Announcement of Public Comment Period on the Elimination of the Paper Visa Requirement for Taiwan

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Public Comment Period on the Elimination of the

Paper Visa Requirement for Taiwan

June 3, 1998.

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

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

requirement for Taiwan.

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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: Section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as

amended (7 U.S.C. 1854); Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as

amended.

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 bilateral

provisions. On November 9, 1995, a notice was published in the Federal

Register (60 FR 56576) seeking public comments on the implementation of

ELVIS. Subsequently, a document published on October 31, 1997 (62 FR

[[Page 31448]]

58943) announced that Taiwan, starting on November 1, 1997, would begin

an ELVIS dual visa system 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 Taiwan. However, goods exempt from visa requirements

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 Taiwan and utilization of the ELVIS

system exclusively. Comments must be received on or before August 10,

1998. 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.98-15292 Filed 6-8-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DR-F