Announcing Establishment of an Import Limit for Certain Cotton Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Nepal

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcing Establishment of an Import Limit for Certain Cotton

Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Nepal

July 17, 1997.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs announcing

the establishment of a limit.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: July 24, 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 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 a Memeorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated June 20, 1997, the

Governments of the United States and Nepal agreed, pursuant to Section

204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854), to

establish limits for Category 363 (cotton terry cloth towels) for

twelve-month periods beginning on January 1, 1997 and extending through

the remaining years of the bilateral agreement.

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

Commissioner of Customs to establish a limit for Category 363 for the

period January 1, 1997 through December 31, 1997.

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 see

62 FR 26478, published on May 14, 1997; and 61 FR 65197, published on

December 11, 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 June 20, 1997 MOU, 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

July 17, 1997.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: This directive cancels, effective on July 24,

1997, the directive issued to you on May 14, 1997, 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 363,

produced or manufactured in Nepal and exported during the period

April 23, 1997 through April 22, 1998. Import charges already made

to Category 363 shall be retained and charged to the limit

established in this directive for Category 363.

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

to you on December 5, 1996, 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, 1997 and extends

through December 31, 1997.

Effective on July 24, 1997, you are directed, pursuant to a

Memorandum of Understanding dated June 20, 1997, between the

Governments of the United States and Nepal, to establish a limit for

Category 363 for the period January 1, 1997 through

[[Page 39501]]

December 31, 1997 at a level of 6,500,000 numbers \1\.

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

exported after December 31, 1996.

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For the import period January 1, 1997 through April 22, 1997,

you are directed to charge 1,323,000 numbers to the limit

established for Category 363. Additional charges will be provided as

they become available.

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.97-19329 Filed 7-22-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F