of two original signatures of authorized

officials provided to the Government of the United States by the

Government of the People's Republic of China. U.S. Customs shall not

permit entry of the shipment if any of the information required on

the replacement visa is missing, incorrect or illegible, or has been

crossed out or altered in any way.

If import quotas are in force, U.S. Customs Service shall charge

only the actual quantity in the shipment to the correct category

limit. If a shipment from the People's Republic of China has been

allowed entry into the commerce of the United States with either an

incorrect visa or no visa, and redelivery is requested but cannot be

made, U.S. Customs shall charge the shipment to the correct category

limit whether or not a replacement visa or visa waiver is provided.

The complete name and address of a company actually involved in

the manufacturing process of the textile product covered by the visa

shall be provided on the textile visa document.

Merchandise imported for the personal use of the importer and

not for resale, regardless of value, and properly marked commercial

sample shipments valued at U.S.$250 or less, do not require a visa

for entry.

The visa stamp remains unchanged.

The actions taken concerning the Government of the People's

Republic of China with respect to imports of textiles and textile

products in the foregoing categories have been determined by the

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements to involve

foreign affairs functions of the United States. Therefore, these

directions to the Commissioner of Customs, which are necessary for

the implementation of such actions, fall within the foreign affairs

exception to the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1). This

letter will be published in the Federal Register.

Sincerely,

Rita D. Hayes,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 94-16711 Filed 7-8-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F