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

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool,

Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and

Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Romania

January 22, 1997.

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 30, 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 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.

Pursuant to the Uruguay Round Agreements Act and the Uruguay Round

Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC), the Bilateral Textile and

Apparel Agreement of December 20, 1994, as amended and extended by a

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated December 15, 1995, between the

Governments of the United States and Romania, establishes limits for

the period beginning on January 1, 1997 and extending through December

31, 1997.

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

Commissioner of Customs to establish the 1997 limits. The limit for

Categories 433/434 has been reduced for carryforward applied to the

1996 limit.

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).

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, the Uruguay Round Agreement on

Textiles and Clothing, bilateral agreement and the MOU, 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

January 22, 1997.

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 the Bilateral Textile and Apparel Agreement of

December 20, 1994, as amended and extended by a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) dated December 15, 1995, between the Governments

of the United States and Romania; and in accordance with the

provisions of Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended,

you are directed to prohibit, effective on January 30, 1997, entry

into the United States for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse

for consumption of cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend and

other vegetable fiber textiles and textile products in the following

categories, produced or manufactured in Romania 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 limit

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

Cotton Group

200, 201, 218-220, 222-227, 229, 237, 239, 61,602,210 square meters

300, 301, 313-315, 317, 326, 330-342, equivalent.

345, 347-354, 359-363, 369, 800, 810, 831-

836, 838-840, 842-847, 850-852, 858, 859,

863, 870, 871 and 899, as a group.

Sublevels in Cotton Group

237....................................... 65,575 dozen.

313....................................... 1,797,674 square meters.

314....................................... 1,348,255 square meters.

315....................................... 3,244,578 square meters.

333/833................................... 128,503 dozen.

334....................................... 310,607 dozen.

335/835................................... 162,772 dozen.

338/339................................... 702,488 dozen.

340....................................... 306,631 dozen.

341/840................................... 128,503 dozen.

347/348................................... 548,284 dozen.

350....................................... 29,025 dozen.

352....................................... 195,454 dozen.

359....................................... 701,087 kilograms.

360....................................... 1,811,805 numbers.

361....................................... 1,207,870 numbers.

369....................................... 318,008 kilograms.

810....................................... 4,494,185 square meters.

836....................................... 60,394 dozen.

847....................................... 80,625 dozen.

Group III

431-436, 438-440, 442-448, 459, 630-654 70,245,156 square meters

and 659, as a group. equivalent.

Sublevels in Group III

433/434................................... 8,822 dozen.

435....................................... 9,809 dozen.

442....................................... 11,361 dozen.

443....................................... 87,639 numbers.

444....................................... 41,314 numbers.

447/448................................... 22,784 dozen.

459....................................... 34,444 kilograms.

633....................................... 48,066 dozen.

634....................................... 58,385 dozen.

638/639................................... 634,351 dozen.

640....................................... 87,245 dozen.

641....................................... 37,818 dozen.

647....................................... 87,801 dozen.

648....................................... 62,799 dozen.

659....................................... 110,673 kilograms.

Levels not in a group

410....................................... 169,315 square meters.

465....................................... 131,220 square meters.

604....................................... 1,616,275 kilograms.

618....................................... 1,818,577 square meters.

666....................................... 126,483 kilograms.

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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 conversion factors for the following merged categories are

listed below:

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

Conversion factor (square

Category meters equivalent/category

unit)

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

341/840................................... 12.1.

433/434................................... 35.2.

638/639................................... 12.96.

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

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).

[[Page 4035]]

Sincerely,

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 97-2048 Filed 1-27-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F