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

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool

and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in

Singapore

October 28, 1996.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

limits.

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1997.

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) 927-6716. 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); Uruguay Round Agreements Act.

The import restraint limits for textile products, produced or

manufactured in Singapore and exported during the period January 1,

1997 through December 31, 1997 are based on limits notified to the

Textiles Monitoring Body pursuant to the Uruguay Round Agreements Act

and the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC).

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

Commissioner of Customs to establish the 1997 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).

Information regarding the 1997 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 Uruguay Round Agreements Act and the ATC, but are designed to

assist only in the implementation of certain of their provisions.

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

October 28, 1996.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: Pursuant to section 204 of the Agricultural

Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854), the Uruguay Round

Agreements Act and the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and

Clothing (ATC); 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, 1997, entry into the United States

for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of

cotton, wool and man-made fiber textile products in the following

categories, produced or manufactured in Singapore and exported

during the twelve-month period beginning on January 1, 1997 and

extending through December 31, 1997, in excess of the following

levels of restraint:

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

Category Twelve-month restraint limit

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

222....................................... 463,457 kilograms.

237....................................... 264,858 dozen.

239....................................... 521,911 kilograms.

331....................................... 470,414 dozen pairs.

334....................................... 71,794 dozen.

335....................................... 215,960 dozen.

338/339................................... 1,292,577 dozen of which not

more than 755,394 dozen

shall be in Category 338

and not more than 839,904

dozen shall be in Category

339.

340....................................... 904,613 dozen.

341....................................... 227,466 dozen.

342....................................... 139,978 dozen.

[[Page 56524]]

347/348................................... 1,010,647 dozen of which not

more than 631,654 dozen

shall be in Category 347

and not more than 491,287

dozen shall be in Category

348.

435....................................... 6,813 dozen.

604....................................... 904,109 kilograms.

631....................................... 524,920 dozen pairs.

634....................................... 274,100 dozen.

635....................................... 280,497 dozen

638....................................... 1,006,724 dozen.

639....................................... 3,454,120 dozen.

640....................................... 192,855 dozen.

641....................................... 314,567 dozen.

642....................................... 304,753 dozen.

645/646................................... 154,405 dozen.

647....................................... 594,397 dozen.

648....................................... 1,529,794 dozen.

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

Imports charged to these category limits for the period January

1, 1996 through December 31, 1996 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 Uruguay Round Agreements

Act, the ATC and any administrative arrangements notified to the

Textiles Monitoring Body.

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. 96-28042 Filed 10-31-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F