Establishment and Amendment of Import Limits for Certain Cotton and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Nepal

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COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Establishment and Amendment of Import Limits for Certain Cotton

and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Nepal

June 11, 1996.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

and increasing limits.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: June 17, 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 Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C.

1854).

The Governments of the United States and the Kingdom of Nepal

agreed to amend and extend their current bilateral agreement for three

additional years, until December 31, 2000. The two governments agreed

to establish a limit for merged Categories 342/642 and to increase the

1996 base limit for Categories 336/636.

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

Commissioner of Customs to establish a limit for newly merged

Categories 342/642 for the period beginning on January 1, 1996 and

extending through December 31, 1996 and to increase the current limit

for Categories 336/636.

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 62410, published on December 6, 1995; and 60 FR 66269, published

on December 21, 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 11, 1996.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: This directive cancels, effective on June 17,

1996, the directive issued to you on December 15, 1995, by the

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

(CITA), which directed you to count imports for consumption and

withdrawals from warehouse for consumption of textile products in

Category 642 produced or manufactured in Nepal and exported during

the period November 28, 1995 through November 27, 1996. Import

charges already made to Category 642 shall be retained.

This directive amends, but does not cancel, the directive issued

to you on November 29, 1995, by the Chairman of CITA. That directive

concerns imports of certain cotton and man-made fiber textile

products, produced or manufactured in Nepal and exported during the

twelve-month period which began on January 1, 1996 and extends

through December 31, 1996.

Effective on June 17, 1996 , you are directed, pursuant to

exchange of notes dated April 18, 1996 and April 30, 1996 between

the Governments of the United States and the Kingdom of Nepal, to

establish a limit for newly merged Categories 342/642 and increase

the current limit for Categories 336/636 for the period January 1,

1996 through December 31, 1996, as follows:

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Category Twelve-month limit \1\

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342/642................................... 262,764 dozen.

336/636................................... 208,450 dozen.

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

exported after December 31, 1995.

Adjustment to import charges for Category 642 will be provided

at a later date.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has

determined that these actions fall within the foreign affairs

exception to 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. 96-15260 Filed 6-14-96; 8:45 am]

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