Announcement of Public Comment Period on the Elimination of the Paper Visa Requirement With the Governments of Korea and Singapore

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Public Comment Period on the Elimination of the

Paper Visa Requirement With the Governments of Korea and Singapore

August 29, 1997.

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

[[Page 46952]]

ACTION: Seeking public comments on the elimination of the paper visa

requirement with the Governments of Korea and Singapore.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lori Mennitt, Office of Textiles and

Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 482-3821.

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).

The Electronic Visa Information System (ELVIS) allows foreign

governments to electronically transfer shipment information to the U.S.

Customs Service on textile and apparel shipments subject to

quantitative restrictions. On November 9, 1995, a notice was published

in the Federal Register (61 FR 56576) seeking public comments on the

implementation of ELVIS. Subsequently, documents published on December

31, 1996 (61 FR 69082) and December 13, 1996 (61 FR 65548) announced

that, starting on January 1, 1997, the Governments of Korea and

Singapore would begin a six-month ELVIS test implementation phase. This

test phase does not eliminate the requirement for a valid paper visa to

accompany each shipment for entry into the United States.

As a result of successful use of the dual visa system, preparations

are under way to move beyond the current dual system to the paperless

ELVIS system with Korea and Singapore. However, exempt goods will still

require a proper and correct exempt certification.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements is

requesting interested parties to submit comments on the elimination of

the paper visa requirement for Korea and Singapore and utilization of

the ELVIS system exclusively. Comments must be received on or before

November 4, 1997. Comments may be mailed to Troy H. Cribb, Chairman,

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, room 3001, U.S.

Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,

DC 20230.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements has

determined that this action falls within the foreign affairs exception

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

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 97-23589 Filed 9-4-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P