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

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits and Guaranteed Access

Levels for Certain Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textile Products

Produced or Manufactured in Honduras

November 19, 1996.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

import limits and guaranteed access levels.

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Aldrich, 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); Uruguay Round Agreements Act.

The import restraint limits for textile products, produced or

manufactured in Honduras 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). The Guaranteed

Access Levels are being established pursuant to a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) dated September 15, 1995 between the Governments of

the United States and Honduras.

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

Commissioner of Customs to establish the 1997 limits and guaranteed

access levels.

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.

Requirements for participation in the Special Access Program are

available in Federal Register notices 51 FR 21208, published on June

11, 1986; 52 FR 26057, published on July 10, 1987; 54 FR 50425,

published on December 6, 1989; 61 FR 38236, published on July 23, 1996,

and 61 FR 49439, published on September 20, 1996.

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 MOU, the Uruguay Round Agreements Act and the Uruguay Round

Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, but are designed to assist only in

the implementation of certain of their provisions.

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

November 19, 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 Honduras and exported during

the period beginning on January 1, 1997 and extending through

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

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

Category Twelve-month limit

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

352/652................................... 10,674,200 dozen of which

not more than 7,865,200

dozen shall be in

Categories 352-K/652-K \1\.

435....................................... 14,982 dozen.

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

\1\ Category 352-K: only HTS numbers 6107.11.0010, 6107.11.0020,

6108.19.9010, 6108.21.0010, 6108.21.0020, 6108.91.0005, 6108.91.0015,

6108.91.0025, 6109.10.0005, 6109.10.0007, 6109.10.0009, 6109.10.0037;

Category 652-K: 6107.12.0010, 6107.12.0020, 6108.11.0010,

6108.11.0020, 6108.22.9020, 6108.22.9030, 6108.92.0005, 6108.92.0015,

6108.92.0025, 6109.90.1047 and 6109.90.1075.

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.

Additionally, pursuant to the Special Access Program, as set

forth in 51 FR 21208 (June 11, 1986), 52 FR 26057 (July 10, 1987),

54 FR 50425 (December 6, 1989), 61 FR 49439 (September 20, 1996),

effective on January 1, 1997, guaranteed access levels are being

established for properly certified textile products assembled in

Honduras from fabric formed and cut in the United States in textile

products in the following categories which are re-exported to the

United States from Honduras during the period January 1, 1997

through December 31, 1997 in the following amounts:

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

Category Guaranteed Access Level

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

352/652................................... 50,000,000 dozen.

435....................................... 35,000 dozen.

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

Any shipment for entry under the Special Access Program which is

not accompanied by a valid and correct certification and Export

Declaration in accordance with the provisions of the certification

requirements established in the directive of July 18, 1996 shall be

denied entry unless the Government of the Republic of Honduras

authorizes the entry and any charges to the appropriate specific

limit. Any shipment which is declared for entry under the Special

Access Program but found not to qualify shall be denied entry into

the United States.

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

[[Page 59866]]

exception of the rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1).

Sincerely,

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

[FR Doc.96-30048 Filed 11-22-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F