Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Qatar

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton and

Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Qatar

December 15, 1995.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

limits.

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janet Heinzen, 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) 927-5850. 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

[[Page 66265]]

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

The Governments of the United States and the State of Qatar agreed

to extend their Bilateral Textile Agreement, effected by exchange of

notes dated February 11, 1995 and May 30, 1995, for two consecutive

one-year periods, beginning on January 1, 1996 and extending through

December 31, 1997.

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

Commissioner of Customs to establish limits for the 1996 period.

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.

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 bilateral agreement, but are designed to assist only in the

implementation of certain of its provisions.

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

December 15, 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 Bilateral Textile Agreement, effected by exchange of notes dated

February 11, 1995 and May 30, 1995, as amended and extended, between

the Governments of the United States and the State of 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, 1996, entry into the United States for consumption and withdrawal

from warehouse for consumption of cotton and man-made fiber textile

products in the following categories, produced or manufactured in

Qatar and exported during the twelve-month period beginning on

January 1, 1996 and extending through December 31, 1996, in excess

of the following levels of restraint:

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

Twelve-month restraint

Category limit

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

340/640................................... 365,170 dozen.

341/641................................... 168,540 dozen.

347/348................................... 415,732 dozen.

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

Imports charged to these category limits for the period January

1, 1995 through December 31, 1995, 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 current bilateral agreement

between the Governments of the United States and the State of Qatar.

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,

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 95-31028 Filed 12-20-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-M