Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textiles and Textile Products and Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Apparel Produced or Manufactured in Malaysia

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool

and Man-Made Fiber Textiles and Textile Products and Silk Blend and

Other Vegetable Fiber Apparel Produced or Manufactured in Malaysia

November 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: January 1, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ross Arnold, 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) 927-6712. 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 Malaysia 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

November 4, 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 textiles and textile products and

silk blend and other vegetable fiber apparel in the following

categories, produced or manufactured in Malaysia and exported during

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

through December 31, 1997, in excess of the following limits:

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

Category Twelve-month restraint limit

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

Fabric Group

218, 219, 220, 225-227, 313-315, 317, 326, 113,831,113 square meters.

611, 613/614/615/617, 619 and 620, as a

group.

Sublevels within the group

218....................................... 6,531,070 square meters.

219....................................... 31,639,405 square meters.

220....................................... 31,639,405 square meters.

225....................................... 31,639,405 square meters.

226....................................... 31,639,405 square meters.

227....................................... 31,639,405 square meters.

313....................................... 37,735,070 square meters.

314....................................... 45,398,143 square meters.

315....................................... 31,639,405 square meters.

317....................................... 31,639,405 square meters.

326....................................... 6,118,348 square meters.

611....................................... 3,671,008 square meters.

613/614/615/617........................... 36,318,515 square meters.

619....................................... 4,894,679 square meters.

620....................................... 6,118,348 square meters.

Other specific limits

200....................................... 275,412 kilograms.

237....................................... 370,565 dozen.

300/301................................... 2,921,051 kilograms.

331/631................................... 2,005,550 dozen pairs.

333/334/335/835........................... 229,995 dozen of which not

more than 137,997 dozen

shall be in Category 333

and not more than 137,997

dozen shall be in Category

835.

336/636................................... 446,538 dozen.

338/339................................... 1,107,075 dozen.

340/640................................... 1,289,527 dozen.

341/641................................... 1,671,275 dozen of which not

more than 596,228 dozen

shall be in Category 341.

342/642/842............................... 400,306 dozen.

345....................................... 153,504 dozen.

347/348................................... 469,180 dozen.

350/650................................... 144,366 dozen.

351/651................................... 248,392 dozen.

363....................................... 3,891,269 numbers.

435....................................... 15,219 dozen.

438-W \1\................................. 12,454 dozen.

442....................................... 18,546 dozen.

445/446................................... 29,439 dozen.

604....................................... 1,280,816 kilograms.

634/635................................... 780,033 dozen.

638/639................................... 459,498 dozen.

645/646................................... 351,452 dozen.

647/648................................... 1,653,893 dozen of which not

more than 1,157,723 dozen

shall be in Category 647-K

\2\ and not more than

1,157,723 dozen shall be in

Category 648-K \3\.

[[Page 58042]]

Group II

201, 222-224, 229, 239, 330, 332, 349, 352- 44,485,967 square meters

354, 359-362, 369, 400-434, 436, 438-O equivalent.

\4\, 439, 440, 443, 444, 447, 448, 459,

464-469, 600-603, 606, 607, 618, 621,

622, 624-630, 632, 633, 643, 644, 649,

652-654, 659, 665-670, 831-834, 836, 838,

839, 840, 843-859, as a group.

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

\1\ Category 438-W: only HTS numbers 6104.21.0060, 6104.23.0020,

6104.29.2051, 6106.20.1010, 6106.20.1020, 6106.90.1010, 6106.90.1020,

6106.90.2520, 6106.90.3020, 6109.90.1540, 6109.90.8020, 6110.10.2080,

6110.30.1560, 6110.90.9074 and 6114.10.0040.

\2\ Category 647-K: only HTS numbers 6103.23.0040, 6103.23.0045,

6103.29.1020, 6103.29.1030, 6103.43.1520, 6103.43.1540, 6103.43.1550,

6103.43.1570, 6103.49.1020, 6103.49.1060, 6103.49.8014, 6112.12.0050,

6112.19.1050, 6112.20,.1060 and 6113.00.9044.

\3\ Category 648-K: only HTS numbers 6104.23.0032, 6104.23.0034,

6104.29.1030, 6104.29.1040, 6104.29.2038, 6104.63.2010, 6104.63.2025,

6104.63.2030, 6104.63.2060, 6104.69.2030, 6104.69.2060, 6104.69.8026,

6112.12.0060, 6112.19.1060, 6112.20.1070, 6113.00.9052 and

6117.90.9070.

\4\ Category 438-O: only HTS numbers 6103.21.0050, 6103.23.0025,

6105.20.1000, 6105.90.1000, 6105.90.8020, 6109.90.1520, 6110.10.2070,

6110.30.1550, 6110.90.9072, 6114.10.0020 and 6117.90.9025.

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 according 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. 96-28849 Filed 11-8-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F