Establishment of a New Export Visa Arrangement for Certain Wool Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Russia

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Establishment of a New Export Visa Arrangement for Certain Wool

Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in Russia

January 28, 1997.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs establishing

export visa requirements.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: March 1, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naomi Freeman, International Trade

Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of

Commerce, (202) 482-4212.

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 notes dated October 22, 1996 and December 31, 1996,

the Governments of the United States and the Russian Federation agreed

to establish a new Export Visa Arrangement for wool textile products in

Category 435, produced or manufactured in Russia and exported from

Russia on and after March 1, 1997.

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

Commissioner of Customs to prohibit entry of certain textile products,

produced or manufactured in Russia and exported from Russia on and

after March 1, 1997 for which the Government of the Russian Federation

has not issued an appropriate export visa.

A facsimile of the export visa stamp is on file at the U.S.

Department of Commerce in Room 3100.

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

[[Page 4730]]

Federal Register notice 61 FR 66263, published on December 17, 1996).

Interested persons are advised to take all necessary steps to

ensure that textile products that are entered into the United States

for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, will meet

the visa requirements set forth in the letter published below to the

Commissioner of Customs.

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

January 28, 1997.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: Under the terms of section 204 of the

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

the Export Visa Arrangement, effected by exchange of notes dated

October 22, 1996 and December 31, 1996, between the Governments of

the United States and the Russian Federation; and in accordance with

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

amended, you are directed to prohibit, effective on March 1, 1997,

entry into the Customs territory of the United States (i.e., the 50

states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto

Rico) for consumption and withdrawal from warehouse for consumption

of wool textile products in Category 435, produced or manufactured

in Russia and exported from Russia on and after March 1, 1997 for

which the Government of the Russian Federation has not issued an

appropriate export visa fully described below.

A visa must accompany each commercial shipment of the

aforementioned textile products. A circular stamped marking in blue

ink will appear on the front of the original commercial invoice. The

original visa shall not be stamped on duplicate copies of the

invoice. The original invoice with the original visa stamp will be

required to enter the shipment into the United States. Duplicates of

the invoice and/or visa may not be used for this purpose.

Each visa stamp shall include the following information:

1. The visa number. The visa number shall be in the standard

nine digit letter format, beginning with one numeric digit for the

last digit of the year of export, followed by the two character

alpha country code specified by the International Organization for

Standardization (ISO) (the code for Russia is ``RU''), and a six

digit numerical serial number identifying the shipment; e.g.,

7RU123456.

2. The date of issuance. The date of issuance shall be the day,

month and year on which the visa was issued.

3. The original signature of the issuing official and the

printed name of the issuing official of the Government of the

Russian Federation.

4. The correct category(s), quantity(s) and unit(s) of quantity

in the shipment as set forth in the U.S. Department of Commerce

Correlation and in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United

States, annotated or successor documents shall be reported in the

spaces provided within the visa stamp (e.g., ``Cat. 435-510 DZ'').

Quantities must be stated in whole numbers. Decimals or

fractions will not be accepted.

U.S. Customs shall not permit entry if the shipment does not

have a visa, or if the visa number, date of issuance, signature,

printed name of the signer, category, quantity or units of quantity

are missing, incorrect or illegible, or have been crossed out or

altered in any way. If the quantity indicated on the visa is less

than that of the shipment, entry shall not be permitted.

Nevertheless, the shipment shall be allowed to enter a bonded

warehouse and to be withdrawn for consumption into the Customs

territory of the United States within the limits of the amount

indicated on the visa. If the quantity indicated on the visa is more

than that of the shipment, entry shall be permitted and only the

amount entered shall be counted as imports from the Russian

Federation.

The complete name and address of a company actually involved in

the manufacturing process of the textile product covered by the visa

shall be provided on the front of the textile document.

If the visa is not acceptable then a new correct visa or a visa

waiver must be presented to the U.S. Customs Service before any

portion of the shipment will be released. A visa waiver may be

issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce at the request of the

competent authorities in Washington for the Government of the

Russian Federation. The waiver, if used, only waives the requirement

to present a visa with the shipment. It does not waive the quota

requirement. Visa waivers will only be issued for classification

purposes or for one time special purpose shipments that are not part

of an ongoing commercial enterprise.

If the visaed invoice is deficient, the U.S. Customs Service

will not return the original document after entry, but will provide

a certified copy of that visaed invoice for use in obtaining a new

correct original visaed invoice, or a visa waiver.

If import quotas are in force, U.S. Customs Service shall charge

only the actual quantity in the shipment to the correct category

limit. If a shipment from Russia has been allowed entry into the

commerce of the United States with either an incorrect visa or no

visa, and redelivery is requested but cannot be made, the shipment

will be charged to the correct category limit whether or not a

replacement visa or waiver is provided.

Merchandise imported for the personal use of the importer and

not for resale, regardless of value, and properly marked or

commercial sample shipments valued at U.S.$250 or less, do not

require an export visa for entry and shall not be charged to

existing quota levels.

A facsimile of the visa stamp is enclosed.

The actions taken concerning the Government of the Russian

Federation with respect to imports of textile products in the

foregoing category have been determined by the Committee for the

Implementation of Textile Agreements to involve foreign affairs

functions of the United States. Therefore, these directions to the

Commissioner of Customs, which are necessary for the implementation

of such actions, fall within the foreign affairs exception to the

rulemaking provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1). This letter will be

published in the Federal Register.

Sincerely,

D. Michael Hutchinson,

Acting Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile

Agreements.

[FR Doc. 97-2401 Filed 1-30-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F