Rescission, Amendment and Redesignation of Import Limits for Certain Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textiles and Textile Products and Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Apparel Produced or Manufactured in the Philippines

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Rescission, Amendment and Redesignation of Import Limits for

Certain Cotton, Wool and Man-Made Fiber Textiles and Textile Products

and Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Apparel Produced or

Manufactured in the Philippines

March 21, 1997.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs cancelling,

increasing and amending the coverage of limits.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: March 28, 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) 927-6713. 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.

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated March 5, 1997, the

Governments of the United States and the Republic of the Philippines

agreed to rescind the limit for Category 239 for the period January 1,

1997 through December 31, 1997. Also, the two governments agreed to

amend the coverage of Group II to include Categories 361, 369-S and 611

and to increase the 1997 Group II 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). Also see

61 FR 64507, published on December 5, 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 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

March 21, 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 November 29, 1996, by the Chairman,

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements. That

directive concerns imports of certain cotton, wool and man-made

fiber textiles and textile products and silk blend and other

vegetable fiber apparel, produced or manufactured in the Philippines

and exported during the twelve-month period beginning on January 1,

1997 and extending through December 31, 1997.

Effective on March 28, 1997, you are directed, to rescind the

1997 limit and import charges for textile products in Category 239,

pursuant to the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, the Uruguay Round

Agreement on Textiles and Clothing and the Memorandum of

Understanding dated March 5, 1997 between the Governments of the

United States and the Republic of the Philippines.

Also, you are directed to amend the Group II designation to

include the coverage of Categories 361, 369-S \1\ and 611.

Categories 361, 369-S and 611 shall be sublevels in Group II. Import

charges already made to these categories shall be moved to Group II.

The 1997 limit for Group II shall be increased to 164,785,038 square

meters equivalent \2\.

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\1\ Category 369-S: only HTS number 6307.10.2005.

\2\ The limits have not been adjusted to account for any imports

exported after December 31, 1996.

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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).

Sincerely,

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 97-7775 Filed 3-26-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F