Amendment of an Import Restraint Period and Limit for Certain Wool Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Russia

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Amendment of an Import Restraint Period and Limit for Certain

Wool Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Russia

April 30, 1997.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs amending an

import restraint period and limit.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: May 7, 1997.

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 this

limit, 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).

In exchange of letters dated March 18, 1997 and March 26, 1997, the

Governments of the United States and the Russian Federation agreed to

amend their Bilateral Textile Agreement, effected by exchange of notes

dated August 13, 1996 and September 9, 1996. The new restraint periods

shall be October 1, 1996 through December 31, 1997, followed by three

consecutive twelve-month periods beginning on January 1, 1998 through

December 31, 2000.

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

Commissioner of Customs to amend the current restraint period to end on

December 31, 1997 at an increased level.

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 61 FR 66263, published on December 17, 1996). Also

[[Page 24424]]

see 61 FR 50279, published on September 25, 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 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

April 30, 1997.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: This directive amends, but does not cancel,

the directive issued to you on September 19, 1996, by the Chairman,

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements. That

directive concerns imports of wool textile products in Category 435,

produced or manufactured in Russia and exported during the twelve-

month period which began on October 1, 1996 and extends through

September 30, 1997.

Effective on May 7, 1997, pursuant to exchange of letters dated

March 18 and March 26, 1997 between the Governments of the United

States and the Federation of Russia, you are directed to amend the

current restraint period for Category 435 to end on December 31,

1997. Also, the limit shall be increased to 64,005 dozen \1\.

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\1\ The limit has not been adjusted to account for any imports

exported after September 30, 1996.

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The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has

determined that this action falls 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.97-11652 Filed 5-2-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F