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 Mauritius

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 Mauritius

November 28, 1995.

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: December 1, 1995.

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 Mauritius agreed to

establish 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 Mauritius and exported from

Mauritius on and after December 1, 1995. Goods exported during the

period December 1, 1995 through December 31, 1995 shall not be denied

entry for lack of a visa. All goods exported after January 1, 1996 must

be accompanied by an appropriate export visa.

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

Commissioner of Customs to prohibit entry of certain textile products,

produced or manufactured in Mauritius and exported from Mauritius on

and after December 1, 1995 for which the Government of the Mauritius

has not issued an appropriate export visa.

A facsimile of export visa stamp is on file at the U.S. Department

of Commerce in Room 3100.

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 59 FR 65531, published on December 20, 1994).

Information regarding the 1996 CORRELATION will be published in the

Federal Register at a later date.

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 and certification requirements set forth in the letter

published below to the Commissioner of Customs.

Philip J. Martello,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

November 28, 1995.

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 Export Visa Arrangement of September 12, 1995 between the

Governments of the United States and Mauritius; and in accordance

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

amended, you are directed to prohibit, effective on December 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 merged and part

categories, produced or manufactured in Mauritius and exported from

Mauritius on and after December 1, 1995 for which the Government of

the Mauritius has not issued an appropriate export visa fully

described below. Should additional categories, merged categories or

part categories become subject to import quota the entire

category(s) or part category(s) shall be included in the coverage of

this arrangement. Goods exported during the period December 1, 1995

through December 31, 1995 shall not be denied entry for lack of an

export 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 Mauritius is ``MU''), and a six

digit numerical serial number identifying the shipment; e.g.,

5MU123456.

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

month and year on which the visa was issued.

3. The original signature of the issuing official and the

printed name of the issuing official of the Government of Mauritius.

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, annotated or

successor documents shall be reported in the spaces provided within

the visa stamp (e.g., ``Cat. 434-210 DZ'').

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''). If, however, a

merged quota category such as 340/640 has a quota sublimit on

Category 340, then there must be a ``Category 340'' visa for the

shipment if it includes Category 340 merchandise.

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 front of the textile document.

If the visa is not acceptable then a new correct visa or a visa

waiver must be presented to the U.S. Customs Service before any

portion of the shipment will be released. A visa waiver may be

issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce at the request of the

Government of Mauritius. The waiver, if used, only waives the

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

the quota requirement.

If the visaed invoice is deficient, the U.S. Customs Service

will not return the original document after entry, but will provide

a certified copy of that visaed invoice for use in obtaining a new

correct original visaed invoice, or a visa waiver.

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 Mauritius has been allowed entry into the

commerce of the

[[Page 62077]]

United States with either an incorrect visa or no visa, and redelivery

is requested but cannot be made, the shipment will be charged to the

correct category limit whether or not a replacement visa or waiver

is provided.

Merchandise imported for the personal use of the importer and

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

commercial sample shipments valued at U.S.$250 or less, do not

require an export visa for entry and shall not be charged to

existing quota levels.

A facsimile of the visa stamp is enclosed.

The actions taken concerning the Government of Mauritius 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,

Philip J. Martello,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

[FR Doc. 95-29468 Filed 12-1-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F