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

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Establishment of a New Export Visa Arrangement for Certain

Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber

Textiles and Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Qatar

November 28, 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: January 1, 1995.

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 Qatar reached agreement,

effected by exchange of notes dated September 20, 1993 and June 8,

1994, to establish an export visa arrangement for certain cotton, wool,

man-made fiber, silk blend and other vegetable fiber textiles and

textile products, produced or manufactured in Qatar and exported from

Qatar on and after January 1, 1995. Goods exported during the period

January 1, 1995 through January 31, 1995 shall not be denied entry for

lack of a visa. Goods exported after January 31, 1995 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).

A facsimile of the visa stamp for the Government of the State of

Qatar is on file at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Textiles

and Apparel, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., room 3104, Washington,

DC.

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for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, will meet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.

Rita D. Hayes,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

November 28, 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 Export Visa Arrangement, effected by exchange of

notes dated September 20, 1993 and June 8, 1994, between the

Governments of the United States and Qatar; and in accordance with

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

amended, you are directed to prohibit, effective on January 1, 1995,

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 other vegetable

fiber textiles and textile products in Categories 200-239, 300-369,

400-469, 600-670 and 800-899, including part categories and merged

categories 338/339/638/639, produced or manufactured in Qatar and

exported from Qatar on and after January 1, 1995 for which the

Government of Qatar 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 January 1, 1995 through January 31, 1995 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 Qatar is ``QA''), and a six digit

numerical serial number identifying the shipment; e.g., 5QA123456.

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 (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.

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 Qatar, or a visa waiver may be issued by the

U.S. Department of Commerce at the request of the Government of

Qatar, 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 Qatar 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 Qatar 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. 94-29726 Filed 12-1-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F