Establishment of a New Export Visa Arrangement for Certain Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, Silk-blend and Non-Cotton Vegetable Fiber Textiles and Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Laos

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Establishment of a New Export Visa Arrangement for Certain

Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, Silk-blend and Non-Cotton Vegetable Fiber

Textiles and Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Laos

September 8, 1994.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

export visa requirements.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Tallarico, 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 Lao People's

Democratic Republic reached agreement, effected by exchange of notes

dated November 8, 1993, to establish an export visa arrangement for

certain cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk-blend and non-cotton

vegetable fiber textiles and textile products, produced or manufactured

in the Lao People's Democratic Republic and exported from the Lao

People's Democratic Republic on and after October 1, 1994. Goods

exported during the period October 1, 1994 through October 15, 1994

shall not be denied entry for lack of a visa. All goods exported after

October 15, 1994 must be accompanied by an appropriate export visa.

A description of the textile and apparel categories in terms of HTS

numbers is available in the CORRELATION: Textile and Apparel Categories

with the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (see Federal

Register notice 58 FR 62645, published on November 29, 1993).

Interested persons are advised to take all necessary steps to

ensure that textile 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for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, will meet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.

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

September 8, 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), and the

Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles done at Geneva

on December 20, 1973, as further extended on December 9, 1993;

pursuant to the Visa Arrangement of November 8, 1993, between the

Governments of the United States and the Lao People's Democratic

Republic; and in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order

11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, you are directed to prohibit,

effective on October 1, 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 cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk-

blend, and non-cotton vegetable fiber textiles and textile products

in Categories 200-239, 300-369, 400-469, 600-670, and 800-899,

including merged and part categories, produced or manufactured in

the Lao People's Democratic Republic and exported from the Lao

People's Democratic Republic on and after October 1, 1994 for which

the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic has not

issued an appropriate export visa fully described below. Should

additional categories, merged categories or part categories be added

to the bilateral agreement, 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 October

1, 1994 through October 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 commercial invoice. 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 the Lao People's Democratic

Republic is ``LA''), and a six digit numerical serial number

identifying the shipment; e.g., 4LA123456.

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 and the printed name 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 (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,

printed name of signer, 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.

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.

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

from the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, or a

visa waiver may be issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce at the

request of the Government of Lao People's Democratic Republic, 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.

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 Laos 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.

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.

A facsimile of the visa stamp is enclosed with this letter.

The actions taken concerning the Government of the Lao People's

Democratic Republic 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,

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

TN13SE94.002

[FR Doc. 94-22642 Filed 9-12-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F