Consolidation and Amendment of Export Visa Requirements to Include the Electronic Visa Information System for Certain Silk Apparel, Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable Fiber Textiles and Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in the People's Republic of China

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Consolidation and Amendment of Export Visa Requirements to

Include the Electronic Visa Information System for Certain Silk

Apparel, Cotton, Wool, Man-Made Fiber, Silk Blend and Other Vegetable

Fiber Textiles and Textile Products Produced or Manufactured in the

People's Republic of China

March 27, 1997.

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

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the Commissioner of Customs

consolidating and amending visa requirements.

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 1, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Aldrich, 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 a Memorandum of Understanding dated February 1, 1997, the

Governments of the United States and the People's Republic of China

agreed to amend the existing visa arrangements for silk apparel and

textile products, produced or manufactured in China and exported on and

after April 1, 1997. The amended arrangement consolidates existing

provisions and new provisions for the Electronic Visa Information

System (ELVIS). In addition to the ELVIS requirements, shipments will

continue to be accompanied by an original visa stamped on the front of

the original commercial invoice issued by the Government of the

People's Republic of China.

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

Commissioner of Customs to amend the existing visa requirements for

silk apparel and textile products, produced or manufactured in China

and exported on and after April 1, 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 62 FR 66263, published on December 17, 1996). Also see

59 FR 35324, published on July 11, 1994; and 60 FR 22567, published on

May 8, 1995.

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.

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements

March 27, 1997.

Commissioner of Customs,

Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20229.

Dear Commissioner: This directive amends, but does not cancel,

the directives issued to you on July 5, 1994, as amended, and May 3,

1995, as amended, by the Chairman, Committee for the Implementation

of Textile Agreements, that directed you to prohibit entry of

certain silk apparel, cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend and

other vegetable fiber textiles and textile products, produced or

manufactured in China for which the Government of the People's

Republic of China has not issued an appropriate export visa.

Under the terms of section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956,

as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); pursuant to a Memorandum of

Understanding dated February 1, 1997, between the Governments of the

United States and the People's Republic of China; and in accordance

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

amended, you are directed to prohibit, effective on April 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 cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend and other vegetable

fiber textiles and textile products in Categories 200-239, 300-369,

400-469, 600-670 and 800-899, including part categories and merged

categories; and silk apparel in Categories 733-736, 738-748, 750-752

and 758-759, produced or manufactured in China and exported on and

after April 1, 1997 for which the Government of the People's

Republic of China has not issued an appropriate export visa or

Electronic Visa Information System (ELVIS) transmission fully

described below. Should additional categories, part categories or

merged categories be added to the bilateral agreement or become

subject to import quota the entire category(s), part category(s) or

merged category(s) shall be included in the coverage of this

arrangement.

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 textile export license/

commercial invoice or successor document. The license will be

printed on a colored guilloche patterned background. The original

visa shall not be stamped on duplicate copies of the invoice.

[[Page 15466]]

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 the People's Republic of China

is ``CN''), and a six digit numerical serial number identifying the

shipment; e.g., 7CN123456.

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 of the

Government of the People's Republic of China.

4. The correct category(s), merged category(s), part

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 (HTS or successor

documents) shall be reported in the spaces provided within the visa

stamp (e.g., ``Cat. 340-510 DOZ'').

Quantities must be stated in whole numbers. Decimals or

fractions will not be accepted. Merged category quota merchandise

may be accompanied by either the appropriate merged category visa or

the correct category visa corresponding to the actual shipment

(e.g., Categories 347/348 may be visaed as 347/348 or if the

shipment consists solely of Category 347 merchandise, the shipment

may be visaed as ``Category 347,'' but not as ``Category 348'').

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

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

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. 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 charged to any applicable quota.

If the visa is not acceptable then a new visa must be obtained

from the Government of the People's Republic of China, replacement

visa issued by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in

Washington, DC, or a visa waiver may be issued by the U.S.

Department of Commerce at the request of the Embassy of the People's

Republic of China in Washington, DC, and presented to the U.S.

Customs Service before any portion of the shipment will be released.

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 legitimate classification disputes

between the Governments of the People's Republic of China and the

United States of America or for one-time special purpose shipments

that are not part of an ongoing commercial enterprise.

Replacement visas shall consist of a textile export visa/invoice

form bearing an official Chinese Embassy embossed stamp on the front

and include the standard information required on an export visa and

the signature of an official authorized by the Government of the

People's Republic of China to issue replacement visas. The signature

must match one of two original signatures of authorized officials

provided to the United States Government by the Government of the

People's Republic of China. The U.S. Customs Service will not permit

entry of the shipment if any of the information required on the

replacement visa is missing, incorrect or illegible, or has been

crossed out or altered in any way.

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

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

the importer a certified copy of that visaed invoice or visa waiver.

For particular cases, upon written request by the Government of the

People's Republic of China, the U.S. Customs Service will provide

the original visa for China.

If a shipment from the People's Republic of China has been

allowed entry into the commerce of the United States with incorrect

documentation, 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.

ELVIS Requirements:

A. Each ELVIS message will include the following information:

I. 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 China is ``CN''), and a six

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

7CN123456.

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

month and year on which the visa was issued.

III. The correct category(s), merged category(s), part

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 (HTS or successor

documents).

IV. The quantity of the shipment in the correct units of

quantity.

V. The manufacturer ID number (MID). The MID shall begin with

``CN,'' followed by the first three characters from each of the

first two words of the name of the manufacturer, followed by the

largest number on the address line up to the first four digits,

followed by three letters from the city name.

B. Entry of a shipment shall not be permitted:

I. if an ELVIS transmission has not been received for the

shipment from China;

II. if the ELVIS transmission for that shipment is missing any

of the following:

a. visa number

b. category, part category or merged category

c. quantity

d. unit of measure

e. date of issuance

f. manufacturer ID number

III. if the ELVIS transmission for the shipment does not match

the information supplied by the importer with regard to any of the

following:

a. visa number

b. category or part category or merged category

c. unit of measure

d. quantity

IV. if the quantity being entered is greater than the quantity

transmitted.

V. if the visa number has previously been used, except in the

case of a split shipment, or cancelled, except when an entry has

been made using the visa number.

C. A new, correct ELVIS transmission from China is required

before a shipment that has been denied entry for one of the

circumstances mentioned in paragraph 3.B.I-V will be released.

D. A new, correct ELVIS transmission from China is required for

entries made using a visa waiver under the procedures as previously

described. Visa waivers will only be considered for paragraph

3.B.I., if the shipment qualifies as a one-time special purpose

shipment that is not part of an ongoing commercial enterprise, or

legitimate classification disputes.

E. Shipments will not be released for forty-eight hours in the

event of a system failure. If system failure exceeds forty-eight

hours, for the remaining period of the system failure the U.S.

Customs Service will release shipments on the basis of the paper

visaed document.

The People's Republic of China will retransmit all visa

information not transmitted during the failure once the system

becomes operational. If there is a visa or visas that are not on

file in the system or do not match information on the file after re-

transmission, the U.S. will give prompt notice of detailed

information to China for verification, a demand for redelivery

should be made.

ELVIS transmission will be stopped on Saturdays, Sundays and

Chinese holidays, which should not be considered as system failures.

F. The U.S. Customs Service will confirm daily the receipt of

the visa transmission by China and provide China (the Ministry of

Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation) with a daily electronic

message report on visa utilization which is accessible at any time

for any quantities. This electronic message for each specific visa

will contain:

a. visa number

b. category number

c. unit of measurement

d. quantity charged to quota

e. entry number

G. If a shipment from China is allowed entry into the commerce

of the United States with an incorrect visa, no visa, an incorrect

ELVIS transmission, or no ELVIS transmission, and redelivery is

requested but cannot be made, and after the Government of the

People's Republic of China does not issue a visa or ELVIS

transmission, or request a visa waiver (if applicable), the shipment

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

replacement visa, visa waiver or new ELVIS message is transmitted.

[[Page 15467]]

Should either party disagree on such quota charge, both parties

agree to hold technical consultation for verification on categories

and quantities charged upon request of the party.

4. Other Requirements:

A. 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 textile visa document.

B. Merchandise imported for the personal use of the importer and

not for resale, regardless of value; properly marked commercial

sample shipments valued at U.S. $250 or less; and mutually agreed

exempt items certified as exempt by the Government of the People's

Republic of China do not require a visa or an ELVIS transmission for

entry.

The visa stamp remains unchanged.

The actions taken concerning the Government of the People's

Republic of China with respect to imports of silk apparel, textiles

and textile products in the foregoing categories 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,

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 97-8239 Filed 3-28-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F