Announcement of Import Restraint Limits and Amendment of Export Visa Requirements for Certain Cotton, Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in India

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits and Amendment of Export

Visa Requirements for Certain Cotton, Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and

Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and Textile Products Produced or

Manufactured in India

February 3, 1994.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

limits for the new agreement year and amending visa requirements.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: February 11, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Tallarico, International

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

Commerce, (202) 482-4212. For information on the quota status of these

limits, refer to the Quota Status Reports posted on the bulletin boards

of each Customs port or call (202) 927-6705. For information on

embargoes and quota re-openings, call (202) 482-3715.

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).

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated January 22, 1994

between the Governments of the United States and India, agreement was

reached to amend and extend further the Bilateral Cotton, Wool, Man-

Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textile Agreement of

February 6, 1987, for two consecutive one-year periods beginning on

January 1, 1994 and extending through December 31, 1995.

In the letter published below, the Chairman of CITA directs the

Commissioner of Customs to establish limits for the period beginning on

January 1, 1994 and extending through December 31, 1994 and to amend

the visa requirements to include coverage of merged Categories 338/339.

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).

The letter to the Commissioner of Customs and the actions taken

pursuant to it are not designed to implement all of the provisions of

the MOU, but are designed to assist only in the implementation of

certain of its provisions.

Rita D. Hayes,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

February 3, 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 Memorandum of Understanding dated January 22, 1994

between the Governments of the United States and India; and in

accordance with the provisions of Executive Order 11651 of March 3,

1972, as amended, you are directed to prohibit, effective on

February 11, 1994, entry into the United States for consumption and

withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of cotton, man-made fiber,

silk blend and other vegetable fiber textiles and textile products

in the following categories, produced or manufactured in India and

exported during the twelve-month period beginning on January 1, 1994

and extending through December 31, 1994, in excess of the following

levels of restraint:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Category Twelve-month restraint limit\1\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Levels in Group I

218.................... 9,787,453 square meters.

219.................... 47,442,506 square meters.

313.................... 26,187,602 square meters.

314.................... 5,930,313 square meters.

315.................... 9,960,550 square meters.

317.................... 33,000,000 square meters.

326.................... 7,500,000 square meters.

334/634................ 106,000 dozen.

335/635................ 471,912 dozen.

336/636................ 646,508 dozen.

338/339................ 3,250,000 dozen.

340/640................ 1,571,063 dozen.

341.................... 3,488,332 dozen of which not more than

2,092,999 dozen shall be in Category 341-Y\2\.

342/642................ 910,116 dozen.

345.................... 137,388 dozen.

347/348................ 420,972 dozen.

351/651................ 202,000 dozen.

363.................... 32,115,628 numbers.

369-D\3\............... 988,768 kilograms.

369-S\4\............... 539,328 kilograms.

369-O\5\............... 11,870,000 kilograms.

641.................... 1,112,589 dozen.

647/648................ 646,070 dozen.

Group II

200, 201, 220-229, 237, 80,000,000 square meters equivalent.

239, 300, 301, 330-

333, 349, 350, 352,

359-362, 600-607, 611-

629, 630-633, 638,

639, 643-646, 649,

650, 652, 659, 665-

O\6\, 666, 669, 670,

and 831-859, as a

group.

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\1\The limits have not been adjusted to account for any imports exported

after December 31, 1993.

\2\Category 341-Y: only HTS numbers 6204.22.3060, 6206.30.3010,

6206.30.3030 and 6211.42.0054.

\3\Category 369-D: only HTS numbers 6302.60.0010, 6302.91.0005 and

6302.91.0045.

\4\Category 369-S: only HTS number 6307.10.2005.

\5\Category 369-O: all HTS numbers except 5702.10.9020, 5702.49.1020,

5702.99.1010 (rugs exempt from the bilateral agreement); 6302.60.0010,

6302.91.0005, 6302.91.0045 (Category 369-D); and 6307.10.2005

(Category 369-S) .

\6\Category 665-O: all HTS numbers except 5702.10.9030, 5702.42.2020,

5702.92.0010 and 5703.20.1000 (rugs exempt from the bilateral

agreement).

Imports charged to these category limits for the period January

1, 1993 through December 31, 1993 shall be charged against those

levels of restraint to the extent of any unfilled balances. In the

event the limits established for that period have been exhausted by

previous entries, such goods shall be subject to the levels set

forth in this directive.

The limits set forth above are subject to adjustment in the

future pursuant to the provisions of the MOU dated January 22, 1994

between the Governments of the United States and India.

For visa purposes, you are directed, effective on February 11,

1994, to amend further the directive dated November 26, 1979, to

include merged Categories 338/339 for goods produced or manufactured

in India and exported from India on and after February 11, 1994.

Merchandise in Categories 338/339 may be accompanied by either

the appropriate merged category visa or the correct category visa

corresponding to the actual shipment.

Shipments entered or withdrawn from warehouse according to this

directive which are not accompanied by an appropriate export visa

shall be denied entry and a new visa must be obtained.

In carrying out the above directions, the Commissioner of

Customs should construe entry into the United States for consumption

to include entry for consumption into the Commonwealth of Puerto

Rico.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has

determined that these actions fall within the foreign affairs

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

Sincerely,

Rita D. Hayes,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 94-2988 Filed 2-8-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F