Establishment of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Bulgaria

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Establishment of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Wool and

Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Bulgaria

June 4, 1996.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

limits.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: June 12, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naomi Freeman, 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 Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C.

1854).

The Governments of the United States and the Republic of Bulgaria

agreed to extend and amend their current Bilateral Textile Agreement,

effected by exchange of notes dated December 2 and December 23, 1993,

for three consecutive one-year periods beginning on January 1, 1996 and

extending through December 31, 1998.

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

Commissioner of Customs to establish the 1996 limits.

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 60 FR 65299, published on December 19, 1995). Also see

60 FR 65292, published on December 19, 1995.

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

June 4, 1996.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: This directive cancels and supersedes the

directive dated January 16, 1996 from the Chairman, Committee for

the Implementation of Textile Agreements, which directed you to

count imports for consumption and withdrawals from warehouse for

consumption of wool textile products in Category 444, produced or

manufactured in Bulgaria and exported during the period November 29,

1995 through November 28, 1996. Import charges already made to

Category 444 shall be retained.

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 December 2, 1993 and

December 23, 1993, between the Governments of the United States and

the Republic of Bulgaria, as amended and extended; and in accordance

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

amended, you are directed to prohibit, effective on June 12, 1996,

entry into the United States for consumption and withdrawal from

warehouse for consumption of wool and man-made fiber textile

products in the following categories, produced or manufactured in

Bulgaria 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:

[[Page 29357]]

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Category Twelve-month limit \1\

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410/624................................... 2,123,662 square meters of

which not more than 813,529

square meters shall be in

Category 410.

433....................................... 12,000 dozen.

435....................................... 21,606 dozen.

442....................................... 14,000 dozen.

444....................................... 65,526 numbers.

448....................................... 24,727 dozen.

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

exported after December 31, 1995.

Textile products in Categories 433, 442 and 624 which have been

exported to the United States prior to January 1, 1996 shall not be

subject to this directive.

Textile products in Categories 433, 442 and 624 which have been

released from the custody of the U.S. Customs Service under the

provisions of 19 U.S.C. 1448(b) or 1484(a)(1) prior to the effective

date of this directive shall not be denied entry under this

directive.

Imports charged to these category limits, except Categories 433,

442, 444 and 624, 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.

For the import period January 1, 1996 through February 29, 1996,

there are zero charges for Categories 433 and 624. You are directed

to charge 139 dozen to the limit established in this directive for

Category 442 for the January 1, 1996 through February 29, 1996

import period. Additional adjustments will be provided at a later

date.

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. 96-14509 Filed 6-7-96; 8:45 am]

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